Deck Lube?

Real McCoy · Post by **Real McCoy** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:02 pm

Did a search and found where some recommend using silicone and some say silicone has a negative effect on string and serving. Some use Armor All. Some don't use anything. It seems like reducing drag/friction would be a good thing - so is any one thing better than another.

Pydpiper · Post by **Pydpiper** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:10 pm

Usually the wax from the serving will coat the rail in the appropriate places.
Others have been known to have the rail coated with Teflon, and get good results.

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:29 pm

i spray mine with jig a loo. it works good. if you spray your bolts with it it makes them easier to remove from a foam target too

Boo · Post by **Boo** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:37 pm

On the contrary, string lubes with silicone is good for the string. If you wax/lube your serving properly it will help the longevity of your string under the serving. I kinda think that the lube negates some of the affect of lubing your deck. Besides any amount of silicone etc attracts dirt. Try some "better" string conditioners on your serving like Daltons if you want better but more expensive than the factory stuff.

greener · Post by **greener** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:58 pm

You may want to try Scorpion Venom rail lube. It is a polymer substance that has no ill effect on your string or serving. I've just applied it to my Y25 and Vixen. Small amount on each side of the rail and use a clean clothe to rub it in. There is no build up and the rail surface is EXTREMLY smooth. The price is a little high but in my opinion seems well worth it. $13.99 for a 1oz. tube

VA Bigbore · Post by **VA Bigbore** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:51 pm

I was told, from Cabela's, that you were not supposed to put lube on the rails of Excalibur bows. They said the wax from the string was enough. Should I be lubing the rails on my crossbow?

greener · Post by **greener** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:17 pm

Va Bigbore: Did Cabelas give you a reason as to why you were not supposed to lube an Excalibur Rail/Deck????? Excess wax on the strings center serving will transfer over time to the deck causing build-up. This in turn will slow the speed of the string and cause it to chatter as the string travels along the deck.

VA Bigbore · Post by **VA Bigbore** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:24 pm

The sales guy said the wax off of the string was all that was needed to keep down friction. There is some wax on the rails, I thought this to be "normal". Not an excessive amount, but if you look close you can see it. Should I wipe it down?

Boo · Post by **Boo** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:29 pm

I clean my deck off with silicone on a rag. I do not spray anything on the deck because it gets into the channel and that will collect a whole whack of garbage.

Bowster · Post by **Bowster** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 6:22 am

I was noticing that my bolts, home fletched with arrow wraps, were not sliding well on the rail likely due to an excess of wax from the sting.

I wiped it with Jig A Loo and what a difference. Smooth as a baby's *** now.

This must impact bolt performance!

sumner4991 · Post by **sumner4991** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:56 am

As a matter of sole benefit to the serving . . .I did find that waxing the serving alone held up better than using the combination of serving wax and rail lube. The only explaination I could come up with was the silicone based lube I was using was breaking down the serving wax. Anyway, the purpose of the wax is to protect the serving. If the rail lube is breaking down the wax, then your serving will not last as long. I did not test the combination for speed. However, there was no noticable difference in POI between the two.

I have now went to using the serving wax alone. Waxing the serving every 20 shots is optimal. Testing was done on the Exomax, so the results could differ amongst the other bows. I clean my rails occasionally with a Teflon based spray(made for high performance bike chains and it goes on dry, no messy build up).

Phoenix_Tom · Post by **Phoenix_Tom** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:03 pm

sumner4991 wrote:As a matter of sole benefit to the serving . . .I did find that waxing the serving alone held up better than using the combination of serving wax and rail lube. The only explaination I could come up with was the silicone based lube I was using was breaking down the serving wax. <Snip>.

Sumner,
I'm not a chemist, nor have I played one on TV, but I would think that if you're finding the rail lube is breaking down the serving wax then it's possible that you're seeing a chemical reaction. If both lube and wax were silicone based it might solve that problem.

I follow Bill T's recommendation and don't use any rail lube and clean off excess wax on the rail.

Boo · Post by **Boo** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:10 pm

Actually, silicone from a spray can acts as a solvent to remove the wax on the deck so I think Scott is right if he is talking about silicone being left in any volume.

Phoenix_Tom · Post by **Phoenix_Tom** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:49 pm

Boo wrote:Actually, silicone from a spray can acts as a solvent to remove the wax on the deck so I think Scott is right if he is talking about silicone being left in any volume.

True. There are probably other ingredients in the spray that act as solvents as well. I was ASS-uming he was talking about rubbing on a very fine film on the deck rail. But if we're talking about leaving it in volume or spraying it on the rail and drenching the serving at the same time, then this could definitely remove wax from the string / serving.

sumner4991 · Post by **sumner4991** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 1:49 pm

I was spraying on a thin layer to the rail and wiped it off with a paper towel every 20 shots as I applied wax to the serving. The serving wear was worse than just applying the wax to the serving alone. At best, there was no advantage in using the rail lube . . .unless there was a speed difference, which I didn't witness with the naked eye. If there is a difference, then it's a very small one.

I began the test hoping the slicker rail would improve the serving life . . .didn't get the result I expected.

So, if you decide to use a oil based or silicone based lube for the rail, then be careful not to spray directly onto the serving and wipe it clean off the rail. However, I forget the exact numbers, but the difference was just a few shots . . .I would guess 10-20, it wasn't much. I'll look it up if someone wants to know exacts.