Too Twisted?

[Kavogt]

Just how many turns should I consider the upper limit of twists to put on an endless string?

I have 1969 66" Bear Temujin of my  father's that I'm putting back into use and have been trying to get a decent brace height. Untwisted, the 63" strings brace low at around 7.25" and the 62" string high at about 9"

Bear never got back to me about proper brace height for this bow so I'm running under the assumption that it's somewhere between the two strings.

Thanks for any answers!!

[sleepyhollow]

Between 8-9 inches

[30coupe]

I'd put on the 63" and twist up from there. Some of the old Bears used 10" of brace height.    

I usually stay around 8.5" with mine, but I haven't had one that long, 60" is my longest Bear. If you get to 9 with the longer string and it's still loud, try the other one.

[Kavogt]

Thanks for the advice.

The string that my dad had with it was 60" and braced at about 11 inches. I figured it was a mix-up, but, based on what you said, Coupe, I guess it's possible that it was the original string?

Also, Coupe, just how loud is loud? Or, perhaps the better question is how quiet should it be? Been about 20 years since I've shot a recurve, so I don't have a memory to reference how loud they're supposed to be.

[30coupe]

Well, loud is kind of hard to describe in print, but recurves will never be totally silent. The string slaps the limb with each shot. You can make them pretty quiet. As you raise the brace height, listen for the twang of the string to lessen. Do this without string silencers, yet. Once you get it as quiet as it will go (you will reach a point where raising the brace height won't make a difference to the sound), you can add your choice of string silencers. Yarn puffs work well. I use cat whiskers due to the amount of burrs where I hunt. Bow Hush (a wool yarn product that you wrap around the nock ends of the string) works well on recurves. You can use moleskin under the limb tips where the string makes contact. Bow Hush probably works a bit better, moleskin is cheaper.

I have an old Bear Black Bear that is pretty quiet  as recurves go. Longbows are almost always quieter due to the lack of string contact with the bow. Your bow will need a Dacron (B50) string. I usually try to stay with the skinniest string I can, but B50 is not as strong as the newer no stretch material, so I use a 10 strand on my 45# Bear. Heavy strings are harder to silence. What weight is your bow?

I think a 60" string would be way too short, even for a Bear.

[Kavogt]

Thanks Coupe, lots of good info!

The bow is 42#. And I am using b-50 strings, but, like the one that came with it, 12-strand, so I don't know how much of a difference that will make.

Time to twist up and see what happens...

-Ken

[Kavogt]

Finally settled on a brace height around 9.125 to 9.25 inches. Took about 30 twists in the 62 inch string to get it there, but it finally shoots quiet. Amazed me what a difference a quarter of an inch makes.

Turns out I ordered 14-strand strings, so time to order up some 12 and 10-strand 61" stings and see how it takes to them.

Thanks again for everyone's help!