Snakeskins and brace height

[whitefeather]

How long should I wait to shoot my bow after applying snakeskins to it? And what would be a good brace height for a 58 in bow?

[Thesquirrelslinger]

How long should I wait to shoot my bow after applying snakeskins to it? And what would be a good brace height for a 58 in bow?

Whatever is comfortable for you (in brace height). My longbow is braced at 6" at the handle.
but your bow is shorter.. maybe 5 in? How long is your draw?

[twisted hickory]

How long should I wait to shoot my bow after applying snakeskins to it? And what would be a good brace height for a 58 in bow?

It depends on how humid it is where you live. This winter I waited 7 days with humidity at 30%.  For a 58" bow I would start at 5 inches brace and twist the string and shoot till you get good arrow flight. Once you get good flight increase the brace by 1/4 inch and that should do it. Ya wanna shoot about 300 arrows out of it after final tiller before you call it final brace. With my 66 inch bows I start at 5.50 brace. They usually get good flight with 6.25 of brace.
Hope it helps
Greg

[adb]

My bows have the same brace height, regardless of length.

I glue my SSs down with TB3, so they're good to go O/N.

[twisted hickory]

My bows have the same brace height, regardless of length.


I glue my SSs down with TB3, so they're good to go O/N.

that is intresting. I haven't made but 7 bows. One was 50 and it liked a brace of 5 in, a 60 in one that liked a brace of 5.50 and the others work good around 6.25- 6.50.

[Newindian]

I would wait two or three days, I normally keep my brace height just high enough that I don't get wrist slap, for me it ranges from fistmele to fistmele -1"

[Squirrelslayer]

Not trying to start a hijack but while on the topic of brace hight im making a kids bow for a 10yr old the bow will be 20#@20" (hopefully) my question is do I lower the brace to around 4-5" or just keep it at 6" the bow is going to be 50" long. SS

[Squirrelslayer]

Everyone ignore my above post.  Thanks muffin. SS

[Pappy]

I also brace all of mine about the same 5 1/2 to 6. I pat my skins dry before applying them and also use TB3 ,so a day or so in a dry area,summer time by the ac duct,winter close to a heater and they seem to do fine for me,rawhide I may wait a little longer.
   Pappy

[crooketarrow]

  I to brace my bows all the same. I use 5 1/2 feathers. My brace height starts with them touching. I go from there to find the sweet spot. Which has always been very closely by.

[BowEd]

What I do is wait a good week if snake skins are on the back of a self bow.I wait at least 10 days or more for a snake skin on the back of a sinewed bow.That's with TT3 glue.Like was said earlier check your humidity meter.
Brace I judge by the lowest I can get it without affecting arrow flight.Like twisted hickory said then 1/4" above that.That usually always puts my brace at around 5and1/2" most times from the belly of handle that means with a 1and1/2" deep handle it should be 7" to back on handle.

[Newindian]

Why add a quarter inch after achieving good flight?

[PEARL DRUMS]

I find shorter bows prefer shorter bracing and longer bows like a bit more brace. Most all of my bows fall in the 5 3/8 - 5 7/8" range.

[Pat B]

I generally set brace height at my fist mele or at least so the fletchings clear.
  I've had to wait over a week after using TB glue to glue down skins because of the moisture it adds to the wood. If the humidity is high you may have to wait a few extra days.  Recently I have been adding a thin coat of TBIII to the bow back, let it dry completely then add the skins. The thin layer of TBIII acts like a vapor barrier so the dry time wait is about 24 hours now.

[osage outlaw]

Glad to hear that pat.  I did that to the bow I skinned last night.  I'm going to give it plenty of time to dry anyway.  I don't want to seal any moisture in with a sinew backing