All - I am an admitted newbie, and often have just enough knowledge to be dangerous. I kind of think maybe I am getting ready to do down that road. Background - I have my first bow, a Redhead Kronik, and have been learning it. Over the past couple weeks, I have been struggling with broadhead tuning, but think I got that mostly figure out. In the process, a lot of tweaks were made to a tube peep site, and I ended up getting a tubeless put in. I don't think the guy put it in the press, not sure, and he might have just used a seperator. At any rate, I think I now need a new string since it is totally fraying at the site, and I can't seem to control the twist. I was able to find a new string, but I dont really have a shop close to me. One shop, about 45 mins away, wanted to take a week to do it. Another guy keeps saying he will do it "tomorrow" but then never tells me when to come by. So, I was thinking about doing it myself, which would require a press. I have been dropping some serious money lately, and not sure a high dollar press would even been rational. So, I am considering either the portable presses I see online for about $50, or making one of the pipe clamp presses that I have seen plans for online. Any thoughts on either solution? Am I getting ready to open a can of worms here? I mean, I am the kind of guy that I like to learn how to do things on my own, so I don't have a problem with that. But, if I put on my own string, am I going to start going down the slope of then needing to re-tune the whole thing? Which of course would require more tools... Just not sure which way I should head with all of this. I am about 4 weeks away from season opener, and feel like I am not at the place that I should be.
Agree with Fitz, does everything you'll ever need it to do for working on your own equipment and packable.
If you've got some basic welding skills you can build a decent linear press similar to the EZ Press. My ratchet press has a hard time with some of the newer short limb / large cam bows so make sure what you get is going to work with yours. Another option is to buy used. I checked the classifieds on several sites until I found a used Caution Bar press that works awesome and didn't break my bank.
Me, I would weigh it out: how long do I have before I start hunting, can I do it myself ( honestly),or bug the sh#t out of that guy till he does it ( will he do a good job). If you have the time take it to the shop. 45 minute drive would be worth a professional job and a worry free and hopefully a prosperous hunting season!! That is what I would do.
All - I actually ended up connecting with the local guy. I probably came across harsher than I meant to in my post. He seems like a good guy, very knowledgable and doing it as a side business, plus toggling family, which is obviously important. He is working on it right now, and seems pretty conscientous also, which is good. I'd likely reccomend him to others. I still want to pick up some type of press in the future, but will go with this string replacement for now. I am just the type that llikes to do my own work when I can. I had debated on doing it myself even before looking for a local option.
davescountry I had a similar situation to you a long time ago. I have several shops in my area, one really good one that doesn't sell Bowtech (brand I shoot currently), and two that do sell them. I buy my bows from them, however, I would never let them work on my bows. They are good retailers, just not good shops. Big difference there. I used to take my arrows to these shops for refletching, take my bow for minor work, etc. It was a pain. I decided quite a few years back that I would purchase, or build, everything I needed to start working on my own bows. I bought a portable bow press (Bowmaster), fletching jig, and other tools needed to do the job. I started researching everything I could on sites like this, learning how to do x or y. Since that time, I have become very proficient in doing anything I need to on my bows. Now, rewind a couple of years. I had just purchased a brand new Bowtech and found an issue with the limb and axle alignment. I talked to the dealer I bought it from and they wanted to take a look. Turned out, I needed the limbs replaced, which are covered under warrenty. I left my bow with them and was called a week later saying the bow was done and ready to be picked up. I went, picked it up and started down the road. I glanced at the bow, lying on the seat of the truck and noticed 4 very large gouge marks in the riser. Needless to say, I was pissed. The bow was only a couple weeks old and looked like that. Long story short, the shop left the bow spin in their press and it hit the teeth on the pull down bar, resulting in the gouges. They weren't going to say anything, but I called them on it. They gave me a new bow which was good CS, but its not the point. This further solidified my stance on doing all of my own work. If you have a great shop in your area, use them. If you don't, I'd suggest doing what I did. Even if you do have that great shop, it still saves time and money running back and forth to the shop if you can do the work yourself. There is nothing better than shooting in your backyard, needing to make a peep adjustment, going into your shop, throwing it on the press and doing it quickly, then going back out to shoot. As for presses, I built a new full size press, modeled after the Sureloc Xpress a few years ago. Its the single best investment I have ever made and cost next to nothing. If you can't weld, find someone who can and do it. Commercial presses are expensive and are more money then they are worth in my opinion. The same press can be built for a fraction of the cost. Do some research, get your materials together and build it. It's a great winter project you can do in a weekend if you have everything you need. The bonus is that you can customize the press as well. I'm in the process of building an EZ press style press now.
