Who can fix twisted recurve limb?

Exit Felix · February 23, 2014, 05:57:00 PM

Suggestions? It's a Robertson Fatal Styk I purchased used a couple of years ago when I first started trad, and I just recently noticed (don't shoot it much, shoot my lb's mostly). Thanks!

Nick

Bobby Urban · February 23, 2014, 06:20:00 PM

hot tap water over twist - use your hands and twist the opposite way just past straight. Hold and run under cold water.

Dry - check for straightness - repeat as necessary. Should work for most small twists

tradgreenhorn · February 23, 2014, 08:20:00 PM

Bow hospital, John is a sponser on here. I had John re-do a wing bow for my wife and a Bear super mag. Both bows turned out better than expected, John is a great guy to do bussiness with,give him a call.

Don

February 23, 2014, 10:05:00 PM

You can fix it very easily, if it is not twisted too bad. A couple clamps and a blow dryer is all it takes!

Bisch

Matty · February 23, 2014, 10:12:00 PM

QuoteOriginally posted by Bobby Urban:
hot tap water over twist - use your hands and twist the opposite way just past straight. Hold and run under cold water.

Dry - check for straightness - repeat as necessary. Should work for most small twists

Second this one!

**DONOTDELETE** · February 23, 2014, 10:17:00 PM

You can ruin the limb pretty easy too using heat.... go easy on her bro. A hair dryer is ok. just be really careful if you use a heat gun instead. if it doesn't come right out of it. send it to someone that knows their stuff.

btw if it goes well. after you get her straight again, leave it strung for a few days so it takes a set and stays put. Kirk

February 23, 2014, 10:19:00 PM

QuoteOriginally posted by Kirkll:
You can ruin the limb pretty easy too using heat.... go easy on her bro. A hair dryer is ok. just be really careful if you use a heat gun instead. if it doesn't come right out of it. send it to someone that knows their stuff.

btw if it goes well. after you get her straight again, leave it strung for a few days so it takes a set and stays put. Kirk

No way I would EVER try it with a heat gun! Way too high temps there!

Bisch

Sixby · February 23, 2014, 10:46:00 PM

I have fixed over a hundred twisted limb bows using the hot and cold water method. Wax the limb real good and wipe it off with a towel real quick. You will not get it too hot with hot water and running the cold sets the molecular structure. Two or three times checking it until the twist is out and she is fixed and no harm done.

God bless, Steve

Exit Felix · February 23, 2014, 10:48:00 PM

Thanks for the answers, folks. I'll try John if I can't get it right myself.

Nick

Dave Lay · February 24, 2014, 09:55:00 AM

ive soaked a towell in hot water and wrapped the twisted part in it let it sit a while and gave it a gentile correction twist and it usually straightens out just fine...

Igor · February 24, 2014, 10:26:00 AM

I've corrected a number of them with gentle twisting with a little over correction - then string them and hanging them by the string. Some times it takes a couple of sessions. I've only had to use the warm water method once on a bow that was being stubborn.

Good luck
glenn

joe vt · February 24, 2014, 10:31:00 AM

I have fixed a couple with boiling water and then cold water.

I just recently fix one by simply twisting it the opposite direction while strung and without any heat. It took several times but it worked.

**DONOTDELETE** · February 24, 2014, 11:17:00 AM

QuoteOriginally posted by joe vt:
I have fixed a couple with boiling water and then cold water.

I just recently fix one by simply twisting it the opposite direction while strung and without any heat. It took several times but it worked.

I sure wouldn't recommend trying to straighten a limb while its strung at all. That's pretty dicey.
You definitely should not use heat while the bow is strung. you could easily throw off your tiller.

I experimented with doing this on purpose to an old Ben Pearson bow that was an inch out of tiller. It had been left standing in a corner for years in a garage.... i got the tiller back, but the bow was never the same. The two limbs were bending in different locations and she really kicked after the shot....

Brock · February 24, 2014, 04:21:00 PM

I fixed a set of limbs for a Vision Falcon last year....hot water, over twist, hold, cool...check and repeat. Then hung it by string in braced position with nothing touching it other than where string touched two pegs. She is straight now and stays true when shot.

took me a couple months of gentle over twisting and hanging by string to get it to hold permanently. Just took picture couple nights ago for guy that was interested in them and was still straight. I shot that bow at the NCTAR last year and it held the whole weekend...

Anyhow....it is good to go now.

JamesKerr · February 24, 2014, 09:13:00 PM

Yep hot water then cold water works for me too. I'm just glad I don't have to do it anymore shooting only longbows.

kbetts · February 27, 2014, 07:05:00 AM

Based on this thread, I took the plunge and attempted my first "straightening". I had traded some time back for a Hitman double carbon r/d longbow that had just a hint of twist to the upper limb tip. 15 minutes with some hot and cold tap water and you can't even tell there was an issue. I gave it some time to cool, restrung, shot a couple of times and it's staying put. Much easier and a lot less stressful than I was making it out to be.

Once again, thanks gang.......

Dave Worden · February 27, 2014, 01:09:00 PM

I've fixed them with no heat and no water. Clamp the bow horizontally in your bench vise. Put a bar clamp on the twisted limb . (It should be sticking up.) Hang a can of paint on the bar to twist the limb back straight and leave it for a couple of days. Check it, if not straight, leave it for a couple more. It's a bit slow, but it VERY SAFE.

Bluenose · February 27, 2014, 05:22:00 PM

I have a slight twist in the upper limb of a double carbon, bamboo core recurve. Is there any difference between glass and carbon in regards to the use of a blow dryer?

7 Lakes · February 28, 2014, 02:06:00 PM

I use the hot water / cold water thing also. If the water is to hot for your hand, it's to hot.

Limb twisting is why I started building my Recurves narrow with a deeper core. The first step in curing limb twist is to engineer against limb twist.