Recurve string sliding to the side on tips

[WhistlingBadger]

Now that hunting season is over, I am back to work on the infamous hickory-dogbane shorty.  (http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=72697.0)  I have to to brace height; so far so good.  It has very narrow, non-working tips, and the string really wants to slide off to the side on the tips.  I can wiggle it into place as I brace it, but I'm a little worried that it's going to pop off to the side when I finally put an arrow through the thing.

So...what do I do about this?  I've seen horse bows with some kind of string bridge that seems to keep it in place; do I need something like that?  Any other suggestions?  Or should I take my usual approach and just go for it, trusting that somehow or other it will be fine?

[Pat B]

Are the tips lined up and when braced does the string track center and the tips stay straight? Are your string grooves deep enough? You can add a trough along the belly side of the recurves to keep the string centered>

[Eric Krewson]

It sounds like you have some limb twist somewhere other than the tips when you draw the bow.

[bjrogg]

Pictures might help.

Like already posted everything needs to line up.

The bigger the recurves the trickier it is to keep everything lined up.

Also a lower brace can be difficult to keep string from slipping off side.

The shape of the belly side of recurve also can cause problems.

I like to keep my belly side as flat as possible. Maybe even a slight grove to help hold string.

I s it slipping off same side every time?

If it is you might try tweaking tip opposite direction just a little. Or possibly just cutting notch a little deeper on side it’s slipping off to get string closer to opposite side.

Recurves can be frustrating but you learn little tricks by trying them.

Good luck

I find I have come to like a fairly short recurve. I find I get what I’m looking for in performance and I find them much easier to line up.

I also feel like they increase working limb length and put less stress on your design

Bjrogg

[WhistlingBadger]

Thanks for the input, guys.  I think Brian nailed the problem:  I rounded off the belly-side of the recurve tips, like I would on a longbow.  I'll get out the file and flatten them out, make better grooves in the side, and that should take care of it.  Everything seems lined up pretty well.  Hoping to get an arrow through this thing today, if I can fit it in around the annual Christmas Tree Hunt on the mountain.

[Eric Krewson]

I make my tips round, if one doesn't behave, I heat the tip, put it in a padded vise and turn the bow handle the direction I want the tip to go, just little tweaks, let cool and restring to see if the string tracks perfectly in the groove. I usually have to do this with all of my tiny tip recurved bows.

This is a recurve tip I had to tweak to get it lined up correctly, it has a round cross section on the belly.

[superdav95]

Pictures might help.

Like already posted everything needs to line up.

The bigger the recurves the trickier it is to keep everything lined up.

Also a lower brace can be difficult to keep string from slipping off side.

The shape of the belly side of recurve also can cause problems.

I like to keep my belly side as flat as possible. Maybe even a slight grove to help hold string.

I s it slipping off same side every time?

If it is you might try tweaking tip opposite direction just a little. Or possibly just cutting notch a little deeper on side it’s slipping off to get string closer to opposite side.

Recurves can be frustrating but you learn little tricks by trying them.

Good luck

I find I have come to like a fairly short recurve. I find I get what I’m looking for in performance and I find them much easier to line up.

I also feel like they increase working limb length and put less stress on your design

Bjrogg

+1

[WhistlingBadger]

Interesting, Eric.  Thanks for that tip.  This bow is kaput it seems, but the time is never wasted.  I learned a lot from this one, and I'll refer back to this if and when I have this problem again.