Post by Ron on Mar 26, 2008 13:42:29 GMT -6
I was not always a traditional bowhunter. I have had a few compounds over the years. I collect archery equipment of all ages. Here is a sight pin improvement I made a while back.
I am pleased with the new fiber optic pins on the market. It is a real improvement over the old style brass pins with a painted tip. (some of you are too young to remember those days)I have a Cooper John sight and the pins that it came with only offer about an inch of fiber optic material.
I didn't want to scrap the sight as it is very nice but I wanted more light gathering ability.
The sight has a light (which works great) but batteries die and I fear it might give my position away in close quarters.
I decided to add more fiber optic rod to the sight pins. I ordered 4 pieces of rod that are 38 inches long each but I am waiting for them to be delivered so I went to the local archery dealer and bought an couple 5 inch lengths to do a test with.
They wanted $8 for a total of 15 inches but I am impatient so I bought it. The website for the meter long fiber optic offers 38 inches for $2.65 ( a much better deal)
I removed my 40 yard pin and cut the fiber with a scissors. I was impressed with how Tuff that little fiber really is. This left me with a clear hole to install the new fiber.
The fiber would simply fall through if the end was not mushroomed
I used one small birthday candle and held the end near the heat. It only took a short while to see the tip begin to enlarge as it melted.
It did not melt into a perfectly round shape so I used a little 400 grit sandpaper and rounded it up a little.
The fiber is very flexible but for sharp bends I needed to heat it again. Since this is only a test I did not put a clear rubber tube over the fiber to protect it but I will when the longer lengths come in.
It was dark when I finished so I couldn't take it outside to test but When I turned of the lights in my shop and only had a flashlight going, it was clear that the added fiber gathered more light. My camera takes poor quality pics in low light so I took one with the lights on and my hand over the new and old pins. You can see that 5 inches is a real improvement. I look forward to using a 38 inch long piece.
Next, I got some Phosphorescent(glow in the dark) paint to test it's ability to provide enough light to illuminate fiber optic bow site pins. I gotta tell you, this paint is pretty cool. It works wet or dry.
In the can
I took a piece of aluminum and painted one half with white paint and left the other side plain. The instructions said that a white background would make the glow even brighter. (they were right) The white background is on the left.
lights on
Lights off
Next I took the 5 inch peices of the fiber and laid them on top of the painted aluminum. I was in a completly dark room so that I was getting no light from any other source. I charged the paint with a flashlight. While the camera does not show it very well, the ends of the fibers glowed very brightly. This was only 5 inch peices of fiber. I will be using 38 inch long fibers. (when they come in the mail)
I must say that I am impressed with the test but this paint is pretty expensive. $122 for a quart or $42 for a half pint. Here is the link to the web site for the paint.
www.glowinc.com/
The glow time for this paint is 12 hours but I am only looking for an extra 20 minutes of added light without using a battery operated light.
After a screw up with the mail. I finally got my fiber optic fibers. Because it didnt show up, I called the supplier and they sent out a new supply of fibers. After a 3 day wait the replacement showed up. The next day, the lost package showed up.
I thought I was getting 4 pieces that were 3 feet long, instead I got a 12 foot long piece. I was planning on putting 3 feet of fiber in each pin but I now changed that to 6 feet of fiber in each pin.
While I was waiting for the fiber, I painted the outside of the sight ring with glow in the dark paint so that during low light conditions, not only would the fibers gather light from the sky but the glowing paint would supply light from the under side.
This paint works far better than I thought it would.
In order to protect the thin fibers, I use some clear flexible tubing.
In this image (before I secured the clear tube) I took a pic of the first completed sight pin. The top pin has 72 inches of fiber. The middle pin has the inch of fiber that came with the sight. The bottom pin has no fiber at all. I was liking what I was seeing
After doing the 20 and 30 yard pin. The clear tube was full of 12 feet of fiber. I had to add a second clear tube just for the 40 yard pin.
