begginer string question recommendations

[Fishburglar]

i am now brave enough to begin making my flemish strings for my 58#predator classic recurve bow. I currently have the string it came with which is d97, and i am shooting carbon express heritage 250 out of this bow.
I have no tools and am starting from scratch please guide me into the right path with your thoughts and experiences.
-I am wondering if this bow can handle ultracam?
-any thoughts on how this bow feels with any other string besides d97?
-What serving is recommended for a perfect knock fit. i am thinking of 12 strand string, and padded 18 on the loops. but just dont know what serving to go with.
-Last question. A place where you have purchased your strings, serving, and serving jig.

[McDave]

I recommend the DVD "How to Build a Great Bowstring" by Rod Jenkins and Chad Weaver, which will answer all of these questions and more. I got my copy from 3 Rivers, which is also where I get my string making supplies. They are a sponsor of Tradgang, and you can click on their ad.

[Fishburglar]

i have the videos i just need reccomendations on where to buy mostly my strings and string server

[Jasper2]

I have used 3Rivers and Kustom King several times and I would recommend both of them.  They usually have what I need at decent prices and excellent customer service.  I live in Indiana so I like to support both of these "local" companies whenever I can.  I tried a few cheap serving tools in the beginning but now use the Bear Paw Serving tool exclusively and like it very much.

Take care,
Jason

[eflanders]

You can't go wrong in buying your stuff from any of the Trad Gang sponsors.  They are all great folks to deal with!

A common mistake made by many beginner string makers is in buying an inexpensive serving tool.  They create more hassles than they solve.  You actually don't need to get or even use a serving tool to make your first strings.  Once you know if you want to continue making them, then I would suggest getting a decent serving tool as it will speed things up for you and should be more consistent with the wraps.  Some folks like the Bearpaw serving tool as it works decently for a fairly reasonable price, but there are others (like Beiter) that do as good a job (if not better), but they are quite a bit more expensive.