# Samick SKB / Mind 50 horse bow brace height



## deezdrama (Aug 19, 2013)

I bought the mind 50 (carbon limbed version of the skb)

Anyone here shoot one of these?

Im having a hard time finding what brace height to start with.

Ive read 6.75" in one review...
7.50" in another review...

Then found a foreign samick brace height pdf that states brace height of 5.50"-6.25"

Then found a foreign bow site selling the bow and in the description it says 5.25" - 5.75"


So im completely lost where to even start. My bow should be here today and with all the brace heights ive seen im looking at a range of 5.25"-7.50"

I dont even know if my fletching will fit with those lower ranged numbers.

I will try around 6" to start i guess.

Was hoping some of you here have one and could chime in

Thanks


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## deezdrama (Aug 19, 2013)

Well....
The string that came with the mind 50 was labeled
50" 14 strand. I had to twist it 100 times to get it over 3" brace height. If i twisted it anymore it would fold over on itself.

I contacted lancaster and they are sending me another string. I asked for a different brand, i know they only carry the stock dacron 50" and a ff 50".
I explained the strings from that manufacturer might be out of spec and hoped they would send me a ff string but she insisted the string might of been misslabeled and is sending another dacron one.

I ordered a custom ff plus string from ebay a week ago... hopefully it wont be too long.


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## snow panther (Feb 8, 2006)

Here we were given the information that the recommended brace height for the SKB and Mind 50 should be between 5 1/2" and 6 1/3".
They are both 50" bows. A string for a 50" bow may be labeled as 50" for conveniance, but its actual length is shorter than 50" (3 to 4 inches shorter than the length of the bow, depending on the bow shape/style).
Form what you are saying about having to twist it 100 times and still getting only a 3" BH, I guess this string was probably an actual 50" in length.


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## deezdrama (Aug 19, 2013)

I understand strings are shorter than the amo length, was just quoting what the bag said. It didnt say 50" amo so you may be right about it being an actual 50" string. Im stuck at work and didnt have time to measure it but will tonight. Thanks


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## wandyhee (Nov 15, 2006)

It's been a while I didn't visit this forum, retired archery on 2009 and use to own few compound bow before. I was thinking to active in archery again and not with compound bow, instead i'm interested to try out this Samick SKB 60#. My draw length is 27" on compound bow and I estimated with the same draw length I expect the draw weight is around 53#~54# on samick SKB 60#. second thing I've to consider is arrow length and spine, any input will be appreciate... I prefer carbon hunting arrow. thanks


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## deezdrama (Aug 19, 2013)

I myself started with a compound... 60# hoyt , I have a 30" drawlength and so figured a 50" recurve would be a good poundage for me so got a 50# martin jaguar. Now im not a huge guy but not small either... im 6ft and weigh 210 can easily bench 250 and just starting to get back into weight lifting , saying that- 50# wasnt too heavy for me to pull back but its alot different than the compound i was used to shooting and theres all kinds of small stabalizing muscles we have that need trained to shoot traditionaly.
So... i was overbowed and developed all sorts of bad habits (string plucking) for years. It wasnt untill i admited this to myself and jumped down to a 40# bow and retrained my form and release that i got good... so now after 5 years of traditional shooting im getting consistant 10-40 yards and I probably could of been here in 1 year instead of 5 if I would of listened to everybody from the beginning and started off with a lightweight bow.

My mind 50 is nice , very fast and flat tradjectory and fun to shoot but its not neccessarily a bow i would recommend for a new trad shooter. Theres no arrow rest and its more involved to find a tuneable shaft cause its also not centercut at all.
So its a fast ,fun , extremely lightweight bow but for a beginer i wouldnt recommend because its very unforgiving of form flaws since its so short, no arrow rest and no centercut.
Ive owned quit a few of the mid level bows and the cheap samick sage never ceases to amaze me and still is the bow I would recommend to someone new to traditional archery. Its cheap but shoots fast,hard,and accurate. It has centercut and an arrowrest so you can focus on form and release and not the other variables of the mind/skb that would just hinder a new trad shooter.

If you absolutely must get a skb i wouldnt go over 40# and i dont shoot carbons so cant give a shaft example but you want a shaft that is about 10# weaker than the skb poundage to allow the arrow shaft to flex around the grip (archers paradox)
So if you had a 40# skb you would look for a shaft that would be for a 30# recurve.

I would buy an arrow shaft tuning kit or put one together yourself (ex.. get a 500 and 600 shaft and some 100gr,125 gr,150gr,200gr field points and test to find best flight pattern)

Sorry i couldnt be more supportive of the skb for a new trad shooter or knowledgeable of carbon shafts.
Im just afraid this type of bow would be frustrating and counterproductive for the new trad shooter


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## wandyhee (Nov 15, 2006)

No worries about the high poundage, I can shoot 70# compound bow all day long without complaining about back muscle ache/paint. I'm also ex archery instructor certified by NFAA. Anyway, did emailed Lancaster Archery but found out shipping cost to where I live are expensive, almost the same price of the bow itself. After continue google around, I found mind-50 at lower cost. Just need confirmation from the that dealer what poundage do they have in stock


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## deezdrama (Aug 19, 2013)

Also keep in mind the skb and mind 50 are rated at a 30" draw so if you get a 60# it will be more like 50-55# at 28"


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## wandyhee (Nov 15, 2006)

yep, Lancaster staffs did told me to expect of reducing 2lbs every inch. so my 60lbs samick SKB will be around 54lbs at 27" draw length. delivered yesterday via UPS Worldwide Saver to my address in Miri (Borneo), can't wait to shoot my new bow


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## deezdrama (Aug 19, 2013)

Sweet.... let us know what you think of it.
I cant get over how lightweight they are


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## wandyhee (Nov 15, 2006)

well, good news... received my bow package around lunch time today, open the box and everything look good as expected  


















Don't have time for shooting yet as I'm busy prepare Platform shutdown and got to travel offshore tomorrow morning...


