How make Bob Lee quieter?

[TXhogkilr]

Thanks for the input from many of you about my Hoyt Satori & your thoughts on Bob Lee bows. So I received this week my new (for me) Bob Lee bow. It is used but looks in almost new condition. It truly is a work of art & beautiful.

Question, it is a little noisy & I wanted to get your thoughts on making it quieter? It came with fuzzy yarn balls installed on the string but the Bob Lee website said they DO NOT recommend putting anything on the limbs in the string groove? Is there any way putting calf hair in the string groove to make it quieter could harm the limbs?

I have the brace height in their recommended 7 7/8" but any other ideas to make the bow more quiet?

[jerp]

First thing I would do is experiment by tweaking the brace height, no more than 1/4" at a time in each direction

[Trumpkin]

In no particular order:
- arrow weight of 10+ gpp
- raise your brace height
- verify your arrows are not stiff (will slap off the riser)
- make sure nocks aren't too tight

Most importantly... your release is the biggest source of noise once your bow is properly tuned. I can hear a difference between my best release and a bad release

[SJP51]

My 38@28 BL recurve is noisy as heck at 8" BH. At 8 1/4" BH it got nice and quiet.

[LeanMachine]

I put loop side adhesive velcro over the string contact areas of the limbs on my bob lee years ago and nothing bad has happened.

[DRT]

Get a Primal Tech instead.[emoji2]

[KDD]

On my recurves I take the ends of the string and soak them in lacquer thinner about 6” down. Gets rid of all the wax(and color����). But makes the string very soft at the contact points and really helps to quiet them down.

[jerp]

I put loop side adhesive velcro over the string contact areas of the limbs on my bob lee years ago and nothing bad has happened.

I did the same on mine. I think they advise against putting anything in the string groove fearing something too thick could put the string out of alignment

[SJP51]

You did not say, but I assume your BL is a recurve. And I assume yours is a 58" recurve since you indicate 7 7/8" recommended BH. From discussion with JJ, I think that the "recommended" BH is really a minimum BH. And, Bob Lee has increased the recommended BH over the years. My 20+ year old 60" takedown recurve Bob Lee had a recommended 7 3/4" BH on the paperwork it came with. Now they recommend 8" on the website. It's noisy as heck at 7 3/4" and pretty quiet at 8".

You did not say what you think the source of the noise is. The fix will depend upon the source or cause of the noise.

For string slap on limbs:
- Raise BH by 1/8" then 1/4". Your bow will be likely be quieter at 8" BH.
- Increase arrow gpp. 9gpp will be quieter than 8gpp. Just add 25 or 50 grains to the tip and check noise effect.
- Add softner to the limbs: Bob Lees say not to add anything in the groove.
- Wrap yarn around the string from the loop down to about 1/2" below the end of the groove.
- Add brush buttons to the string. I'v never tried this. Other options always worked.

For osscilation of limbs (primarily on lighter wieght limbs):
- Increase gpp.
- Increase BH.

For ossicliation of the string:
- Increase gpp.
- Best location of silencers. This is critical in my opinon.
- Heavier silencer
- Make sure the arrow nock is not overly tight on string. EXTREME caution. If the arrow slips off the string before you release it'll be a dry fire and a really, really bad day. Ask me how I know.

For arrow hitting riser or anywhere else, you can spray athetes foot power on the shelf area. It'll dry to white flakey powder. See if the arrow hits anywhere. If it's slapping the handle you can decrease spine.

The glove or tab can also cause noise. The sound of the string slipping off of a Codura finger tipped glove is loud compared to a soft leather tipped glove or hair tab. My Codura gloves are more comfy for long shooting sessions, but they are louder.

For locating the string silencer, everybody has their method. I find on my BL recurves that silencer positioned 18.3% of live length from each contact point works best. Give it a try. This Youtube explains it well. https://youtu.be/_oYt3bfi6Ng

Can I ramble or what?

[DRT]

Wow. Your thumbs must be really strong. [emoji38]

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[DRT]

Try this.

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[TXhogkilr]

Thanks for all the input. I'll keep working on it & let you know what happens.

[Skunklady]

Brace Height first, start at the higher limit of the manufacturer suggestion. Then move in. My Bob Lee is quiet at 8 1/4th. Sweet right there.