Basic Compound Setup :: Online Archery UK

Basic Compound Bow Setup
A basic introduction to compound setup and tuning.

Draw Length

This may sound simple, but because a compound can be shot with a bent arm, the whole thing can be a little confusing. A very straight arm is bad, so a slightly bent, relaxed arm is a fairly common starting point.

Shooting with a bent arm gives better control in the wind, it is better for up and down hill slopes for field archery, and also brings the weight of the bow more into the body line, usually making it more comfortable.

Bow Weight

Most men shoot between 50 & 60lbs. FITA’s maximum is 60lbs. Most women shoot between 35 to 45lbs. There is no particular reason for shooting any particular weight. Commonly, archers will say that with a certain bow they may choose to shoot at say 55lbs. If the wind the bow up to 58lbs they will find it difficult to hold steady on the gold. If they go down to 52lbs the same is true, that they find it harder to hold steady on the gold. Once again there seems to be several sweet spots through the range.

These first two settings come down to you and are found from experimentation. The weight setting may need to be changed nominally to match the arrow set-up.

Centre Shot

There is only one place for the rest to be set. That is on the true centre shot. If you are expecting the arrow to come out of the bow dead straight, the only way this can happen is if the rest is exactly inline with the travel of the string. On an accurately made bow with no limb twist either at rest or full draw this is a simple measurement to make; Simply put a bit of masking tape half way up the limbs. Measure from the side of the limb to the face of the cam and transfer this measurement to a line in the tape. Then with an arrow in the bow, stand back and line up the string with the line just to the left for a left handed archer (and right for a right handed archer). Because most bows particularly with the latest fashion for split limbs, do have some limb twist at full draw, this measured centre-shot is seldom the precise working centre shot, but will be a good starting point.

Cam Timing

Whatever you may read elsewhere the only correct cam/wheel timing is where the cams work precisely together, coming over the peak together and stopping together. Checking this at rest and full draw is a good starting point. Because you may have one limb that works quicker than the other because one wheel is a little tighter than the other, because one cable may be a little tighter on the cable slide than the other one wheel may come over before the other. If the cam/wheel timing is not correct, the leading cam does NOT stay in the lead all through the shot. What happens is that the lead cam starts first then overtaken the other cam continually leading and following through the shot. This causes the nocking point to rise and fall sometimes the arrow will leave the bow with the nock moving down sometimes with the nock moving up. Bad cam timing is the major reason for arrow interference through the shot.

Measuring at rest should be done from the string to a constant point on the cam. Do not measure from the limb as the limb pre-bend can vary top to bottom. The best way the check the rollover at full draw, if you have draw stops is to put a loop of strong cord around the string where the release would normally go. Put your foot through the loop in the cord and pulling from the pressure point on the grip, pull the bow to full draw and check that both cables come to the stops at the same time. If you do not have stops draw lines at a tangent to the cable cams at a full draw position and use these as you would stops. This is the starting position.

Nocking Points

Use only a top nock or a top nock and very small bottom nock tied in place using serving thread, if you are using a rope release. If you are using a caliper release it is a good idea to have a substantial bottom nock to stop the release from interfering with the arrow. If you are using carbon arrows a good starting point measured from square to the bottom of the top nock is about 10mm. For aluminium arrows a figure of 12mm.

For more information on Compound setup and tuning please see the list of related articles