I used small cable ties to hold the clear tube and the fibers in place
I am very pleased with the light gathering ability of this much fiber. I was able get rid of the battery powered blue light.
I am pleased with the new fiber optic pins on the market. It is a real improvement over the old style brass pins with a painted tip. (some of you are too young to remember those days)I have a Cooper John sight and the pins that it came with only offer about an inch of fiber optic material.
I didn't want to scrap the sight as it is very nice but I wanted more light gathering ability.
The sight has a light (which works great) but batteries die and I fear it might give my position away in close quarters.
I decided to add more fiber optic rod to the sight pins. I ordered 4 pieces of rod that are 38 inches long each but I am waiting for them to be delivered so I went to the local archery dealer and bought an couple 5 inch lengths to do a test with.
They wanted $8 for a total of 15 inches but I am impatient so I bought it. The website for the meter long fiber optic offers 38 inches for $2.65 ( a much better deal)
I removed my 40 yard pin and cut the fiber with a scissors. I was impressed with how Tuff that little fiber really is. This left me with a clear hole to install the new fiber.
The fiber would simply fall through if the end was not mushroomed
I used one small birthday candle and held the end near the heat. It only took a short while to see the tip begin to enlarge as it melted.
It did not melt into a perfectly round shape so I used a little 400 grit sandpaper and rounded it up a little.
The fiber is very flexible but for sharp bends I needed to heat it again. Since this is only a test I did not put a clear rubber tube over the fiber to protect it but I will when the longer lengths come in.
It was dark when I finished so I couldn't take it outside to test but When I turned of the lights in my shop and only had a flashlight going, it was clear that the added fiber gathered more light. My camera takes poor quality pics in low light so I took one with the lights on and my hand over the new and old pins. You can see that 5 inches is a real improvement. I look forward to using a 38 inch long piece.
Next, I got some Phosphorescent(glow in the dark) paint to test it's ability to provide enough light to illuminate fiber optic bow site pins. I gotta tell you, this paint is pretty cool. It works wet or dry.
In the can
I took a piece of aluminum and painted one half with white paint and left the other side plain. The instructions said that a white background would make the glow even brighter. (they were right) The white background is on the left.
lights on
Lights off
Next I took the 5 inch peices of the fiber and laid them on top of the painted aluminum. I was in a completly dark room so that I was getting no light from any other source. I charged the paint with a flashlight. While the camera does not show it very well, the ends of the fibers glowed very brightly. This was only 5 inch peices of fiber. I will be using 38 inch long fibers. (when they come in the mail)
I must say that I am impressed with the test but this paint is pretty expensive. $122 for a quart or $42 for a half pint. Here is the link to the web site for the paint.
www.glowinc.com/
The glow time for this paint is 12 hours but I am only looking for an extra 20 minutes of added light without using a battery operated light.
After a screw up with the mail. I finally got my fiber optic fibers. Because it didnt show up, I called the supplier and they sent out a new supply of fibers. After a 3 day wait the replacement showed up. The next day, the lost package showed up.
I thought I was getting 4 pieces that were 3 feet long, instead I got a 12 foot long piece. I was planning on putting 3 feet of fiber in each pin but I now changed that to 6 feet of fiber in each pin.
While I was waiting for the fiber, I painted the outside of the sight ring with glow in the dark paint so that during low light conditions, not only would the fibers gather light from the sky but the glowing paint would supply light from the under side.
This paint works far better than I thought it would.
In order to protect the thin fibers, I use some clear flexible tubing.
In this image (before I secured the clear tube) I took a pic of the first completed sight pin. The top pin has 72 inches of fiber. The middle pin has the inch of fiber that came with the sight. The bottom pin has no fiber at all. I was liking what I was seeing
After doing the 20 and 30 yard pin. The clear tube was full of 12 feet of fiber. I had to add a second clear tube just for the 40 yard pin.
I used small cable ties to hold the clear tube and the fibers in place
I am very pleased with the light gathering ability of this much fiber. I was able get rid of the battery powered blue light.