Tune for Tens-1

Copyright 2000 All Rights Reserved

FOREWORD:

An important part of archery is the equipment. The skill of the archer is also important but if the bow is not properly tuned, the archer's skill is reduced. Tuning can be achieved in a short period of time by following these steps carefully. The archer that puts the most time and effort into practice and equipment tuning will have the most success.

There are several steps to tuning a recurve bow. Always set the brace height as specified by the manufacturer before you set your nock point. Changing the brace height will nearly always affect the proper nock point. Use a chart similar to the one at the end of this document to record the brace height and always verify when reassembling your bow.

The PLUNGER has a SPRING to allow horizontal movement of the arrow. When tuned properly, the PLUNGER will prevent the arrow from moving in past center in case of a bad shot.

Cut a wooden MATCH or piece of WIRE
about 3/4" long, to use as an insert to
make the PLUNGER stiff. The STIFF
PLUNGER will help tune the arrow shaft.
(insert in the plunger in place of the spring)

Remove the center stabilizer and remove the sight if necessary.

Put the bow in a stand or lean the tip of the bow forward against a wall to allow a clear view of the alignment of string and riser/limbs. Do not lean to a side that causes the limb(s) to distort.

The string should be in the center of the limbs.

Re-install the stabilizer and sight if removed in previous step.
Move the stiff plunger in or out so that the bare shaft is directly in the center of the bow.
The string should be in the center of the arrow for this step.

The bow is now ready for shooting.

NOTE: This step is the same for left (pull bowstring with left hand) and right hand (pull bowstring with right hand) archers:

This step will:

Determine is the nock point is correct. (this is a correctable item)
Determine if the arrows are stiff or weak (this may or may not be correctable)

WHY A BARE SHAFT?
If shot at short distance through paper into a butt, a bare shaft will reveal improper thrust effects since aerodynamics will not have time to straighten out the flight of the arrow. It will literally fly sideways through the paper creating a tell-tale pattern if the tune is bad.

Fletching would straighten out the arrow's flight and make this first stage of tuning more difficult.

The TUNING FRAME consists of a frame to hold a sheet/piece
of paper at the proper height in front of the target matt. You will .
need at least one arrow with no fletchings (aka bare shaft). It is
better to have a number of bare shafts so that you can compare
them and make sure they all behave the same before beginning
this stage of the process. The paper can be tissue, newspaper,
paper bag or butcher paper as long as it is large enough to fit the
frame and will tear cleanly as arrows pass through.

The nock point must be set so the thrust of the bowstring pushes the arrow neither up nor down but rather straight forward. Stand 5 to 6 meters from the tuning frame.
The target matt should be 1 to 2 meters behind the frame to allow the bare shaft to pass completely through and clear the paper before it hits the target matt. Shoot the bare shaft though the paper about shoulder height to allow for a parallel flight. The shape of the tear in the paper will indicate the current tune of the bow. Your paper tear may have both a
vertical tear and a horizontal tear component.

We will adjust for the vertical tear first.

TEAR is UP. The arrow flies with the nose down and the tail high. The point of the bare shaft went through the paper low and the nock went through high. The
NOCK POINT is too high. Move the
NOCK POINT lower down the bow string.

TEAR is DOWN. The arrow flies with the nose high and the tail low. The point of the bare shaft went through the paper high and the nock went through low. The NOCK Point is too low. Move the NOCK POINT higher up the bow string.

Verify your brace height, and then adjust the NOCK POINT until the tear is neither up nor down.

Shoot as many bare shafts as necessary to be sure of the consistency of your results.

Each step in this process should be completed before beginning the next step.

The point of the bare shaft went in to the right. The nock tears the paper to the left (leans to the left of the point). In this picture the nock is at the left end, the point made the hole on the right end.

The point of the bare shaft went in to the left. The nock tears the paper to the right (leans to the right of the point). In this picture the point made the hole on the left and the nock is on the right end.

The next section will lead you through adjusting your bow for any horizontal tear. If you have no horizontal tear then just read through Section 4 and proceed to Section 5.