how many of you find it hard to tune a traditional bow, ever had one that was very finicky...
It's give and take,
The give, is a bow w/ a lot of pre-load in their design. It will feel silky smooth and launch a very quick arrow.
The take, is they can be sensitive to shooting flaws such as inconsistent finger pressure on the string, incorrect pressure on the grip, ect.
I was told by a respect bowyer that if you take a recurve ''unstrung'' and lay it on a flat surface so the limb tips touch 1st. The further forward the limb tips are in relation to the bow's riser. The more pre-load that bow has in the design.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j6fcVAZWNU
Oh yeah, I've tuned a bunch of bows and have had a few I just never could get right. That was due to the bows being strongly tillered for shooting split fingered and I was shooting them 3 under.
Sell it and get another!
A lot of times we are not getting consistent results from short or long drawing a bow while tuning as well. It may be best to use a clicker while tuning to mitigate that aspect.
I believe BIgbadjon hit the nail on the head. Using the same form, release, anchor, etc. can not be stressed enough. It may well be why some bows may not tune for someone. They might be overbowed which makes for short drawing as an example. I admit I am guilty of all the above, never realized it until I was videoed at Black Widow shooting seminar.
Tuning a bow is pretty simple... just use the recommended brace height, and adjust the string nock and the strike plate thickness for fine tuning. Finding the pressure point location on the grip the limbs are balanced to is important too.
Tuning the arrows to the bow properly is the important part...
I've only tuned a couple hundred bows in the last 50 plus years. Never had one that was hard to tune or finicky in terms of matching an arrow to it for good arrow flight. With a little experience, it's really pretty simple.