How To Restring A Compound Bow With And Without Press

If you’re a beginner and want to learn how to restring a compound bow, this article will help you. It explains how compound bows are strung and provides tips on making your first attempts at stringing.

As you know, modern compound bows are more complicated than traditional bows. It also requires proper maintenance to keep it in good working order. So if you do not maintain your bow correctly, it will prematurely wear out and become a safety hazard.

Even if you are a serious hunter archer, you must check your bowstring regularly to make sure it is in good working condition.

In this article, we will explain how to restring a compound bow properly, so you can keep your compound safe and shooting accurately.

Disclaimer: Changing the bowstring is dangerous. You should only do it if you know what you are doing and have the right tools for the job. Also, always seek help from professionals or go to the archery shop in case you make a mistake.

How often should you change your bowstring?

Bowstrings should be changed every season or so, depending on the bow’s use. But the rule of thumb is if you see any abnormal wear on the string, change it. Otherwise, we would recommend restringing your compound Bow once a year.

Process of How To Restring A Compound Bow

You can restring your compound bow by two methods

1. Using a bow press and
2. another is by hand

Method 1: How To String A Compound Bow Using Bow Press

First of all, we want to discuss how to string a compound bow using a bow press. To do this, follow these steps:

Step 1: Examine the old bowstring for any serious damage

Before you start to restring your bow, you must check the old string for any severe damage and faults. During the process of restringing, a severely worn or faulty string can break and cause serious injury. Therefore, it is advisable if you are not sure what you are doing, please seek professional help.

Step 2: Pick a new compound bow string replacement that is compatible and wax it properly before proceed

After checking and having the confidence of replacing compound bow string yourself, pick a new bowstring and wax it properly before continuing. Remember, we need to buy a bowstring if you just need to restring, not a bow cable. Bow cable works with the cam when you execute the shot. If you want to re-cabling and restring you need to buy both of them.

There are some factors that you need to consider when choosing a string, such as:

Make sure the string is suitable for your compound; if not, the bow will become inaccurate and difficult to shoot smoothly. You may also have to take into consideration the violation of the warranty. For example, suppose you choose a string that is not compatible with your bow. In that case, the warranty may void, so check the bow packaging instruction or the bow manufacturer website to find any compatibility issues. If you are unsure what to do, contact the bow manufacturer directly for advice and assistance. You can choose from various types of strings, including Dacron, Dynema strings.

Step 3: For Safety and Easiness, choose a double pull compound bow press

In this case, we have chosen to restring our bow using a double pull compound bow Press. There are many advantages to using a double pull bow press.

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The process of restringing the bow becomes much easier when you use a bow press. If you are not confident or do not have any experience in this field, you should get professional help. Ask them which bow press is compatible with your compound bow.

As its name suggests, double pull means this type of press can pull the bow from two locations simultaneously. So, If you use the double pull compound bow press, you can pull the riser or a specific part of the bow from two different directions simultaneously. Where the single pull bow press pulls from one direction only, which is prone to cause breakage.

If your bow has a parallel curve, you will need to restring it using a special bow press.

In our case, we have chosen to use the Last Chance Archery Last Chance Ez Green Press, which is explicitly designed for restringing bows, adjusting cam timing, and other types of stuff that require a high level of strength and performance. It is easy to use, quiet and efficient in its operation. In addition, it is durable and very safe. We also used a couple of C clamp to hook it up with our workbench.

We chose this type of press because it is straightforward to use, and all you need to do is insert the bow into the compound bow press, close the device, and then rotate the handles to squeeze the bow.

Step 4: Put the Bow into the press.

First of all, remove the stabilizer; this will remove some extra weight. Now suppose if your bow axle to axle length is 34 inches, in that case, turned out your bow press at least 1 inch more that is 35″. Now you know the math. Now put the bow into the bow press.

Now take your smartphone take a couple of pictures of your bow setup, and this will be useful as a reference in case you messed up with the bow in the process of changing the strings.

Step 5: How To Put String Back On Compound Bow Using the bow press:

Now pull the end pieces out of the axle; usually, you will find two set screws that go each end in a modern compound bow. Screwed out those screws and did the same process with the other axle end. After that, we can press the bow.

