Laid in string: what went wrong...?

Rik

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First attempt at a laid in string. When I went to string the bow, there was a kind of ripping sound. Looking at the string, it appears that the last couple of inches of braiding came undone (string held, though).
I'm assuming I made some sort of newbie error on it, but what?
 

Valkamai

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Hi rik. It's hard to tell from a photograph but my first thought looking at your photo was that the loop ends were wrapped around the main bundles and then twists had been made in the whole string rather than the end being twisted in fully. Very hard to tell from a photograph do apologies if I'm reading it wrong. The other thought would be that they was not enough full twists added into the string to fully bind the ends how much extra length did you allow for twists, or how many twists did you put into the string after making the loops ?

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Timid Toad

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And did you stagger the strands, so they don't all finish at once? Tricky to tell from the pic, sorry.
 

Rik

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After doing the bottom loop, I put 30 twists in, twisting to the left (as the top loop sees it), on the assumption that the twists have to follow the laying in of the bundles, rather than the twisting within the bundles.

One thing occurs to me: should the bottom loop be laid in in the opposite sense to the top one? That is to say: take the left hand bundle (which would be the right on the top loop) twist the bundle hard left and lay over to the right?

Yes, the ends were staggered, by about a cm each time.
 

Valkamai

Member
After doing the bottom loop, I put 30 twists in, twisting to the left (as the top loop sees it), on the assumption that the twists have to follow the laying in of the bundles, rather than the twisting within the bundles.

One thing occurs to me: should the bottom loop be laid in in the opposite sense to the top one? That is to say: take the left hand bundle (which would be the right on the top loop) twist the bundle hard left and lay over to the right?

Yes, the ends were staggered, by about a cm each time.
https://youtu.be/C07evRZT_PQ

This is the way I do it. Pretty clear step by step instructions But I made a jig myself rather than buy the one in the video. [emoji106]

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Rik

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More or less what I did (without the jig) , except that I didn't put twists in the bundles before doing the bottom loop.

Try again, I guess.
 

dgmultimedia

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...

One thing occurs to me: should the bottom loop be laid in in the opposite sense to the top one? That is to say: take the left hand bundle (which would be the right on the top loop) twist the bundle hard left and lay over to the right?
Before starting the second loop I usually comb each bundle and put 26 full turns in the opposite direction to the eventual twists, start the braiding by looping the bundles around 2 posts and braid the loop section putting the twists in the usual direction, unloop from the posts and combine the 2 free ends with the main bundles hook the loop over a post and continue braiding into the main section twists as usual - on completing the braiding you should end up with the 2 bundles having no twists left so they then combine into one smooth bundle between the ends of the twisted sections. I also add a short binding to the ends of the twisted sections to prevent them coming loose although once to have twisted the required number of turns into the main string for length they are not necessary. If the string turns out too short and you have plenty of length in the loops you can untwist the longest one and remake. If it turns out too long remake one end starting the loop earlier in the bundle by half the difference in string length required. Once you have made one successfully with a particular thread and it has stretched and has the right number of twists you can remake new ones using its dimensions ( you did make a note of all the starting point lengths didn't you!).




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Rik

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I think that's what went wrong. Without the twists in the bundles, when I did the bottom loop it released some of the tension in the top end. When strung, it equalised out by unbraiding part of the top and bottom (and appeared to spontaneously braid a bit in the middle...).
 

Rik

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Just re-did it with twist in the bundles before making the bottom loop.
This time it did not unbraid itself.

Way too long, mind you. It braced up about 5cm below where it should be. But that is rectifiable.
Good enough for a first attempt.

I'm thinking I should probably stick a couple of nails in a board to help with making it, and marking some measuring points on there as well probably would not hurt.

Regarding the staggered ends - I was lazy and made all the strands the same length, then offset them by a cm at a time. Does it make a difference?
 

Valkamai

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I don't know if it makes a difference but with my homemade string board the longest strand is the longest at both ends of the bundle, with your way it would be the longest at one end and the shortest at the other. Haven't a clue if it that would make any actual difference but for some reason I would be wary of strand slippage if they didn't all have the same central midpoint. Totally irrational, but it was the first thing that occurred to me.

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Rik

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Well, the third attempt produced a much neater string (with the help of a sophisticated jig: two nails through a board).
Using the nails to help, made the twist-braid much tighter. And taking the twisting/untwisting into account led to a more accurate length.

The trial string is now waxed, served and a temp NP applied. I guess the next thing is to try a few shots and see how it stretches...
 

Rik

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Well, after 5 dozen shots, it's stretched by 1/8 inch of bracing height (call it 3mm)...
Quieter than my normal string (to my ear). I might keep it :)
 
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