Brace Height For Longer Bows

[PeteDavis]

I am dialing in my new Osage/Hickory bow. At current brace it's about 67" n>n and about 58#. I may sand the upper  limb just a tad to get a little more positive tiller on the upper limb as after 25 shots it is about +3/6ths now.

What is a decent target and hunting brace for a bow of this length (70" unbraced). Right now it seems a little low w/ my fletches contacting the shelf by 1". It measures about 6" to the belly, or just under 7" to the back. Maybe my vanes are the problem here.

PD

[sailordad]

i usually adjust untill it quites giving my string slap on the wrist
which usually comes out to a fistmale (sp?)

take one hand make a fist,stick out your thumb as if you were gona hitch hike
now take that hitch hikers fist and place it under the string at the handle of the bow
the bottom of the fist resting on the bow,the top of the thumb should be just touching the string
hope this helps 

[George Tsoukalas]

Typically my bows are braced 7 - 7.25 in string to back of handle. Check this.
http://georgeandjoni.home.comcast.net/~georgeandjoni/selfbowcare.html

[CraigMBeckett]

The beauty of using the fistmele  is you always have it with you and you do not have to go searching for it when you want to check if your brace height has changed, it is also simpler to use than any other measuring device. So to answer you original question I like sailordad suggest you adopt your fistmele as your brace height.

Craig.

[PeteDavis]

Let's refine the fistmele concept.

Should my hand heel rest on the closest part of the grip to the string, or to the limb itself?

Thanks in advance.

PD

[sailordad]

Pete, put the bottom of your fist right where your hand is gonna be on the grip

i have some bows where the grip is dished for a better fit of the webbing of my hand
i just put my fist on the grip and dont worry about the dished area
hope this helps 

[El Destructo]

6 1/2" for Me from the Belly side of the Handle...which would probably work out to be just what Jawge is getting from the Back of the Handle (7-7 1/2)...and for your information Tim...Fistmele is 6 1/2" for me also....

[JW_Halverson]

The fistmele is all well and good, but in my (probably flawed) opinion, it's much better to keep lowering your brace height until you get a touch of wrist slap, then raise the brace height just enough to stop it. 

I just changed the brace height on my every-day shooter to raise it up, compensating for poor bow arm form.  Now my arrows come off the bow a little skewed, brace height and spine being closely intertwined.  Lowered the brace height again and gave myself a good butt chewing about poor form and laziness and went back to shooting. 

 

[Del the cat]

Supposedly the fistemele is the origin of the term 'rule of thumb'.
Like many other archery based terms... 'Point blank range' is a good one, but it's a heck of a job explaining it to someone who is used to firearms and assumes it's zero range.
Sorry if we all knew that anyway... 
Anyhow, back on topic, a lower bracing height gives slightly more stored power, but slightly lower final weight, as the power stroke is a bit longer.
I tend to use continuous loop strings for a more consistent bracing height, although twisting can raise it a tad.
Oh dear I'm rambling now
Del

[ken75]

del sorry to intrude here but im trying to figure out how brace height can change final draw weight ? i always thought regardless of brace height or power stroke draw length was draw length . like i said just curious i need an enginer to clear this up

[CraigMBeckett]

Ken75

im trying to figure out how brace height can change final draw weight ? i always thought regardless of brace height or power stroke draw length was draw length . like i said just curious i need an enginer to clear this up

Its simple Ken, to have a lower brace height the string is longer, therefore when drawn to the archer's drawlength the limbs are not bent as far (in total) from rest as they would be with the shorter string of a higher brace height, less bend = lower weight.

Craig.

[gmc]

I try to keep my brace as low as possible on shorter bows. It provides more stored energy for the bow on release with less stress on the limbs at brace. I will normally use 5.25 to 5.5 brace if I can get away with it, but a lot of this depends on what the bow agrees with in terms of how it shoots. I also think there is a slight compromise in accuracy using a lower brace, but one I'm willing to live with.

The "rule of thumb" is a good reference but like anything else, just a reference. You can suck the life right out of a good bow by bracing too high but longer bows is more forgiving and shorter bows a bit more critical. You'll need to experiment, there are a lot of opinions on the subject.

gmc

[bowmo]

I believe it's really just whatever works best for you. I brace mine pretty low by most guys standards. Most guys seem so influeneced by the super high brace of laminate recurves that they feel like they need to. But the lower the brace the more cast you produce, so I keep mine as low as I can get away with. Looking for that balance between limb vibration, wrist slap, feather clearance, and cast. Mine are usually between 5 and 6 inches.

dan

[Del the cat]

del sorry to intrude here but im trying to figure out how brace height can change final draw weight ? i always thought regardless of brace height or power stroke draw length was draw length . like i said just curious i need an enginer to clear this up

Increasing bracing height will change the geometry and it's the fact that the string moves further than the bow tips which causes the effect.
If you imagine starting at your original low bracing height (say 5"), tips and string are at 5".
Pull the string back until the tips are at the new higher bracing height (say 7") , the string will be pulled back beyond 7" to achieve this (say 8")
If you carry on to full 28" draw you are pulling back an aditional 20" (28-8).

Now if we imagine putting on our shorter sting with the tips at 7" the string is also at 7" and when we pull back to 28" we are now pulling back an additional 21" (28-7) thus there is effectively an extra 1" draw compared with before. (E.G The shorter string has taken out that bit of 'slack' and when we now get back to full draw we are pulling the tips back a bit further, which makes sense after all we are getting back to the same final position with a shorter string the tips must come back further to compensate!)
I hope that makes sense.
Del

[ken75]

thanks ,12 hour night shift makes my head foggy !