So before pressing the bow something you have to keep in a record to reassemble the bow later for a perfect setup. Take a measurement tape and then,

• Record the length of your D-loops. (source)
• Record the distance between the peep and the nocking point.
• thirdly record the length of the axle to axle, which we did earlier
• fourthly the brace height

By keeping records of the above specs, you can match with the new settings and original settings and quickly identify if you made a mistake in setting up.

Now press the bow a little bit with the bow press, and you can easily pull off the old string. Now take your new string, remember do not untwist your cables or bowstring. The longer hunk of serving will be at the bottom as it will wrap over the cam. So now you know which one is the top portion of your string.

Now untwist the twist tie off the string, take one piece and stick it on your mouth. And start from the first cam, attach the string loop right in the center of the cam post, take it, pull the slack out of it, and lay the string in the groove of the cam. Now take the other part of the string from your mouth and put it the same way on the other axle.

Now check the strings are in the groove. After that, pull the string with your finger to create tension so that the strings remain on track. At this point, you can pull out the bow press. Check thoroughly if the center serving is in the perfect spot.

An exception:

If your bow comes with a teardrop attachment point, you can replace the bowstring keeping the old string in place. The teardrop attachment usually features two grooves for sliding on a string. Now take the new string and get the first end loop over the empty groove of the teardrop. Do the same with the other limb teardrop system. Make sure the loops fit perfectly, Now you can remove the old one from the other side of the teardrop attachment system.

Method 2: how to string a compound bow without a bow press

Check is that possible to restrung the string by hand:

If you are using an older version compound bow, your bow probably comes with a teardrop attachment. So you can easily change string by hand if your one has a teardrop attachment system. But if you have a newer version of the compound bow without a teardrop system, it’s kind of impossible to restring the bow using a bare hand.

Now we assume you have a bow that has a teardown attachment. The way of changing the string by hand is like this:

First, loosen the bolts that hold the limbs and then hold the bow with one hand and place a foot underneath the old string and pull it back. That way, you can bend the bow limb; do not pull at it its fully draw length. Now attach the new string on both ends of the teardrop attachment. Once it’s done, lower the bow and step into the new string to unhook the old bowstring from the teardrop.

That’s the easiest way of changing the bow’s string without using the bow press.

Overall The best way to change the string on a compound bow is by using the bow press. It is safe and easiest. You can change the string using a bow press if you are new to archery or an experienced hunter. You can get your compound bow’s string changed in seconds with the help of the proper tools and methods. There is no need to get frustrated when you’re trying to restring your bows.

But in case if you don’t want to invest in a bow press and your bow comes with a teardrop attachment mechanism, feel free to do it by hand.

How to replace the compound bow cable using the bow press

Now, if you want to change the cable strings, you can follow the below procedure.

Pull the centerpiece out of the cable guard system. It will allow you to place the cable into the groove quickly.

Check the image below:

Usually, there are two set screws in the centerpiece, screwed against each other. Loosen them and pop it out. Also, keep in mind to lay out all the screws and loosen parts in an organized order to get them quickly when reassemble.

Now we need to pull the actual axle of one cam. Now first press the bow. Now to get the axle out, take an Allen key just a little bigger than the axle’s hole. Put the Allen key in the slot and gently force the axle through the limb to remove the bolt holding the cam and axle. Once it is done, your cam will be free, and you have to pull it out and lay it down to the side.

Now pop the two yokes off and end piece off from the other end of the cable. After that, you can pull it through on that cable guard.

Now take the two new yokes that you bought, lay these in the middle of the cable, and try to put these approximately at the level. At this time, we will put the cam along with the new yokes together as the way we remove the cam from the axle. So just reverse the removing process. Now put back the bolt and press lightly with a rubber mallet so that the bolt will fit the cam and axle together as before.

Now take your opposite cable and spread that out. Next, take the loose end, which doesn’t have a loop or served end on it. Slide it up the loose end through the yoke hole. Once it’s done, make sure to get the middle of the loose end. Here you need to put one of your fingers so that you can slide the other part of the opposite cable through the center of the loose hole. Now pull the slack out of it, feed that end through the cable slide, and hook it on the bottom post.

If you want to change the other cable, follow the step that we just covered above.

After changing all the cables, make sure the cable and string are in the groove in the string track. After that, you can pull out the pressure from the bow press.