Fast Flight String, Technical Question

[Dano]

I have seen about 8 or 9 fps increase, but the big benifits are in my book, you have a longer lasting string, that gives any bow better manners.

[DCM]

I use fastflight because it doesn't stretch.  This gets me more clearance for less brace height and reduces handshock.  And it's easier to work with imho.

[Lost Arra]

I started using it as a tillering string because it does not stretch like dacron.

[Pappy]

I was reading this and really wasn't interested until Dave said more clearance at low brace
and less shock,now you got my attention.I don't worry much about the speed but that might
make it worth it.I'll have to give it a try.See what you get if you just read on. ;DLasting longer
is always a good thing also.
   Pappy

[Marc St Louis]

Also the fact that it has little to no stretch means that it's actually easier to brace a bow. With dacron, because the string stretches so much on heavier bows, the string has to be shorter so you need to flex limbs more just to get the string on, This is a real pain when making heavy bows of 70# or more. With FF this problem becomes non existant

[Pappy]

This is sounding better all the time.I never even thought about ff till now,I love this place.
   Pappy

[Dane]

This is a great topic, Lennie. Like you, I recently bought a roll of fastflight, and winced at the cost. It is for a heavish 80 lb. longbow I am building for a friend. He wants self nocks, no horn nocks or overlays at all, would this be a problem with FF with osage? I doubt it, but want to get someone's opinion. Also, can I use the same serving thread I use with D50?

[tom sawyer]

Interesting additional info.  This thread is a regular stome soup, I started it from nothing and you've all added some fine ingredients.

David, how does FF allow you to use a lower brace?  I can't see how that would be.

Marc, excellent point.  Bracing a bow does seem to be a place where you can easily get over-stressed if you are not vigilant about technique.

Dane, the usual serving materials seem to work just fine.  In fact the stuff I use is a braided Spectra which is one of those low-stretch fibers anyway.  I think Dynaflight 97 is a Spectra or a blend.  And I have a friend who uses FF and makes super-small nocks on his osage bows, and has never had a problem.  I think David has a point about shaping nocks/grooves to avoid rubbing.

Which is something I meant to ask for further details on, what sort of nock groove shapes minimize friction between wood and string?  I've been making my nock grooves at slightly more than a 45 degree angle but I noticed this might not be ideal.  I think more like a 30 degree angle, going to maybe 60 degrees in the part of the groove on the belly side.  I suppose this would depend on length of bow though.

[DCM]

It allows me more clearance with less brace height Lennie.  Because it stretches less, it doesn't "follow thru" as much and slap my thumb/wrist when I shoot.  The string doesn't decide how much brace height a bow "can" have.  But a bow prefers not stranding as much bent for obvious reasons.  On longer bows the diff between Dacron and low stretch is quite significant.

The bow decides how the string grooves should be fashioned, not an arbitrary angle or bow lenght.  The string should lay nearly perfectly straight end to end when the bow is (properly) braced, and should be teardrop shaped to disperse the compression over as much material (wood) as possible, no high spots or abrupt angles.

[Gordon]

I've used FF strings on lots of bows with self-nocks and have not had a problem.

[Gordon]

What David said about low-stetch strings and brace height. I used to have a problem with the string slapping my arm at lower brace heights. That went away when I switched to FF strings.

no high spots or abrupt angles

Really important if you are using FF with self nocks. I carefully round the shoulders of my nocks so there are not sharp points for the string to catch.

[Justin Snyder]

One more question I haven't heard discussed.  Which is a better string when using FF,  Flemish or continuous loop. I know you flight shoot guys have a preference so lets hear it.  Justin

[tom sawyer]

From a mass perspective, I'd think continuous loop would be lighter.  You don't have double the strands in the 8" on each end like you have with  Flemish loop.  Mass comes at a premium out there too, although I suppose the string itself travels farther nearer the nocking point.

[Badger]

   In flight we have to use primitive string material, I normally prefer to use flemish even though contiuous is recomended. Difference is very very small. Next year I plan on using my primitive bows against the modern bows so I will be using fast flight as well. The ease of bracing high performance bows is the main reason I like the fast flight. Almost impossible with b 50 it stretches so bad. Steve

[Rich Saffold]

I like endless with served loops on performance bows which go elsewhere for a couple reasons.

A served loop is a bit of protection to the string in case it bumps something abrasive..like a rock. And they do.

While its only a subtle mass advantage over a similar flemmish style string its there, and you also have the advantage of less twists per string and this adds up as well.. Even though you have to be quite skilled as an archer to notice.

The Asians had the best natural string material, silk, and they didn't make flemmish style strings for one very good reason. They didn't have to..A warbow flemmish string is identical to what I used to cleat my 20' work boat to the dock. there is a little give so it doesn't jerk  the cleats on the boat when it rocks in the slip, and the same string had to stay together in battle since it was made out of linen which is good stuff, but it's not silk.

These materials aren't cheap, and you can get more strings out of a roll using endless style for your strings.

Often I use a  double timber hitch on the bottom for my personal bows and this keeps the twists down and is easy to use when shooting in a new bow..no stretch issues to deal with.

Rich