Shrink wrap

[Old Jim]

Does shrink wrap over an arrow retainer slow the speed? It would seen the plastic would cause more friction then polished metal, especially pushing down on it.

[dwilley]

The different coefficients of kinetic friction for the two surfaces will make a difference to the arrow's speed, but I doubt much. The amount of energy that the retainer takes away from the arrow will be small for either surface, the difference between the two is probably insignificant, although without testing with a chronograph I can not be sure of that. That there's only a few inches of the arrow that contacts the retainer is important. Work, and hence the change in energy, is the product of the force that acts and the distance that it acts for, the friction force is small and only acts for a few inches, hence it's pretty small compared to the kinetic energy of the arrow. Think of how much work you have to do to cock the bow, compared to how much work you would do just pulling the arrow out from under the retainer.
Loud sounds do not require much energy though, so the amount of noise your bow makes could well depend on the state of the arrow and the retainer's surfaces. Slick would probably be better, also, adding weight by using tape will change the natural frequency of the retainer and will affect the amount of resonance (that twanging sound), try different amounts and see what happens, or rather listen what happens,
cheers,
David
P.S. bottom line, if Boo thinks it's a good idea, I'll try it

[strum]

My thinking is no. it doesnt slow the arrow at all ..Boo uses double shrink wrap on his and sent me a peice to try ..works great..
seemed like it stoped that twang sound ..if you think about it when you pull that trigger the almost explosive release of tension isnt going to change at the begining of the cycle.it would have to be a Huge amount of pressure on the arrow to be a change in speed ..bottom line ...
the retention spring just holds the arrow in place so it dosent fall out ..when that arrow clears the spring it has the whole lenght of the rail to gather speed..and debatable the longer the rail the more speed created....

[Boo]

Does shrink wrap over an arrow retainer slow the speed? It would seen the plastic would cause more friction then polished metal, especially pushing down on it.

Jim, most plastics have a very low frictional coefficient and some polyethylenes have a lower coefficient than steel or metals in general. As an example jigs use for highly repetitive use are often made from long chain "plastic" chosen for it's lubricity and it's durability. Plastic is a very broad term that is often misused. Polymer would be more appropriate and an example would be the new Axiom where the rail which is really sturdy and slick is reinforced polymer not much different from the vaunted Glock that has stood the test of time.

[Normous]

To control sound and vibration I use a stick-on Sims Vibration rubber damper halfway up the retainer. I now wrap the arrow touching end of the retainer with a high slip coefficient polyethylene tape. The tape costs $180 for a 1" x 30' roll and is used in critical industrial applications.
Edit: this stuff is very slippery.

[Boo]

To control sound and vibration I use a stick-on Sims Vibration rubber damper halfway up the retainer. I now wrap the arrow touching end of the retainer with a high coefficient polyethylene tape. The tape costs $180 for a 1" x 30' roll and is used in critical industrial applications.

oops!

[Big John]

I use doublewall shrink wrap on all my excal. arrow retainers.
Excellent product. Any other info and chrono results I'll keep to
myself.

[bob1961]

radio shack has plain ol wire shrink wrap that should work fine as a vibration stopper on the arrow retainer .........bob

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[bob1961]

i'd say any size that will fit over the end without touching the rounded end and try to push it up tightly a little bit before you heat it up.........bob

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[Big John]

automated11: Send me your address and I will send you some "free" in the mail.
It also has another characteristic you will like.

John

[shaftthrower]

I have a piece of sticky-back felt on mine works fine.

[Dereck]

Going to go to Princess auto and see what they have for shrink wrap

I know they have some bigger stuff for shovel handle I was thinking of try it on the limbs all black

[Boo]

Just a reminder. Some of the arrow retainers do not have enough upwards curl at the end so that it's too easy to pull the string over top of the arrow retainer. Best to add some curl to it before adding anything to the retainer.
Here's a pic of how it should look.

[cevans]

You can also get shrink wrap at any electrical supply store, or hardware store that carries electrical wiring as it comes in all kinds of sizes and diameters.

[bcmuledeer]

Man, I wish I heard about this before Just put it on my vortex, took a shot, no more (twinggggggg). Starting to get the noise level down. Bill