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## wandyhee (Nov 15, 2006)

btw, last few days I did practice Mongolian/Asian thumb ring shooting style with home made PVC bow (picture below) and also home made PVC thumb ring :secret: ....it's feel like someone step on my thumb! might include Manchu thumb release to see the different. Nevertheless, I will keep learning Mongol/Manchu shooting style until I'm good at it


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## deezdrama (Aug 19, 2013)

I tried a bunch of homemade ones even bought some.... it was just too uncomfortable for me and went back to fingers. I will admit - its a clean style of release if u can manage to stick with it


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## wandyhee (Nov 15, 2006)

Managed to spent some time late afternoon making Manchu thumb ring out of PVC and shoot with it. All I can say is, much easier than using Mongol thumb ring style, it doesnt hurt my thumb either.. That is exactly positive move for me to continue practicing thumb ring archery  All I need now is thicker wall of PVC pipe to make it similar to ancient design


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## wandyhee (Nov 15, 2006)

Btw, setup my SKB, twist the string 20 full twist and get 5" brace height 47.5" tip to tip.. Should I twist the string more? What is the brace height measurement to expect for this bow?


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## deezdrama (Aug 19, 2013)

Its a short braceheight, i think 5.25" - 6.25" is about right for these bows from memory.
If your using the included dacron string.... twist it up to desired bh, shoot a dozen and check it again, that string will take a couple days of shooting to stop stretching.

Shoot a dozen, check bh -twist, shoot a dozen ,check bh -twist ...........

Once it settles and stops stretching, i found small wisker type string silencers REALLY quieted this bow down and stopped that springy vibration sound after each shot. Then wax the crap out of the string and make sure to rub it in good till your fingers get hot


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## deezdrama (Aug 19, 2013)

The wax into the string that is... lol


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## wandyhee (Nov 15, 2006)

Got a chance playing with my bow and I'm shooting pretty good at 15 yard without hurting my thumb anymore. I think I really started to enjoy this bow


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## iswandy (Aug 18, 2007)

Okay, basically i'm the same guy who registered as wandyhee. reason is, I forgot my existing account but now I got it back when I saw old thread with familiar username reply some post related to arrow vanes.. thanks GOD! what a relief


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## iswandy (Aug 18, 2007)

deezdrama said:


> I tried a bunch of homemade ones even bought some.... it was just too uncomfortable for me and went back to fingers. I will admit - its a clean style of release if u can manage to stick with it


buddy, those brass thumb ring you have their are too thin, I've make one out of 3/4" PVC and it's not comfortable to draw the bow with it. I then modified it with adding the fitting and now I can shoot my 60# bow and draw it all the way to the ear (as anchor point) without any problem. Very simple to do as well.. picture below














































the last 2 picture above is how I lock my fingers while pulling the bow string


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## iswandy (Aug 18, 2007)

Do not bend (to hook shape) your index finger too much while drawing the bow, otherwise the string will hit tip of your index finger while releasing the string and it will hurt a lot!


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## iswandy (Aug 18, 2007)

deezdrama said:


> Well....
> The string that came with the mind 50 was labeled
> 50" 14 strand. I had to twist it 100 times to get it over 3" brace height. If i twisted it anymore it would fold over on itself.
> 
> ...


Have you got new string for your bow? I have to twist a lot to get 7" BH for my bow as well, I guess proper string length for this bow should be 46"~47"?


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## deezdrama (Aug 19, 2013)

Yes... they sent me the right one, pretty sure its 46.5" but ive since had a ff string made for it, i could measure it if u really needed.
Just make sure it isnt a 50" string, if it is then they sent the wrong one


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## iswandy (Aug 18, 2007)

Please measure it whenever you have chance to do so. Mine definitely come with 50" string, I've measured it already


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## deezdrama (Aug 19, 2013)

Did you get it from lancaster? Thats where i ordered mine and they sent a 50" string instead of a string for a 50" AMO bow. Send em an email and they will get the right string out to you.

46.5"-47" is what you want. Im pretty sure I settled on a 6.75" brace height but didnt do alot of tuning with this bow since my custom kassai vazul came.
Ill measure my brace height and string and post it today


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## iswandy (Aug 18, 2007)

Yup, ordered it from Lancaster. Thanks for the info and congrats for your new bow


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## deezdrama (Aug 19, 2013)

Yep my string is 46.5"
Heres the mid50 next to the new kassai.
The kassai is 60# but feels like the 45# mind50 because the wood siyahs act as a primitive lever compound bow. I think im going to add an arrowrest and wrap the grip w more leather


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## iswandy (Aug 18, 2007)

:thumbs_up:thumbs_up


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