Rule of Thumb about Strings

[D.A. Davis]

What's a good rule of thumb about how many strands of dacron to use when making a string?  I'll be shooting something in the mid-40's weight range.  Also, when measuring for a string, I know it's 4 inches shorter than the length for a recurve and 3 inches shorter than the length for a longbow.  What about a hybrid longbow?  Is it the same as any longbow?

D.A.

[bigcountry]

I follow 12 strands for up to 35lbs, 14 strands, 35-50lbs, and 16 strands for 50-65lbs.  I know some guys go 2 strands more for each set of wieghts.

[Jeremy]

I've been shooting 12 strand (loops padded to 14) for ~60# 30".

If the bow was made to AMO specs, the string needs to be 3" shorter than the AMO length, regardless of if it's a recurve or longbow!

Most bows, even those marked "AMO" aren't made to AMO standards though.  It's best to measure the string on the bow when it's at the proper brace, then make the new string to that length.

[Bjorn]

I am a skinny string fan for self bows especially. The only material I know well is D97. 6 strands is perfect for a 50-55# bow. Pad the loops to 14 or 16 and taper the ends-you will love the result.

[Canadabowyer]

Bjorn,how do you pad the skinny string to fit your arrow nocks? Same as the loops?

[Hermann From Bavaria]

my rule of thumb for dacron is:

drawweight divided with 4 is the number of strans.

i.e. 60#bow = 15 strands (then i use 14)

mfg

[kodiakkid]

I use B50 string material and 12 strands 40-50  14 strands 50-60

[Jesse Peltan]

For all bows you take bow weight times 5 divided by strand strength. On dacron the strand strength is about 25# so for a 50# bow 250/25 is 10. On b-50 you can also use the trick of bow weight divided by 5.

[Bjorn]

Canadabowyer, some folks like to double serve; I lay in strands under the serving to get a perfect nock fit.

[Jeremy]

Bjorn, how are you laying the strands under the serving?  Every way I've tried it I get a cabling effect.

[Bjorn]

Hi Jeremy, I will be wearing that beautiful Damascus this fall!
By 'cabling effect' do you bean the strands wrap themselves around the string?
If so, that's what you want. 4 strands of D97 and an .021 serving thread works for me. I taper the serving area and only serve max 6 in.