The above right rest was the first viable prototype. It was soon scaled down to the left upper version also with the perpendicular arm to axis. Left was first version after eliminating the perpendicular arm. Dropping the pivot a couple millimeters more was the last functional change besides magnetic strength options and a few purely aesthetic changes.
The first of the Anodized Rests and glorious colors.
In June of 2024, I decided that I wanted to make a drop away arrow rest that was strong and dependable enough for the rigors of archery hunting and especially capable of supporting heavy arrows for hunting without accidental drops. It wasn’t necessarily something I wanted to manufacture for others but I wanted it for my own use. That summer, I went through a few different prototypes that were total flops. One prototype even used a second beiter plunger to adjust pressure on a cam that supported the arm. There was far too much friction and complexity in the design. As well as just flat out not functioning well, it also lacked any aesthetic appeal. For me, simple is always best so I went back to the drawing board and tried to create a simpler and more graceful solution. Using magnets was a definite turning point in the design. Magnets may be oriented by attraction or repulsion. When oriented by attraction the closer they are to eachother the stronger the magnetic force is. This is ideal for the holding mechanism of an arrow rest because as the arm-lever is dropped away from the holding magnet, magnetic force diminishes. This is the opposite of what happens with a spring for example. A spring rest arm (or simply using the elasticity of a thin metal wire such as on horizontal swing arrow rests) has forces that increase as the spring or arm is depressed. These forces build until they can overcome the downward force and rebound. This rebound effect is what causes the bounce that barebow archers fight with longer crawls. After a couple of trials with magnets, the first working prototype was made and although the arm barely supported a 300g shaft it worked well enough to warrant further investigation. These first prototypes also included an arm that was perpendicular to the axis of rotation, and resulted in an oddly angled bracket. I thought this was an important feature that I believed would make forces through the mechanism more direct and subsequently more consistent. I posted a couple of my early prototypes and immediately there was quite a bit of interest and many asked to be first in line when they were in production. Ryan Rossing of Rossing Archery was one of the first people wanting to try one. I Knew of his bows but did not know him personally. He noticed some very specific attributes of the rest that no one else had even mentioned. He “got” what I was trying to do in a very deep way. It also became very clear to me the depth of knowledge he has in barebow, competition, and especially tuning . I knew I needed to send a rest to him for his input and evaluation. Once he received it, he confirmed that it functioned well in reducing crawl consistently but it barely supported his 400g arrows at brace and the pivot location was a bit high causing arm angle to be so flat the arrow did not want to sit against the plunger. Refinement was in order. He knew what it needed for the demands of stringwalking and barebow. He was a patient teacher sending me long explanations of his findings and his tuning philosophy. Honestly, I could publish a book with the long explanations he sent me by text. I will forever be indebted for the knowledge he shared and help he gave in testing the arrow rest. There were times in the design and manufacturing process that I was ready to give up but he believed in the idea enough and always had insights that could get me through those obstacles. In the end he tested 3 or so more prototypes and different magnetic strengths for the arms. The rest would give great crawls with very strong magnetic force on the arm with proper tune. As of the time of this writing, this subject is still a huge debate. With 200 or so rests in use I have people on all sides of the debate; some tried light and preferred strong magnets, others the opposite with similar arrow setups. Our conclusion is that maximum guidance is accomplished with the strongest arm you can tune with no bounce or contact. What that “strongest arm” is varies by the archer. Matt Yacca was an early tester that was on the “light” side of the debate and thanks to his early insights I was pushed to produce the lightest magnetic arm possible with this design (The single magnet adjustable version). I know many archers would be left wanting more options without that feedback and design revision. Eventually 3 magnetic options became most popular. The perpendicular pivot to arm was eventually abandoned because the design was more adaptable to different bends with the current design and the design overall was more elegant without it. Finally, the design had come together, and I set off to produce them in small volumes. This rest is extremely simple but from a manufacturing standpoint very complex. both the bracket and the module must be oriented 3 different ways during machining to produce them. With over 30 steps to make one single rest I could not produce them efficiently in my home shop. A little over a hundred of the first rests with anodized aluminum brackets were made 100% by me. It became necessary to outsource the brackets to a US machine shop that had better manufacturing capabilities and could make them in stainless steel. Total overkill for the design, but that is how I operate. Ants are strong and small things amount to a lot in barebow. Special thanks to my brother for allowing me to use his workshop during development and spending long hours turning my CAD drawings into machine programs. Also, thanks to my wife and kids for putting up with me. Archery turns me into a little kid again.