Strings

[Minuteman]

Like Mullet said I have 4 rolls of B-50 so I'll be making a buncha strings before I get any FF to try.
 I've made mainly linen strings up until last year when I put a B-50 string on one of my ( gulp) selfbows. I felt like I was drunk at church!
 Sorta sacreligious to me at first. But my reasons for switching to B-50 were; I had substantial elbow pain developing in my right arm and having to cut selfnocks in arrows was more pain than I wanted to deal with. The dacron allowed me to use (gulp) Plastic nocks and avoid the tediously, painful selfnocks.
 The other reason was you can't just pick up an arrow and shoot it with a linen string unless the arrow is selfnocked AND it fits your string size.
 I've seen Mims' bows and watched the numbers on the chronograph at Mojam a few years back. I ain't gonna run out and buy some FF but  I do respect his point of view, he does ring every bit of performance he can from his bows. I think the FF is just one more way he makes the most of his bows.
 I don't understand the necessity for a shorter string when using B-50 though. Do you mean shorter initially to allow it to stretch ? If so its a moot point after its stretched to where its stable right?
 Chris
 
 
 
 

[DCM]

No Chris, he means shorter after all the creep is out.  Creep is elongation of a new string which is permanent.  Stretch is elongation of the string only under stress.  For long bows with high early weight, the difference in lenght can be remarkable. 

That's the whole thing about bracing a new bow, you have to bend the bow to say 8", 9" of brace height to put the loop on, only to later have the string stretch back down to 4" or 5" of brace height. 

Have ya'll truly never experienced this?

It's true I regard cast as one of the criteria to assess a bow, but only after others are given.  But I'd use FF just for the durability, quietness, decreased hand shock, decreased creep and stretch, even if it cost me a few fps.

Just to be clear, I don't have any problem with using a B50 string, or anybody else using B50.  I sent my '07 ABC bow in with a 18 strand B50 string because it was the most quiet config I could manage without string silencers.  I just wish folks would give options available to them, whether it be strings, wood species, arrow pass placement, etc. a fair audience before they get set in their ways.  But more importantly before they advocate to folks who might follow their lead, again blindly, without questioning the optoins.

[jamie]

david i totally agree about the short string. ive made some highly reflexed bows where the string had to be twisted something fierce because everytime i braced it the reflex would pul the string to the point it had no brace height. like ive said ive always stayed away from ff  because of noise. performance isnt what im concerned with. just a quiet well placed shot. if i was worried about performance i wouldnt carve my bows with rcks

[Minuteman]

I've experienced the string stretching a bunch after you initially string the bow.
  I  don't understand why its a problem to brace it at 8" when in ten minutes or less its gonna be stretched to where you gotta twist up the string. In a well made bow it shouldn't have that much bearing on it, I'd think. Of course none of my bows are what you would call " high early draw weight " bows. If I can get the speed and durability I got on my last bow I consider it a success.
 I still tiller like a 9 year old.

[artcher1]

Well said David! And I total agree about options .

I've not experienced that dramatic a brace height loss as you mentioned. Most I get is around 1/2". That's miles from the 4-5" you mentioned. Please let me explain: I take great care to make sure all strands are slack free before I start my first loop. After that loop is made up I place it over an embedded Osage dowel and draw "very taut" before I start my counter-twist (I don't do the bread wrapper thing). After I finish up the second loop I'm left with maybe 5 twist left in the string's body. Twist to suit and it's ready to stretch out with a big ol' screwdriver. 

My normal brace height is 5 1/2" so when I initially brace a new string I'm looking for a starting brace of 6". I also use a bow stringer so I'm really not bending the bow that much futher then the push/pull method. OK, after I have the bow braced at 6" I lay the back of the bow across my thighs and press down (word of caution here: to much pressure can break off your nock or cut the string into the string grooves) on the tips (hands under the string).  Best I can do here is get the brace height down to around 5 5/8". Thirty min. of setting takes care of the other 1/8" and the string is now ready for serving. And to maintain that brace height over time it may require that little press job over the thighs ( much depends on the amount of twist in the string) after first stringing. -ART B

[Marc St Louis]

I've experienced the amount of stretch David mentions quite often and know full well how much of a pain it is. Heavy weight longbows, recurves and R/D bows of moderately heavy weight will stretch the heck out of a dacron string and quite frankly never mind trying to get a first brace on a warbow with dacron. It will give you cursing fits. Dacron for me is at the bottom of the scale for making strings.

Chris. Have you ever braced a recurve with a dacron string and have the string stretch to the point that the bow will flip flop on you? Not a pleasant situation. You can get this quite often on a bow that you are tillering and the weight is still pretty high. Then you have to content with having to keep tension on the bow and try to get the string off without getting slapped in the face and all this after you have exerted yourself getting the string on in the first place

Dacron is ok when you have a medium weight straight limbed bow that has some string follow, that gives you low string tension at brace. I prefer good linen and linen is also quieter than any synthetic. FF with a good homemade string damper is pretty quiet as well. Dacron makes a loud string.

[Kegan]

Hmmm. I think I'll get one of the little $9 rolls of B-50 from 3 Rivers to test it out. If it doesn't work, I can use it on lighter bows. Seeing as how I'm using paracord though, it should still be an improvement. We'll see .

[Coo-wah-chobee]

I like linen. Its quiet as Marc says. Like ta use it for huntin' when I am not using sinew er vegetable fiber strings........bob

[artcher1]

That B-50 will work just fine for you Kegan. My son's Byron Ferguson 95# longbow came with a Dacron string. -ART B

[Minuteman]

Yeah Marc I had that problem not two weeks ago. A hik backed Ipe LB. Bout passed out getting the string off that dern thing. I'm happy to hear that I'm not the only one thats braced sooner than was good for me!
 So FF has no stretch huh?

[DCM]

"So FF has no stretch huh?"

Eeyup.

Sometimes I feel this game is like wading thru five acres of brier patch nekked just to get a pint of blackberrys.... fer somebody else's pie.

[George Tsoukalas]

I tiller with old strings that are already broken in. I do experience a bit of stretch but not a great degree. On a new string there is some stretch involved but it comes out pretty quickly. My finished strings have 3 twists per inch. Anymore than that adversely affects cast. My bows are 50-55# flatbows which sometimes keep and hold reflex but not usually. My strings have 14 strands. Jawge

[huntertrapper]

now how do you o about making a string out of 1/4 B-50?

[PK]

I always have to serve the ends of B-50 because it always wants to unwind. I think B-50 was meant more for Enless loop strings, Yes?

[Hillbilly]

An overhand knot takes about a secod to tie and fixes the unraveling thing.