I’m a DIY guy. I like to build tools and stuff. Saves money and I just like to tinker. So, after learning to make bow strings I made a pipe clamp style bow press so I could install said strings. Last night I put a new string and cables on my Elite XLR. They look really snazzy and I was please how well the bow press worked.
After tying in my drop away cord I quickly released the bow limbs and picked up my bow. Looked great! Oh, and I had installed my new hyper glide cable slide, as well. All looked great! I grabbed the string and pulled it back to check the feel and watch the cable slide work. Half a second later I felt a soft “pop”... Then there was nothing. My string went limp and my cables were tight. Crap! I’d forgotten to re-install the stupid draw stops!!!
So, feeling really stupid I checked and found that my shop in Alvarado is closed on Monday’s. Other closest shop is also closed on Monday’s. Started regretting my pipe clamp press because it doesn’t have enough travel in the clamp to compress and release the bow enough to fix the issue. So, feeling sorry for myself I checked the Elite site to see what presses they recommend. Saw on the portable press list that they recommend a Bowmaster. I didn’t know much about it, but looked it up. Saw that one was available at Bass Pro up in Grapevine.
To wrap things up, I went up there this am and bought the Bowmaster. $49 and it worked great! I was able to crank my bow down enough to rotate the cams back, then it had enough travel for me to loosen it back to where everything was strung up and good to go. Super!
Can’t tell you how stressful a locked up 60# bow is! If you’ve never experienced it, well... it’s like holding an unexploded firecracker in your hand that is still smoking a bit. Was super tense clamping my bow to my bench and threading the Bowmaster toggles through the limbs, mere milimeters away from the locked up cams. But dang if that thing didn’t save the day!
I’m thinking that tool was the best $50 I’ve spent since getting into archery a couple of years ago! When I’m ready to replace my limbs and refinish my riser, that tool has enough travel to fully relax the bow so I can take it apart. Heck of a deal!
After tying in my drop away cord I quickly released the bow limbs and picked up my bow. Looked great! Oh, and I had installed my new hyper glide cable slide, as well. All looked great! I grabbed the string and pulled it back to check the feel and watch the cable slide work. Half a second later I felt a soft “pop”... Then there was nothing. My string went limp and my cables were tight. Crap! I’d forgotten to re-install the stupid draw stops!!!
So, feeling really stupid I checked and found that my shop in Alvarado is closed on Monday’s. Other closest shop is also closed on Monday’s. Started regretting my pipe clamp press because it doesn’t have enough travel in the clamp to compress and release the bow enough to fix the issue. So, feeling sorry for myself I checked the Elite site to see what presses they recommend. Saw on the portable press list that they recommend a Bowmaster. I didn’t know much about it, but looked it up. Saw that one was available at Bass Pro up in Grapevine.
To wrap things up, I went up there this am and bought the Bowmaster. $49 and it worked great! I was able to crank my bow down enough to rotate the cams back, then it had enough travel for me to loosen it back to where everything was strung up and good to go. Super!
Can’t tell you how stressful a locked up 60# bow is! If you’ve never experienced it, well... it’s like holding an unexploded firecracker in your hand that is still smoking a bit. Was super tense clamping my bow to my bench and threading the Bowmaster toggles through the limbs, mere milimeters away from the locked up cams. But dang if that thing didn’t save the day!
I’m thinking that tool was the best $50 I’ve spent since getting into archery a couple of years ago! When I’m ready to replace my limbs and refinish my riser, that tool has enough travel to fully relax the bow so I can take it apart. Heck of a deal!
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