stacked limbs

[Papalazaru]

hi new to this game and hear people talking about stacked limbs.
1 what is this
2 what causes it
3 is it obviouse?
cheers

[grantwomack]

The way I understand it, limbs stack when they are drawn beyond their maximum natural draw length.
It is particularly evident in longbows where they are built and tillered to be shot at a particular draw length. Drawing towards the designated draw-length, you can feel a fairly normal draw curve. When you start to draw beyond that, you can feel a sharp rise in the draw curve, and poundage goes up more per inch than it does below the max draw length.

It is a little more difficult to predict in recurve limbs. I'd say I've only shot two pairs of limbs (out of about 20) that stacked. Both of them were on bows that were too short for me. It is usually only obvious if you have a longer draw length than the average for the length of bow you are shooting.

Hope this helps. Others please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...

[nfinite]

Originally Posted by grantwomack

The way I understand it, limbs stack when they are drawn beyond their maximum natural draw length.
It is particularly evident in longbows where they are built and tillered to be shot at a particular draw length. Drawing towards the designated draw-length, you can feel a fairly normal draw curve. When you start to draw beyond that, you can feel a sharp rise in the draw curve, and poundage goes up more per inch than it does below the max draw length.

It is a little more difficult to predict in recurve limbs. I'd say I've only shot two pairs of limbs (out of about 20) that stacked. Both of them were on bows that were too short for me. It is usually only obvious if you have a longer draw length than the average for the length of bow you are shooting.

Hope this helps. Others please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...

I think your spot on grant, thats my understanding as well.

[Schme1440]

Yes, the feeling is that the limb increases as you draw and then suddenly feels very heavy. Its almost like the limbs hit a wall and dont want to bend anymore. The main cause is age. If your limbs feel like this then its time to get new ones.

[Papalazaru]

thanks guys

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Schme1440

...The main cause is age. If your limbs feel like this then its time to get new ones.

Interesting. I thought stacking was mostly down to the limbs' design, but I can certainly imagine this happening with older wood limbs. But is it also true of carbon/foam-core limbs? How old do they have to be before this starts to happen?

Definitely something you want to know before you buy a pair of 2nd-hand limbs! Someone is offering me some Samick Masters at about GBP 125, but maybe it's not such a good deal after all?

[buzz lite beer]

stacking and age is usually more associated with long unused longbows.