Chronographs

[Phillip K]

Could someone explain Chronographs and how I can use it to better my bowmaking.Thanks PK

[Minuteman]

A chronograph will turn a bow you are entirely satisfied with into a old dog sittin on the porch too tired to chase cars.
 Unless you are searching for a particular FPS I don't think they are that great a tool . I know Marc St Louis uses them but he makes exceptional bows and sells them as well so its important for him to know what they'll do. He also frequently makes bows that shoot close to 200 ft/second.
 The one time I used one my bow went from pretty cool to" Huh, 147 fps, thought it was faster than that"
 My $.02.

[Badger]

This is gonna be a contoversial thread. Chronos or not primitive of course. Back in the old days they used flight shooting in place of chronos. Or in some cases penetration tests but you can be sure bows were tested. If I am looking for speed out of a bow I use the chrono throughout the building process to monitor the condition of the wood as the bow progresses. A chrono won't change any of your bows but it might change the way you look at them just as minuteman said. Steve

[JackCrafty]

A chronograph helps in a number of areas:

- It tells you if what you are doing is making a bow faster or slower.
- It weeds out inferior designs.
- It allows you to duplicate bows.
- It will tell you if your bow is losing or gaining strength.
- It's fun to use and makes the bow making process more enjoyable (IMO).

[DCM]

For the precisely the reason Chris cites, a chrono is more likely to improove how one shoots a bow, the loose in particular, than it is how one makes a bow, at least initially.  While a chrono is not a easy tool for most people to use, because you can get very different readings depending upon how you shoot the bow, it's also a mistake I thnk to disregard entirely how fast your bows shoot.  It's just a part of the puzzle.  Some folks can find more value in this particular tool than others.  I don't use mine frequently, but I it's worth the $100 investment in my view, relative to all other tools I've aquired for the craft, totalling less than $1,000.

[Badger]

     I like to use the chrono in such a way that I am comparing it to modern bows. That doesn't mean I expect the same performance but just for comparison, for accurate readings regarding the bow it almost have to be shot off a shooting machine ( easy to make) The fit of the arrow nock on the string has to be consistent and not too tight, the string itself should always be the same. ( most modern bows are shot with fast flight type strings now and they add several fps) The same bow might vary as much as 15 fps depending on how it is set up and shot. Steve

[Phillip K]

Thanks for the info, I don't think I need to use one of those if I listen to yalls tips.PK

[Pat B]

I used a chrono once on one of my bows once but I was so disappointed in the numbers that I quit using one. Now I just shoot the bow and if it shoots good it a good-un. If not its a dog. Simple!       Pat

[sailordad]

i shot my firts succesfully made bow thru a chrono,i felt that it shot fairly fast and found that it was shooting at 138 fps,not so impressive.

however when i took it out andshot it for distance and it shot approx 235 yds, i thought thats way cool dude.

i like the distance shooting better than a chrono just because my bows never come close to what im used to seeing a bow(wheelie style) shoot thru chronos.
and i think a primitive bow deserves a primitive shot test, jmho

[Little John]

Yep, flight shooting for me to compare performance out of a bow.    Kenneth

[Badger]

    Ken, I would bet that your bows would fair well if shot through a chrono from what I have seen of them. I went to a contest this year held by the modern bowyer community. It was a fast bow contest they call.." Walk the Talk"  My bamboo backed osage scored right up there with the top recurves and longbows in the world speed wise. I have no doubt that plenty of guys here on this sight make their bows just as fast as mine. It would be pretty discouraging if everyone used chronos but I think that there is a good mix of guys that makes up these sights, some of them work with speed others style, some go for replicas, while others are just free style. I think we all compliment each other. Steve

[Little John]

Thanks Steve. Next bow I will use your mass principle and see where we go. Till now it has been pretty much by the seat of my pants. Wide enough for little set and  narrow tips for little mass.  Kenneth

[Badger]

Kenneth, thats the idea anyway, where the mass principle can really come in handu is when you are building something you are very unfamilar with, different wood, different draw length and different draw weight. I tested out with bows from about 54" long to 80" long and draw weights from 25# up to about 160# and it seemed to bring me right in. Steve

[StanM]

I have a chrono and I use it on all of my bows.  I shoot a lot of different kinds of bows though, selfbows, bamboo backed bows, all wood laminate, fiberglass longbows and recurves and even a, gasp, c**pound bow.  I shoot through a chrono, because I've got a pretty good idea of what weight of arrow needs to be going at what speed for me to be completely confident in it to hunt with.  I've even taken it a step further and built a shield for my chrono out of two plies of 3/4 inch plywood so I can test arrow speeds at 10, 20, 30, etc. yards and see if the speeds that I've got at longer distances are still what I'm comfortable with.  I also have access to a golf course and flight shoot all of my bows.  The two are not the same.

Before the chrono, I had biased views of how fast and how far my bows shot.  The chrono doesn't lie.  For me it's not about being upset if I'm not getting the speed that I want, it's either worthy of hunting, or it's not.  Simple.  But then, I'm a hunter, not a bow maker.  Wish I was a bow maker, but I've only got the time to make one or two bows a year.

For me, flight shooting doesn't measure up.  Too many variables.  Sailordad's observations are a case in point.  I'd pay money to see the same arrow shot through a reliable chrono at 138 fps then shot through the same bow at the same draw 235 yards.  Just some thoughts.