Yet another string question

carl7

New member
Do you make a test sample of so many strands of a particular string material and serving size to see how your nocks will fit before you go ahead and build the string?

Seems to me the string mfg's suggestions are just too vague, ie: 21-24 strands of certain material and a .014, or .017, or .021 serving size.

Carl
 

lbp121

Member
Start with some standard strings, an 18 strand fastflight or similar. Then add a small section of centre serving to test nock fit and get the tightness you want. After that you can experiment. If the 18/ 0.21 was good and you make a 16 strand string you can either use a thicker serving or lay in a long tail or two to pack out the nock fit.
A maker saying 20-24 is giving you some choice as a 20lb bow shooting junior arrows won't need the same string as a senior 70lb compound.
Good luck!
 

carl7

New member
Thanks for the tips guys! I'm sure once I've made a few strings, what works will become apparent to me. The jig is almost ready and a few spools of string materials have arrived, so just have to jump in and do it.

Thanks for the reference link Joe, that's what I like, specifics on where to start.

Carl
 

buzz lite beer

Well-known member
To get the correct strand count for a given new material and serving combination in order to get a good nock fit, I just wrap the material around one end of the jig (two end posts) 9x for an 18 strand then serve over it in the middle and try the nock fit, do not tie anything off or cut the material from either of the spools, say it's no good as it's too tight I just undo the serving and rewind the removed material back onto the spool (zero waste)
 

carl7

New member
To get the correct strand count for a given new material and serving combination in order to get a good nock fit, I just wrap the material around one end of the jig (two end posts) 9x for an 18 strand then serve over it in the middle and try the nock fit, do not tie anything off or cut the material from either of the spools, say it's no good as it's too tight I just undo the serving and rewind the removed material back onto the spool (zero waste)
Good point buzz thanks, especially at the cost of this stuff, every little inch is precious!

Carl
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
It seems people are trying to make the entire string the size for the nock!
I make a string with the number of strands I think it needs for the bow.
This means the centre servingwould be much too thin. So... I simply lay in a strand of old Dacron for the first few turns of centre serving, then another strand and so on until the serving is fat enough for the nocks. I continue serving with all the laid in extra until I'm past the point where my fingers will be, I then snip off a strand, serve a bit more snip off another and so on.
The result is a nice light weight string with a comfortable well fitting centre serving, which tapers gracefully at either end.
A lighter string gives a faster arrow, which is maybe more important on a self bow.
It also saves on expensive string material, which is designed for making strings not padding out centre serving!
Del
 
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