How do I check drop away timing?
Equipment
Contributors to this thread:
How do I check my drop away's timing to confirm it is not causing arrow flight problems.
Danny
If you think it may be hitting, spray the back half of your arrow with foot powder spray. If there is any contact you will see the marks through the powder spray.
Spray the foot powder on the rest's prongs, you'll use a lot less powder.
No intention of sounding like a smartaxx, but a W/B will fix it. 2-3 fps is not a lot to pay for "Nothing will go wrong" peace of mind IMO. Accuracy? I've had 40yd., 50yd., and 20yd. RobinHoods using the W/B, within 4-5 weeks after a 17yr. haitus from archery. Not 1 single arrow. 20yd. RH was dumbaxx, not smartaxx. I'm not compensated by W/B, nor do I currently use them. I don't intend to take another animal until I take it with a recurve or selfbow. My freezer may start getting low without my son and grandkids help.
Archerdan,
With most drop-aways, the rest should be fully raised when you are 1-2" away from full draw. When attached to the down cable, the rest's cord should be taut enough to fully raise the rest, but it should not "bulge" the cable at full draw. And the rest should start dropping almost immediately when you release the string.
Hope this helps,
GG
Spike great advice , but i feel i need to add one thing to that. When pulling down your bow,be VERY CAREFUL to pull down without any torquing, pull straight down, or risk a derailing of the string! Foot powder on the vanes is a fool proof method.
Not to beat a dead horse but... when you draw the bow look at the rest and see when it stands up. It should raise up fully within the last 4" to 6" of draw. I shoot a limb driver but the same distance applies to most. Are you shooting vanes or feathers? How fast is your arrow speed? Do you have enough spine? Hows your cam timing(dual cam)? The reason I'm asking all these questions is it could be multiple issues causing erratic flight. Good luck, Mike
I have always put lipstick on the vanes, and as a side note my rest comes up fully the last 1/2" or so. I am shooting a QAD Ultra Pro HD.
I agree with Gray Ghost. Having the rest start to drop immediately at the release will give the maximum amount of time for fletching clearance and it will also be the most forgiving of arrow spine, nock travel, hand torque and cam lean issues.
i disagree Purdue there is a big benefit when it comes to the rest holding arrow as long as possible until clearance for fletching
what are the bene's of the rest holding an arrow longer?
Some people feel they can "steer" the arrow with follow-thru the longer it stays in contact with the rest. That's why many target archers still use lizard tongues, or something similar. Personally, I've seen no difference.
The whole idea of a drop-away is to minimize the the effect of grip, hand torque, and other human error during the launch cycle. In my mind, that means having it drop away as quickly as possible.
GG
"The whole idea of a drop-away is to minimize the the effect of grip, hand torque, and other human error during the launch cycle. In my mind, that means having it drop away as quickly as possible."
That's a common miss-conception. It is an added benefit for sure, but drop aways were invented solely for fletch contact issues back in the early 90's. Dealers, pro archers and the like used to make homemade drop aways out of the NAP and GKF prong rests by reversing the spring tension. The first one I saw was in the early 90's on Terry Ragsdales hunting bow.
The amount of time the rest stays up is 100% relative to how long that particular bow takes to level out the nock travel. Some bows, that's immediately, other bows need support almost the entire draw cycle.
Xman,
I understand your point and don't disagree.
The problem with timing most drop-aways to stay up for "almost the entire draw cycle" is that causes horizontal forces on the cable, which can cause other problems, IMO. The rest would have to raise in the first few inches of draw. From that point on, until full draw, the rest's cord would be pulling against the cable, possibly even "bulging" it in that direction.
Perhaps some designs allow you to slow the drop down without shortening the cord, but none of mine seem to.
For this reason, I've always thought some bows just aren't designed for drop-aways. As you said. certain bows take a long time for the nock to straighten out during launch. I think a more traditional spring-tension rest is best for those rigs.
GG
Prong rests were designed to collapse via a spring that if correctly adjusted is just capable of lifting the rest and arrow as the arrow comes to full draw. In others words the upward force of the spring was very light. If the nock travel of the bow forced the arrow down, the rest collapsed against the force of the arrow.
Unlike a prong rest a drop away rest is rigid while up. If the nock travel drives the arrow down, the arrow has nowhere to go. A bounce off of the rest will result.
I don't see how leaving a rigid rest up can do anything but bad things for arrow flight. Remember, even if you could have perfectly straight and level nock travel the arrow still flexes at the shot while being accelerated.
Many of the first group of carbon shafts were of small diameter, making fletch so close together that prong rests had to go to lizard tongues, and even then fletch contact was a problem......then the modified reverse spring, usually a Quik Tune 3000, and then eventually the flood of drop aways.
"Unlike a prong rest a drop away rest is rigid while up."
Most, but not all. This is one of the many advantages of the VT Limbdriver. It is a spring-steel rest in it's fixed possition. It also can be set to keep the arrow up for as long as you want on the release without affecting any cam synch or timing.
GG and others: Have a new Z7. What full containment drop away would be best for this bow? Any dissadvantages for those favorites lim driver, code red, or Qad pro?
tadpole, I have a Ripcord Code Red on my z7. No problems so far, and tuning was very easy. I'm sure a QAD would be just as good, but the difference in price wasn't worth it to me. The QAD won't drop on a slow let down, while the Ripcord will, but I feel the Ripcord is more durable and love that it doesn't need moleskin. There are plenty of great rests out there, but my personal favorite is the Ripcord.