The rest arm drops all the way to the riser shelf. Is that Ok?
The rest was designed to have maximum range of motion of the arm downward. I did not want the arm to have a hard stopping point short of where the arrow would naturally push it to because that could result in rebound or bounce. In Normal use it will not reach the shelf and, if it does, it likely means the magnetic force is too weak or there is something wrong with your tune causing excessive downward force on the arm. If you are worried about damage to riser add a piece of tape or velcro where the arm contacts.
How do I tune the rest?
You do not tune the rest, you set up a rest. You tune your arrow spine, length, point weight, bow tiller, brace, nocking point as always. Trying to “tune” the rest to a non optimally set up bow or arrow combination will only lead to frustration.
Which magnetic strength is best?
After designing the rest and having a few options available for magnetism, I thought a consensus would form about which magnetic strength is best for each particular application (indoor, field, hunting, etc). Well, as of the time of this writing about 200 of these rests are in use and I can tell you I am no closer to understanding “Best”. We are all under our own personal biases and specifics of our setup. Barebow is not a cookie cutter sport. I designed the rest to be customizeable and adaptable for each individual’s needs. I have people that shoot the strongest magnets with the lightest arrows and get great crawls. I have equally as many that feel they get bounce when shooting the stronger arms. The Philosophy of this rest is that you want the strongest arm for maximum guidance that you can shoot without causing bounce, or contact issues. That strength has many variables that will contribute to its viability. In our testing, we confirmed that all mid range magnetic strengths resulted in identical crawl reduction WITH proper tuning. Crawl advantage was only diminished with extremely strong magnetism out of the range of what most customers would order. I will say, after walking many people through the tuning process, that a stiffer arm will show if your tune is off more readily than a softer arm. Do not confuse this as the softer arm being more forgiving. A softer arm gets thrown out of the way much more drastically than a firm arm and in my opinion has the side effect of diminished guidance. There is no “free lunch” stringwalking is all about finding the best set of compromises to maximize versatilityfor YOUR setup. Each different magnet setup has it’s own inherent benefits. Lighter magnetism is more yielding so seems to tune easier and less contact issues with side effect of less guidance Stronger magnetism seems to guide more consistently and get bullied less by the arrow but you may need to work harder to get it tuned.
Can I replace the Arm?
The stainless steel arm and iron magnetic pivot are braze welded together to create a one piece arm that is virtually indestuctable. This revolutionary design detail eliminated the need for small setscrews that often hold the arm on other rests. Those setscrews are very prone to loosening, stripping and are a cheap solution to an absolutely critical rest component. The arm should never need replacing. It is made of 2mm stainless steel which is able to withstand repeated drastic bending to 90 degrees without breaking. the bend in the arm against the sealed bearing is what holds the arm in place. It IS removeable with some effort. Removal can be accomplished by straightening the arm and pushing it through the bearing and module for removal.
Can I use the rest for hunting?
Yes, Absolutely! I designed the rest to be durable enough for hunting and to support hunting weight arrows. The stainless steel brackets can be sandblasted for more of a matte finish and even darkened blackish grey at high heat. The brass will naturally darken with time. If chosen for hunting, let me know at checkout so that we can discuss your arrow weights and which magnets would be best. Of course, since you may get excited when hunting you do not want to have to light of an action to avoid accidental drops. The arm can be covered in shrink wrap tubing or wrapped with floss, etc. to quiet the shaft against it. Also covering the magnetic housing with tape or velcro to prevent dirt from entering is a good precaution.
Do I need to trim the wire?
The arm is purposefully left long so that it can be trimmed to fit your riser/plunger position exactly. The extra length allows you to move bracket towards archer to weaken the arm as well if desired. After desired bracket location is found, the extra length can be trimmed with diagonal cutters and deburred with a file or sandpaper to prevent fletching tears. Some get no interference from a longer arm but unless it serves a specific purpose it is better to trim it and eliminate any unnecessary chances for contact.
What is your tiller recommendation?
For me, tiller is about the feel of how the bow loads in your hand as you reach full draw. Although, it is a measurement at brace, the draw cycle actually determines if that value is correct. When tiller is off, I have an immediate sense that the bow is either top tilted or bottom tilted too strongly towards me. One way to see what is happening is to put a long stabilizer on the bow and watch it as the bow is drawn, if the end rises up the top limb is too strong (neg. tiller) and if the end drops the bottom limb is too strong (pos. tiller). For efficiency we want the arrow to be pulled forward as evenly as possible. For stringwalking, even tiller is a good starting point. Remember the arrow is above center, so when you have zero crawl you are actually pulling above string/bow center so the net effect on arrow is having a very slight negative tiller (stronger upper limb/closer hand position to upper limb) with no crawl. This puts your midrange crawls at even tiller and your longer crawls at slightly positive tiller. If you shoot 3 under with no crawling then 1/8″ positive tiller is a great place to start. Negative tiller as a starting point may only be necessary if you have an extremely long crawl. There may be those that come from an olympic background shooting split finger with heavy forward tilting weights that prefer the feel of negative tiller but that may not be as ideal for barebow.