OK, school me on Dacron strings...

[Bowhunter4life]

I recently picked up an older recurve for bowfishing... It only uses Dacron strings and the string itself is very wide from what I'm used to and my nocks are very tight on the string.  The bow is 60", 65# @ 28" and I have close to a 30" draw.  The serving is pretty thin to begin with and the nocks are Easton Supernocks on my carbons.  It is the string itself that is very thick  I don't have the fishing gear yet...  Question, are the nocks on the fish arrows bigger?  Either way on the fish arrow nocks, but I'd like to shoot it with my current arrows also...  I know I can widen the nocks, but then they would be to wide for my other bows...

My question is, can I get a thinner Dacron string with the weight of this bow.  I haven't peeled the string apart to see how many strands this one is, but it is older and I'm looking for a new one anyway...  Either make it myself, or to buy...  I've made several strings myself, but always with FF and Dacron padded loops...  

For this weight bow, how many strands are needed for safe shooting?  Also remember I'm looking to get the string thinner so I can shoot my regular carbons also...

[Brock]

is it a flemish twist dacron...if yes that willmake it thicker than normal.  if it is an older recurve they typically came with endless loop....why not by the AMO Endless Loop that came on the bow originally and use it?  All of my vintage Brownings have endless loop as from factory.

[Al Dean]

You are stuck with a thick string in dacron, 16 strand.

[David Mitchell]

I agree with the above--16 strand minimum on this bow at the weight you are shooting.  It is going to take larger nocks which will not be a problem fitting fish arrows, but the little nocks for carbons are going to be too tight.  You probably had best just develop some dedicated arrows for this bow for use other than fishing that fit the string well.  Some aluminums or better yet, try some nice heavy spined woodies.
 

[Charlie Lamb]

Typically I find dacron strings to be overbuilt  by a bunch.

There is no reason you can't safely use a twelve strand dacron string on your bow. It can get a little "twangy", but that's a little thing easily fixed.
Using B-50 (breaking strength of 50 pounds) a 12 strand string would have a strength of 600 pounds. More than enough.

[ddauler]

I have been making my son 12 strand dacron strings for his 50 and 55 lb bows I just beef the loops up to 16. They are about the same diameter as my Dyna Flite strings and fit nocks fine. I have even used 10 strands with no issues. Of course these are skinnier than recommended.

[ddauler]

I posted before I saw what Charlie said and agree with him. 10 strands from 56 lb American Cheetah special with no issues. Like I said beef up the Loops some.