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Questions on linen strings

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loefflerchuck:
  Although I can make a sinew string pretty thin that does not compensate for the stretch. I learned this at my first time in Wendover this year. I started to make some linen strings. I'm doing endless loop as I'm not very good at flemish twist. I got the linen of etsy. I made sure it was Irish linen and my first batch was 4 ply. Started with 6 strands that broke as soon as I strung the bow. So did 8. 10 held but I used 12 my first test. I could see it does not stretch much as it broke the nock off the top of my bow the first shot. The bow is fine but a inch shorter now. Got some more string. This time I did not worry about "Irish" and just got 5 ply waxed sewing linen. It seems about the same size as the 4 ply and 8 strands held fine on a 58# bow. My broadheads still only shot about 210 yards but there was a slight headwind and it was snowing. It was a sinew backed bow and the humidity was 75% but I'm not sure the bow was exposed for long enough for that to have a impact.

I'm looking for what you think the best linen is? Waxed or unwaxed? Also where I can find it. My last string weighed 153 grains by the way.

Badger:
   I have a textile cordage dealer about 1 mile from my house. I have been using the unwaxed 6 ply. Six strands will usually hold but I usually go to 8 because I hate making up strings. If the quality is not up to par it might take 10 strands. Linen string actually breaks at almost exactly one half of what it is rated at. So if it is rated at 64# it will break at 32#. I like to figure 6 times breaking strength for durability and 4 times for flight shooting. On a bow with less early string tension you can get by with 3 X for a few shots.

avcase:
What is the length of string for your bow? 

In Archery, the Technical Side, Maurice Taylor has an article on bow strings written in 1940. Much of the focus was on linen since it was the primary bow string material at the time. He investigated the affects of moisture and wax. The linen he tested showed as much as a 50% increase of strength with the addition of moisture over dry string. The best strength to weight occurred when the string had a 9-10% moisture content. So if you are in a dry climate, it will greatly improve the strength of the string to keep it slightly moist. Just 9-10 grains of moisture added to a 100 grain string is about perfect. My experience agrees with this. When I am using a bow with a linen string at a very low humidity place like the Bonneville Salt Flats, then I periodically wipe down the string with a lightly dampened cloth and this has worked very well.

In Maurice’s article, Taylor also tested the effects of adding wax to the string using a number of methods. The effects on strength was the same or worse than without wax, but the wax added weight reducing performance.  It is interesting that your wax string seems to be holding better than the non-wax.

Barbours pure flax sinew is often really good. It was probably last manufactured in the 1970’s, but I have a ton of it and have no trouble getting it.  Just make sure you to avoid any labeled as “soft”.  I often use a thin 4-ply which I tested with a breaking strength of about 28 pounds dry. I figure a 64” long string for a 58 pound bow would weigh about 90-100 grains fully served with silk and with reinforced loops.

There are also current linen thread suppliers that are about as good.  I can send you a list.

Steve, how does the linen you get compare to the pure flax sinew?

Alan

Badger:
Alan, I have never made a comparison to sinew. I only have one sinew string that was gifted to me last year at the flats.

loefflerchuck:
Thanks Alan, Both the 4 ply and 5 ply I have tried were waxed. My bow is only 58" long, so it sounds like my string is a bit heavy. It was 10 strands of 5 ply. I had a 8 strand break. I had heard that endless strings may be weaker with linen. The twist holds better.

 I found Barbours on ebay but was afraid to buy old string. Maybe I'll give it a try.

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