4th Axis Concept

Setting what I call the 4th Axis is indeed the final step in bow to sight to arrow alignment setup. For many years we have been using various methods of tuning to set up our equipment. Most of these methods incorporate shooting the arrow. Some of these are called; paper tuning, group tuning, tiller tuning, French tuning, creep tuning etc. Up until now, most of us simply line the arrow up somewhat parallel to the sight extension and go. I personally have taught for 30 years that once the 3rd axis is set to just lay a small square on the front of the sight and shim the mount to get it perpendicular to the arrow. I am here to tell you that method leaves a lot to be desired. It was close and worked….sort of.!! (This is good enough in horseshoes and hand grenades) However, since I have been investigating the 4th axis concept, I am amazed that no one has brought this up before. Setting the 4th axis properly is simply to adjust your entire sight to be in alignment with the "ARROW PATH". To clarify my meaning would be that by rotating the sight horizontally you can tune the 3rd axis to be perfectly perpendicular to the "ARROW PATH". Shimming the mount will work but adjustment can be very small increments and a fine adjustment is better. Why in the world would anyone pay a lot of money for a sight that has from 10 to 20 clicks per turn of elevation or windage and eyeball the 4th axis?
I keep bringing up "ARROW PATH" for a reason. The path of the shot arrow is what we really need to adjust to. Remember we have already used some sort of tuning method to get the ultimate arrow flight. (i.e. paper tuning) This probably is not down the center of the riser. Unfortunately a lot of people have been brainwashed into believing that the 3rd axis must be set at full draw. I am here to tell you that method also leaves a lot to be desired. It was close and worked….sort of.!! When you are at full draw all of the torque is applied. This torque can be caused by your form, limb twist, handle machining, cable guards, string torque etc. NONE of these torque factors take effect until the string is released. Therefore adjusting anything to the anticipated action of torque is a guess as to what may happen. The Tek-Tech 4th Axis will allow you to fine tune your equipment to the best possible alignment without even removing the sight mount to shim. Will everyone need one of the Tek-Tech 4th Axis tools for their bow? Possibly not, but here is a simple test to see if you might. Remember now this is only a test. Slide your sight extension in as close to your bow as possible and tighten it down. At a distance of 5 to 10 yards, shoot at a vertical line on the target butt. Adjust your windage so you are hitting the line. Then slide the sight extension all the way out and shoot at the line again. Do not change the windage! If your 4th axis is correct both shots will hit the line. If they both do not hit the line you need to compensate for this misalignment. This can be accomplished by shimming the sight mount but it could take hours to find just the right amount of shim stock. It would also entail removing your sight mount every time you needed to change shims. However, with the Tek-Tech 4th Axis you can fine tune your 4th axis in a matter of minutes and not take a chance on stripping out your sight mount holes in the process. The ability to slide your sight extension all the way in or out and have no windage effect can be a real advantage to some women and children that have trouble reaching a long yardage. I know that in some cases people shoot their sight extended but cannot reach a 100 yard target. With the Tek-Tech 4th Axis you could slide the sight in for that target and then back out to your normal place for all the others and not have a windage error.
What difference does all this make? If your 4th axis is not properly set, and you are shooting a target that is not on the level, your bubble will indicate that you are level but in fact you will be forced to cant the bow and not realize it. Have you ever shot a down or uphill target where you felt you were canting but the bubble was in the middle? Did you still have a left or right miss? I suspect you were canting the bow. The reason for this is that your 3rd axis is not perpendicular to your arrow path. You are aiming the arrow, and your sight extension is pointing slightly to one side or the other. This scenario forces you to cant and you think you are plumb. These misses could be very small but I would ask you if you have ever missed the dot or a 12 ring by 1/16"? With your 4th Axis properly set this miss would be a form issue and not an equipment one. There goes your excuses! ;o)

Shoot well!

Gene