Tuning forks?

Rik

Supporter
Supporter
This just came up on FB - a post by Infinite Curve
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/earlyhuman/archery-tuning-forks-tools-for-better-bow-alignmen

Kind of a neat idea, elaboration of limb guages like the Beiters with a builtin parallax element.
 

JohnK

Well-known member
I'm backer no. 5 :)

Anything that makes aligning a bow easier is good in my book. Beiter gauges are a great tool, but they don't solve the problem these gauges do. Here's hoping they get funded.
 

Graham Smith

Active member
AIUK Saviour
They seem like a terrific idea. I hope they go into production and become available in the UK.

Beiter gauges are good but there is always a bit of guess work into which limb to adjust.
 

dvd8n

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It's an interesting idea. I never got on with Beiter gauges as I found that if the string touched the gauges then there was too much stiction between the string and the gauge and you could get any reading that you want, and if there was a gap then you get parallax errors.

I'd back it but unfortunately the postage and import duties makes it way too expensive in my opinion. I'd buy a pair in a heartbeat from a local shop for ?20-30 though.

Oh, and as Jon says, it's really not clear if a set is one or two gauges.
 

timrc

New member
A set is two gauges.

It shows this in a picture (cannot upload for some reason).

if you scroll down the Kickstarter page you can see exactly what is included in each option, about 2/3rds of the way down.
 

Libris

Supporter
Supporter
It's an interesting idea. I never got on with Beiter gauges as I found that if the string touched the gauges then there was too much stiction between the string and the gauge and you could get any reading that you want, and if there was a gap then you get parallax errors.

I'd back it but unfortunately the postage and import duties makes it way too expensive in my opinion. I'd buy a pair in a heartbeat from a local shop for ?20-30 though.

Oh, and as Jon says, it's really not clear if a set is one or two gauges.
This.

Much as I like gadgets, and these look as gadgetty as they come, postage from the good old US of A is generally eyewatering. And, since the shipping label is in English, it’s likely to get stopped at customs. Then there’s the Post Office/Parcel Force’s racket, err... service fee, for processing your import VAT.

I’ll wait. Reluctantly though :rolleyes:
 

jonUK76

Member
No worries :) It looks like it's just copied the plain text without picking up the URL. On some apps "copy URL" if it shows as an option should work ;)
 

dvd8n

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No, my sticking point is the price by the time that international postage, import duty, VAT, and punitive post office 'fee collection fees' have accumulated, which I reckon will double the price.

The one or two guages thing was just an observation.

I wish Keith all the best and I hope that he makes a lot of money selling the idea to Easton so that I can have a set at a reasonable price.
 

dvd8n

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Well, the upshot to this was that the tuning forks failed to meet their target on Kickstarter. But Keith launched a second campaign with reduced prices and shipping which I backed.

My set arrived a few weeks ago but for various reasons I did not get a chance to use them until today.

And I have to say that they made alignment really easy.

I never really got on with Beiter Gauges as I found that there was too much stiction in the system to get a good reading so I always ended up giving up and using my bow square to measure misalignment.

But the tuning forks were a revelation. The misalignment was really easy to see and fix - I think that I had in the past managed to get my limbs parallel but the riser slightly off-square resulting in a sort of slightly Z shaped bow if you will. It took me a while to sort the problem but that was down to unfamiliarity; I think that next time the adjustment will take literally minutes. The alignment issues really are that obvious.

I'd buy another set in a heartbeat.
 

dvd8n

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Oh, and I won the import tax lottery - I didn't get charged any import duty or VAT :cloud9:
 

jonUK76

Member
Glad to hear they work well for you dvd8n. Has sorting the alignment properly improved the way your bow shoots noticeably? I missed the Kickstarter but they are in limited production now and I've ordered a set directly from the Earlyhuman web site. I think they have a few available still..
 

dvd8n

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When I used them I thought that I would just be confirming that my bow was in alignment, but I ended up being surprised how far out it was. They were very easy to use and I had it straight surprisingly quickly. But does the bow shoot better? That's really hard to say. It certainly wasn't night and day but it did feel a little better. But that may just have been a confidence boost from knowing that it was straight. And a very slight tendency for the string to jump out of its groove disappeared. But I tell you what - the ease of use means that I'd recommend them over any other alignment method even if they are a bit expensive.
 

jonUK76

Member
Well I got mine, which arrived from the US surprisingly quickly and were pushed through the door with the normal post (no Parcelforce involvement, admin fees etc.) which was nice!

And yes, they illustrated very quickly where limbs are out of alignment! I've previously tried to align my bow with Beiter blocks with the help of a digital camera. I was not very successful it seems, as these showed how far out it still was. I was able to correct the alignment in about twenty minutes once I worked out what was what. Following the limb alignment, I also found my centre shot and sight position also needed modifying quite a bit. So far, seems a good buy.
 

Timid Toad

Moderator
Staff member
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Ironman
Here is my caveat: Always be aware that thick varnish or uneaven paint or an asymmetrically applied decal at the edge of the limb will show up on the guages. This may give spurious results. The gauges may also show you that it's your riser that is out, not your limbs, and that is a trickier fix.
 

vixen1500

New member
When I used them I thought that I would just be confirming that my bow was in alignment, but I ended up being surprised how far out it was. They were very easy to use and I had it straight surprisingly quickly. But does the bow shoot better? That's really hard to say. It certainly wasn't night and day but it did feel a little better. But that may just have been a confidence boost from knowing that it was straight. And a very slight tendency for the string to jump out of its groove disappeared. But I tell you what - the ease of use means that I'd recommend them over any other alignment method even if they are a bit expensive.
Just curious as to what happens your string jumps out of its grove, does it happen often?
 

dvd8n

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I just used to notice that the string occasionally wasn't sitting in the string groove at the end of the limb, but rather one or two mm to one side. With a small nudge it would slip back into the groove with a slight click. But then later on in the session I'd notice that it was out of it's groove again. I just assumed that it was a foible of the limb or string. But it never happened again after I sorted the alignment, so with hindsight it was obviously telling me that something wasn't quite right.
 
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