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Archery Tips > How to Keep Those Screws Tight

The biggest problem with sights and accessories is screws being overtightened. People are shooting light arrows out of heavy weight bows that store a lot of energy. The bow and accessories have to absorb the excess energy that is not delivered to the arrow. In many cases the bow and accessories have to absorb almost as much energy as the arrow. That causes excess vibration and screws to come loose. People will tighten a screw as tight as they can thinking if tight is good, then tighter must be better. They are taking a steel screw with a turning ratio of as much as 32 turns per inch and screwing it into softer aluminum. That leverage is similar to raising your deer off the ground with a hoist that has 32 pulleys. That doesn’t take much effort. The result is that the tremendous leverage of the steel screw will stretch the threads of the softer aluminum. Aluminum has low elasticity so the threads will not snap back. Now there is less friction between the threads so the part will not stay tight. Tighten a screw until it stops and then tighten it a little more until you feel a little more give. That give is the threads stretching. Those threads are now ruined and the screw will never stay tight because of the gap between the threads. You will not have a problem with screws coming loose if you use a small amount of thread lock and just snug up the screws until they stop turning. Only use a standard strength thread lock. You will not be able to get the screw out again if you use the heavy duty thread lock. Be careful not to get thread lock on any plastic parts. The thread lock will attack most plastics used in sights.

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