Making bow string

[okiecountryboy]

I am new, but addicted to making bows. My new friends at PA have helped me along the way with a wealth of info.. NOW i need help on bow strings. What is the best braid or twist? what are the best materials? I'm not good or patient enough to work with plant fibers. Don't think they would last long. What about fake sinue?

Thanks for ant help..
Ron

[stringstretcher]

Okie.  For maybe 10.00 a spool, you could get B50 string material.  Two spools, of different colors, and you could make a lot of bowstrings, and knowing you will have to practice before getting them to your liking, I would suggest it.  Maybe make a flemish string jig and get some string making wax, and you are set for life to make any length you may want at any time.

[okiecountryboy]

Thanks stringstretcher
Know a good place to buy these items?

[stringstretcher]

Check out 3 rivers archery.  They have anything you would need and want.

[sailordad]

yup 2 rolls of diff colored b50,only way to go

i like bees wax more than commercial string wax,smells better and its still primitive even if the string material isnt 

[bowkee]

Ron ya Ever tried making Cordage? After I gave my B-50 to kegan i havent used it since, B-50 is exelent bow string material for flemish twist strings. Fast flight works good for Endless loop strings. Hemp, Dogbane, Flax linnen, works good for cordage, also sinew.I would not know that if it was not for these Guys.

[okiecountryboy]

Bowkee, thanks for the info.
I'm thinkin bout using simulated sinew in a flemish twist, if that's possible. Just got plans for a jig.
Got time to learn bout strings, still working on my first red oak board bow. Will start sanding rough blank tonight.
Keep the info comming..

Ron

[Aries]

Personally i use an endless style string made from artificial sinew which you can purchase through three rivers archery.  i can make one of these strings in bout 15 minutes, they are simple, effective, and quite durable.

I drive 2 nails in a board the length i want my string, leave bout 1.5 foot tied off on one end. wrap round till 2.5 times ( for a 5 strand string) and then proceed with massive amounts of half hitches.  Ty

[ricktrojanowski]

You can make them out of artififcial sinew.  It works, but it stretchy compared to B 50.  If you get the tan B 50 it looks pretty natural and shoots better than art. sinew.  As far as natural materials, I really like sinew strings, not too happy with Dogbane.  It takes way too long for me to process enough for a string.

[Hillbilly]

Forget the artificial sinew and get some B50. The artificial sinew is possible to make a string with, but it doesn't work well at all, in my experience. Too stretchy. The B50 is cheaper than artificial sinew, and 10x better. 3riversarchery.com has B50 for about eight bucks a spool.

[VenomBOWslinger]

All good info BUT, if u want to try something else works great and can be used for many other things is that artificial sinew they sell on 3Rivers...  real easy to flemish or endless loop...etc...

Russ

[bowkee]

B-50 is your best bet, I need to get some, off to trading post.

[okiecountryboy]

Thanks for all the info. Hey Aries, more specs on your board with 2 nails. It's a little vauge...remember...I'm a newbie on most of this.

Thanks
Ron