Slight sight modification

[Gabriel454]

I was just successful in making my sight pins brighter!

It was more difficult in practice than It was in theory, but I finally got it done and YES it makes a difference.

Theory:

The light traveling past the fiber optic strands gets completely absorbed by the black background. If that wasn't happening the sight housing beneath the strands would not appear black to the eye.

Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black

Therefore if something was placed between the black surface and the fiber optic strands which would reflect the light normally absorbed by the black surface the now reflected light would penetrate the strands and send more light to the pins instead of it being wasted and absorbed.

A while ago I bought some waterproof aluminum weather resistant tape which I used around my windows to seal out moisture and drafts. This tape can even be applied under water. (It can be done but us extremely difficult. LOL!) Anyways I had about 4 inches left over and that little piece was just hanging out on my coffee table just waiting for some use other than hanging out and lookin' pretty.

When I bought the bow and saw the sight for the first time I was like WOW! That's pretty awesome, but these really aren't all that bright indoors. So, when I was messing with it after dropping it and trying to figure out how to repair it using one of those light fountains with fiber optic strands that bounce and sway as they turn colors and really don't do much of anything I happened to notice the piece of aluminum tape just hanging out serving no real purpose and had an idea

I decided that by itself the tape was really not all that reflective, but once I polished it with a little elbow grease and some toothpaste it did seem to have a rather nice polish. It was time consuming and difficult, but I eventually was able to slide a piece beneath the optic strands and it made a slight difference so I kept going. Now that it is finished I would say that it is about 25% to 30% brighter. What a difference!!!

Here is some proof since you guys probably think it didn't happen without pictures. Notice the nice glare from the reflected light...




EDIT::Oh, and I'm sending the sight to Trophy ridge so they will repair it and add two pins. I wonder what they will think about my modification!?! LOL!

[wscywabbit]

Nice mod! Thanks for the tip

[Gabriel454]

Nice mod! Thanks for the tip

You're welcome! I hope it works out for people! It is not easy to get the aluminum tape underneath the strands without breakage. Especially if like mine they are old. I would like to add uv dye to some and see if because they would reflect the uv rays they might degrade slower.

EIDT:: You should see the peep sight I made... It is more like a rear sight on a rifle and... well... I'm trying to get a patent for it, but it might take a very long time to do that. I tried asking Trophy Ridge if I might have a chance at a trade for payment, but they are part of some big corporation or something and didn't even write me back. =0( Who knows if I wrote the right person or not though... *Shrug*

Idk what I'm doing getting a patent and answers cost money so...

EDIT EDIT:: What if I submit my mods to magazines? Can companies make money off them then or can I somehow make something like a General Public license so that someone else can't just make money off my product, but I can post a how to? (See what I mean, I have no idea what to try next.)

[gravedigger]

not to shaby at all.i have a differnt problem,my sights are too bright.lol.its like a star burst when ya look through them,really really bright.so i am going to take a sharpy and color in some of the clear plastic.not all but some.

[Gabriel454]

not to shaby at all.i have a differnt problem,my sights are too bright.lol.its like a star burst when ya look through them,really really bright.so i am going to take a sharpy and color in some of the clear plastic.not all but some.

Put a dab of water on the pin the first time to wet the surface and thin the marker, wouldn't want to make em too dark the first time =0)

EDIT:: People with astigmatism might not want to make their pins brighter, depends on your eyes.
EDIT:: If that does not work, maybe take some really really fine sand paper and just rough up the edge to make it have like a frosted finish? Idk, I'd be really careful trying that, but it might work better than the pen.

[Skbengal]

That reflective modification might work well if you're a target shooter, but I have to say it would be a pretty frosty friday before I put something that bright and shiny on my hunting bow!

[Gabriel454]

That reflective modification might work well if you're a target shooter, but I have to say it would be a pretty frosty friday before I put something that bright and shiny on my hunting bow!

Yeah, I did not think about that. Well, the idea of it was to be able to shoot better indoors. I could make something to put over it so that you can only see the shiny part from one direction. That way the target can't see it if the bow is pointed at it, but light still gets in there from the sides. Might be a little expensive, but might just be worth it if you want bright sight pins. Or, I could do it simpler like a stoplight that you can only see in one lane.

EDIT:: Maybe just making the sleeve that the strand is in reflective on the back side so that it makes a parabola or something. That would cut down on the reflective surface.

[Gabriel454]

There, now it is only shiny directly behind the strand.
For two rows so far anyways

Now you can barely even tell, but the pins are still pretty bright.

Too bad the tape is a tiny bit shiny.

[Gabriel454]

The pins are very bright...

Maybe it is a little bit good that the tape is a tiny bit shiny.


At the guy with the too shiny pins, I'd put tape over the strands and test it like that so you can remove the tape if you make them too dark.

[elkslayer4x5]

Or... you could just get a HHA OL 5519!