Archery Business: Jul/Aug 2010
34 archeryBUSINESS July/August 2010 EXPERT TUNING TIPS begin making repairs or reassembly until calling the owner. In some cases, the owner declines to invest anything further in the bow and takes the opportunity to upgrade. If the customer OKs the repairs, Villa begins rebuilding the bow axle by axle, spacer by spacer, wheel by wheel, twist by twist, e-clip by e-clip, accounting for every vari- able in the bow's ultimate performance. One of those variables is lubrication. Whatever you do, use it. But when using synthetic lubri- cants, be sure to test them \037 rst on the shop's expendable gear to ensure there isn't a chemi- cal reaction that could hurt any part of the cus-tomer's bow. Also, share insights with your customers when recommending replacement parts. For instance, if you're changing wheels or cams, explain the dif- ferences between those with bushings and those with bearings. Villa's tests show ef\037 ciency losses of 11 to 18 percent with bushings, depending on the material and lubricants. With bearings, he re- ports ef\037 ciency losses of 3 to 5 percent, which is about the same as on cable slides and roller guards. And when changing limbs, or strings and cables, explain their break-in process. "If we change the strings, we set it all up and tell the customers to come backno chargeafter shooting 300 arrows so we can make our \037 nal adjustments," Villa said. "It takes about 300 shots to seat the cables, string and limbs. Especially the limbs. When we put on a brand new set of limbs, we let the bow sit for three or four days before we do any of the cable work. Just sitting there, the limbs change within hours." Villa said he realizes some string-makers claim zero stretch and zero creep, but he still asks customers to come back after 300 shots. "Sometimes everything seats properly after 25 or 50 shots," Villa said. "If you're shooting 80 pounds, you'll seat everything a lot faster than if you're shooting 40 pounds. When customers return after 300 shots, sometimes their bow is still bang-on, but not very often. We usually have to make a few adjustments, twist a yoke cable or twist a control cable, to get the synchronization back where it was."PREMIUM SERVICE, PREMIUM PRICESVilla doesn't reserve this detailed scrutiny for bows his customers already own. He learned long ago to follow the same routine on new bows too. "It doesn't matter who the manufacturer is; we take every new bow apart and reassemble it be- fore it leaves the shop," he said. "It's all included in our price. I'll say our prices are higher than most, and we get beat up on bows people buy elsewhere, but most customers eventually realize they get what they pay for. "We just want to make sure each bow is as close to mechanically perfect as we can get it before it leaves the shop," Villa said. "We're con- \037 dent we can do that. Then it's just a matter of training the customer how to become a shooting machine." 026-034_AB10JUL-tuningtips.indd 34 6/8/10 10:16:02 AM
You must have JavaScript enabled to view digital editions.
