Hey you trad guys??

[quadrafire]

Is this normal wear for a shelf?
This is a longbow approx 50 lbs shooting 3555 GT's with varying tip wt

[TONTO]

Looks about like the shelf on my Alaskan. I was wondering if mine was wearing a bit fast. I have a sheet of the velcro so I can change as needed, but seems to wear pretty quick. Of course I do shoot alot. Beeman 340 hunters 125gr tip 5" feather fletch.

[quadrafire]

Sounds about like the same set up Tonto. I have replaced this  a  couple of times, just wondering if it is wearing faster than normal??
I kind of assumed if it was tuned well it wouldn't wear much??

[Snapshot]

The wear pattern appears to be so far from the riser that I have to ask are you shooting vanes rather than feathers?

That aside, I will make a recommendation that will reduce the amount of contact that your arrow makes with the bow. The reason that minimizing contact is important is because we aren't machines and so there are slight inconsistencies in shooting that transfer to the arrow and thus affect the arrow's flight. If you reduce the bow's contact on the arrow you will reduce the ill effects caused by minor inconsistencies in shooting. Here is what I would suggest: so that it lies perpendicular to the arrow shaft, insert about a 3/8" to 1/2" long piece of a paper match under the rug rest and another piece under the strike plate; stop them about 1/8" from the inside corner where the shelf meets the riser to allow a space for the bottom hen feather to pass by without touching the match 'shims'. On longbows this spot should be at the apex of the curve on the shelf (if your shelf is flat, shame on the bowyer). On recurves it should be directly above the deepest part of the handle where the 'web' of your hand rests on the handle.

Good shooting!

[mountainman]

You can also try raising nock point a little bit at a time going up..if spine is correct, it may fix the problem..

[boneaddict]

My original sapphire hawk with a Velcro shelf looks the same.   Never had a problem hitting anything with it, but did think it was wearing funny.

[quadrafire]

No it is feather wear not vanes. I kinda thought it was worn awfully far out myself. But don't know what you other trad shooters are seeing.
Bone this is a similar bow to your hawk.

[Jellymon]

I'm not an expert, just going by what I read while learning to shoot my recurve. Remember archers paradox. When the string leaves your fingers is has to go around them on the left side, the arrow also bends point and nock to the left with the center going to the right. If spine is correct it will be in this bent state when released from the string, passing by the riser. The tail of the arrow will pass the riser further left than it was resting at full draw.  I believe this is what you are seeing. It's also what allows for sufficient vane clearance with traditional bows. 

That said, excessive wear could be too heavily spined arrow, too low nock point, or wrong vane orientation.

[mountainman]

I'm not an expert, just going by what I read while learning to shoot my recurve. Remember archers paradox. When the string leaves your fingers is has to go around them on the left side, the arrow also bends point and nock to the left with the center going to the right. If spine is correct it will be in this bent state when released from the string, passing by the riser. The tail of the arrow will pass the riser further left than it was resting at full draw.  I believe this is what you are seeing. It's also what allows for sufficient vane clearance with traditional bows. 

That said, excessive wear could be too heavily spined arrow, too low nock point, or wrong vane orientation.

[quadrafire]

Nice Jelly...
I am not seeing any feather wear, I think it is the arrow itself causing the shelf wear. I feel I'm probably pretty weak spined with the 3355 Gold tips, but may play with point weight a bit. I think the first thing I will do is move my knock point.
All this being said, it seems the arrows are flying true, so I may not change anything.
?

[ravdakot]

I'm not an expert, just going by what I read while learning to shoot my recurve. Remember archers paradox. When the string leaves your fingers is has to go around them on the left side, the arrow also bends point and nock to the left with the center going to the right. If spine is correct it will be in this bent state when released from the string, passing by the riser. The tail of the arrow will pass the riser further left than it was resting at full draw.  I believe this is what you are seeing. It's also what allows for sufficient vane clearance with traditional bows. 

That said, excessive wear could be too heavily spined arrow, too low nock point, or wrong vane orientation.

+1 tuning trad stuff is almost an art. Compounds are easy on comparison...  bare shaft tuning will tell you a whole lot!

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk

[quadrafire]

Rav
I have done quite alot of bare shaft shooting using grouping compared to feathered shafts.
My main problem is more with consistency of technique.

[Snapshot]

Quad, if your arrows are hitting the mark, then just get yourself a replacement rug and strike plate (for when the time comes to replace them) and have no worries... ;~) Have fun!