First off, I'm not a bowyer. Never claimed to be, don't want to be. I've made exactly one selfbow in my life so far, and that was with a lot of adult supervision. That may be the only one. It didn't break, so I may quit while I'm ahead.
I am, however, a string enthusiast (or, as my friends put it, "string nerd"). I'm a bit OCD about it. I've been studying strings and string materials for 20 years or so, and have developed a pretty reliable network for information when I run across a question I can't answer, including some of the world's best traditional bow hunters, target archers, coaches, and the world's top bowstring manufacturer. I quit counting the number of strings I've personally built at 10,000 several years ago. Probably closer to 20,000 now, but point being you can't help but learn something after that many strings.
On to the topic.
Back when I got into this stuff, some 20 or so years ago, one of the first "rules" I ever heard about string length was "3 inches shorter for longbow, 4 inches shorter for recurves". I found out through trial and error that this rule was right on the money...sometimes. Other times, it missed by a mile.
Along comes the www and personal computers, and websites and message boards for the traditional archer. Whoo-hooo!! My prayers had been answered! Well, not really...I found out that pretty much everyone else was just as in the dark as I was. A certain string length might or might not fit a particular bow. Why wasn't there a standard???
Met a guy who has become one of my better friends and has helped me out a LOT with technical information on strings. I think it was him who first filled me in on AMO. I'll be dipped...there IS a standard! It's been around since 1967, and hasn't changed! http://www.outlab.it/doc/amostd.pdf
Then the bad news again...seems that more bowyers didn't than did know about it and/or follow it. Arrgghhh!!!!
Fast forward to the present.
AMO Bow Length specs have absolutely nothing to do with bow design, draw weight, draw length, etc. You won't have to adjust a design to fit the specs. Simple version is this: Measure the string that puts your bow at the proper brace height. Add three inches. This is the bow's AMO length. That's it.
It DOES NOT MATTER if it's a longbow, selfbow, flatbow, horsebow, or recurve. It DOES NOT MATTER if your bow's correct brace height is 2" or 12". It DOES NOT MATTER what the physical length of your bow is, strung or unstrung. If a 57" string is what fits your bow and puts it at the correct brace, then you have a 60" AMO bow. Period.
The AMO BOW LENGTH actually designates STRING LENGTH. Well, if it's all about string length, why is it called bow length? Danged if I know. Ask an engineer. Or a Cajun. They talk backwards like that. It is what it is.
All that being said...why in the world don't bowyers, especially those who don't follow the standard, make it a point to label their bow with "ASL - XX"..."XX" being the actual string length that fits your bow?
I know...you don't want to confuse anyone about the bow length. Hey, write your bow length loud and proud on both limbs with fluorescent ink. Make it so you have to close the curtains for the neighbors to sleep because of the glare. But somewhere...maybe in tiny little letters on the side of a limb on a 1 piece or on the limb butt on a take-down...do your customers this gigantic favor that will only take you a few seconds and may save them from a nervous breakdown. If the cost of the extra 15 seconds and ink is a concern, tack on an extra 35 cents to cover it.
Seriously...can anyone think of a good reason NOT to put the ASL on a bow that has it's own rules concerning string length?
Nice rant, lol. Agree with your proposal. Sure would make life easier in the used bow market for owners and string makers as well as decrease calls to bowyers for that information.
Yep, now convince our friend in Scotland that he's doing it wrong. LOL
Mike
Good luck with that Mike. :biglaugh:
LBR, I hear ya. I have a JD Berry LB 64" and when I had a good friend of mine make me a string years ago. He made a 61" string and I couldn't get it down to my BH so he had to make a 61.5" string which worked great.
He said sometimes it's just that way, and told me not to forget the half inch if I ordered from another string maker.
I always thought 1" was 1" everywhere.... is a pound a pound everywhere?????
I like to measure the actual nock to nock length when I make strings for my bows.I don't go by the AMO marked on the bow,but that's just me.Then I'll go 3" shorter for both longbows ad recurves.Older recurves tending to use a higher brace then more modern recurves with low stretch strings do.
The revolution has to start somewhere! If you get just a couple bowyers to do it, you never know, the idea might just catch on!
Bisch
AMO standard for string length is +- .5" which is not tight enough for todays low stretch string materials.
Just a quick shout out to Gregg Coffee, who labeled my Java Man Elk Heart with not only the (correct) AMO length, but the ASL as well :notworthy:
:clapper:
Great post Chad. I don't twist strings but we sell them of course, it has never made any sense to me why the proper string length is so muddled up. To this day strings are probably our most returned item due to confusion over proper length.
Thanks for the encouragement! So maybe I'm not nuts after all? (at least not for this idea)
As best I can tell that guy in Scottland has never been wrong, and has no intention of letting me ruin that record. You would have thought I was trying to steal money from his grandma...
How about it bowyers? Seriously--am I missing something that would make this a big 'ol pain in the rear?
It's not going to affect me much at all, because when a customer tells me "I'm not sure what length string my bow gets", I'm going to tell them "contact your bowyer and get back with me"...(unless I happen to know off the top of my head already).
Here's another selling point. Besides being a convenience for the customer, letting them know what string length means less damaged bows (due to the brace being too high or low, or even damaged when trying to string it) plus the bow is going to shoot best when it's in the right brace height range. Someone could think the bow doesn't shoot well when it's just out of tune due to a string being too long or too short. No excuses about strings not being right when all you got to do is look at the bow to know. :readit:
The really big question, for me anyway, is...why hasn't this already been done?
Herter's did it years ago on their bows...made things a bit easier
(http://i65.tinypic.com/14ka2vn.jpg)
Jim beat me to it because I was just about to mention Herter's lol.
They were already preparing for the birth of "Chad" ;)
If you are making bows that are single length it makes a difference and should be there.
Our bows come with risers from 13, 15, 17 and 19 inches with interchangeable limbs in Short, medium, long and XL. This makes for bows from 54 to 66 inches each with it's on string length.
And did I mention Longbow and Recurve limbs?
We send strings out with the bow that show the Actual length on the package. And I have a chart on the wall by my computer for questions.
Mike
LBR, I agree with a bowyer writing on the bow the string length. Something so simple could cause such a problem.
How many times someone comes on here and I just bought a used bow and don't know the string length.
I knew it had been done (I have an old Herter's myself). I meant I wonder why it isn't standard, like marking the bow with the length and weight on it. I've learned that there's a few bowyers that mark the string length on their bows, but just a few.