Stickbow Target Archery Forums

Well, the first post was how the testing was a failure due to uncontrolled variables:

and the second post was on the success of the experiment:

Good work! I was considering doing the same thing after I finish the article I am currently working on. In one way I wonder if I should bother, since basically you have already begun. But at the same time I kind of feel that the info should get out there to a larger audience. If I ever get to where I have the time to start a third article maybe we'll talk about this again.
BTW your idea that a bow at least becomes more efficient with a heavier arrow is true, up to about 12 grains per pound of draw weight. After that efficiency severely falls off again.That came from the data that I gathered for my first article.
One amusing thing that I noticed was that a lot of folks came out to question you, your purpose, and your "results" (you didn't have any yet) when you first posted. On your second post when you actually had results, sure there were still questions raised, but the people responding were of a different sort.

Bender,
That's interesting about efficiency dropping off at 12 gpp. I suspected there had to be a drop-off somewhere simply because if you think of the impractical extreme of an arrow so heavy that it merely falls to the ground after clearing the rest, then it will have virtually no kinetic energy. In theory every bow reaches a point where the arrow is so heavy that it can't even push it forward.

Friend Dina sent me a link to this site. I loved watching the films, and have referred some newcomers to it, as it explains so much better than words the physics of archers' paradox.

You have done some excellent, and valuable work. Thank you!
Killdeer

Thanks, Killdeer, and welcome to the site!
Believe me, doing those videos is my pleasure.
I am in the process of building a "shooting machine" from scratch.
I'm not exactly an engineer, so it will be interesting. But I believe the machine will provide awesome footage regarding comparing different bows, different arrow stiffness, nocking points, etc. etc. It will remove the human element, so we're comparing apples to apples as much as possible.