twisted limbs

[jthain]

This may seem a silly question to some of you who are lifelong archers but as a relative newbie it needs to be adressed.
Is it possible to straighten twisted limbs?
I have heard of various cures for a twisted limb usually in the form of applying heat to the limb to allow it to be corrected but does anything really work?.
I think that it would be impossible to truly straighten out a twisted limb to its original shape but can anyone verify this.

[elastoplastscavenger]

search around, there is mention of it in another thread. i remember something like standing it in a bucket of hot water, take it out and then twisting it a bit past straight and holding it there till it cools. sounds kinda dodgy to me: almost certainly will dramatically shorten the limb life but if it's twisted then it's usually a choice between twisting it back or throwing it out so i know which one i would pick (fix it - i'm cheap. but i cant recomend this technique!)

[Quadratus]

The technique is easy - just put the limb in hot water for a couple of minutes(hand hot, not boiling) correct the twist, wait to cool and repeat as necessary. String the bow, making sure the limb twist is gone, leave strung over night. A variant, shown me by Robin Robson formerly of Border, is to use infra-red heat lamps.

I'm not recommending this to anyone - try it strictly at your own risk! - , but I have done it successfully several times. However, I have not done it for many years, and only with wood cored limbs. I have no idea how more modern adhesives and synthetic cores would react.

[radsbow]

I have no idea if they work or not though, so please don't blame me

[reckless]

I have seen my coach use steam from a boiling keatle and a manual twisting to straighten out a striker wood core limb. that same limb is still being used by a club member 3 months later, and he is consistantly shooting 530+ on a 40cm face at 18meters.

[WhitehartFB]

How bad is the twist and where is it along the limb?

Usually it's the limb tips, firstly if your bow has lateral limb adjustment check that it is set so the string runs down the centre of each limb, it may or may not run centrally down the riser.

If this is OK or you cannot adjust the limbs, string the bow and put a slight opposite twist at the top of the limb this should straighten it out then leave the bow strung for a day. To check if it has worked unstring the bow and re string it if there is still a twist then the limb has formed a permanent twist. You can repeat the process but leave the bow strung for a couple of days.

Unless you understand what you are doing IMO I would not recommend DIY fixes limbs hurt when they break. If economically viable I would take it to a pro shop to be fixed failing that buy a new pair of limbs.

Most damage and twisting of limbs is done when stringing the bow so make sure you use a bow stringer and also check the string alignment everytime you shoot so if there is a twist you correct it staright away.

[jthain]

Thanks to all who have taken time to reply to my quierie (is that spelt right?).
The reason for the question was that I have an old Bear Formula Gold bow that has a twisted limb. I would like to try it out to see how it shoots but with a twisted limb the results would be misleading.
I tried the hot water cure when I first got the bow but no success so I was doubtful of any of the supposed remedies.
Good to learn that some do work and they are not just fairy tales.

[GingerGlen]

Send them back and buy new ones.

or...

Some people for minor twists use a rat-tail file and etch away at one side the groove in the tip of the limb, naturally, the limb tip will then have less tension on the filed down side and straighten up, unless you've done it on the wrong side.

I'm no engineer so im not sure if this is just masking up the problem but to me it makes perfect sence!

[danda]

I'd stay with the twist, rather than file anything.

The forces bouncing around in a limb would unerringly home in on such scratches,and things would get very loud, very soon.

Probably.