making bow string new way

[inksoup]

found this in youtube. it can be used to make a bow string.

 

[Roy from Pa]

Think I'll just stick with my Flemish string jig..

[Mad Max]

That's for rope, not for us.

[halfseminole]

A lot of bowstrings were made that way.  A lot were braided.  ELB strings were made of hide glue soaked hemp twisted together, no Flemish to it at all.  Native bowstrings in America were strips or plaits of rawhide.  Manchu bowstrings were often thousands of wraps of silk, endless style.  There are as many ways to make a bowstring as to skin a cat.

[Mad Max]

I agree with halfseminole
If you are copying/making a Indian style bow you may make the string one way.
 or making a fiberglass recurve, make it a flemish or endless loop.

[passion for knowledge]

My mum used to do all kinds of crafts, when I was a kid.
I remember twisting up multiple lengths of wool so she could make decorative 'ropes' for her stuff.
I guess the important thing is, does your choice of materials and method of construction give you a string that works for the bow you are shooting.
My preference is the good old Flemish, probably because it's the first kind of string I learned to make, and I've had a decent amount of practice at it.

[mikkekeswick]

It may be for 'rope' but that is a three ply reverse twisted cord - Exactly the same as a reverse twisted flemish loop bowstring.....only better!!! Three plys gives you a rounder, stronger more evenly strained cord compared to a two ply cord (bowstring).
Three ply is superior to a two ply cord. That's why it is used to make 'rope'.
If you want to make a bow string three ply you don't need to reverse twist the whole string as shown in the video just do it exactly the same as a two ply bowstring.
Halfseminole - braiding isn't used for bowstrings because it is weaker than reverse twisted cord and this becomes important when using natural materials. Traditional English strings were not stuck together with hide glue...come and live here and try it!! You will end up with a very sticky string! I agree that full length hemp fibers were used though - the bow string used back in the day were of the finest quality it is possible to make. This is shown by the width of the nocks on the Mary Rose arrows and the weight of the bows.

[mikkekeswick]

Two ply strings have become the norm simply because we have superb quality threads to make bow strings out of nowadays. If we didn't have Dacron,Dyneema etc a lot of us would still be using 3 ply cords.
I spent a few years really getting to know natural material strings and their methods of construction and can recommend learning about this stuff to everyone!
The ultimate natural material string is a 3 ply cord with each individual ply being made up of 7 simple cords. Almost perfectly round and lasts for a super long time at a very small overall diameter.

[Roy from Pa]

I think you're pulling our leg, Mike..  

[neuse]

I like this information about different string materials and string construction.

I am always wondering about string material through the progression of time.

I ordered some Ramie thread yesterday for string making.

[halfseminole]

https://books.google.com/books?id=9mA7AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT122&lpg=PT122&dq=hemp+bowstring+hide+glue&source=bl&ots=JZYhsnI9uX&sig=r0xyOY89SGdsv-o3Tpj2PLnl2XE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAmoVC hMIvbvY1rn-yAIVxOEmCh1oFwwS#v=onepage&q=hemp%20bowstring%20hide%20glue&f=false

References to glues in stringmaking.  Necessary thing before we had our new artificial materials.

[monterey]

Mike, I'm not understanding your reference to two ply vs three ply strings.  My Flemish strings are always three ply.  Are two ply the new norm?

[mikkekeswick]

All i'm saying is that 3 ply is better than 2 ply allover things being equal.
Halfseminole - I'd take the info in that book with a pinch of salt. The Turks used a resin to stop the loop knots from slipping not to make it stronger. The mixture is made from pine sap, beeswax and a touch of hide glue - the ratio being key. I have made quite a few of these strings as well for my Turkish bows.
Glue is not necessary in normal string making. Why do you think that modern materials have changed the physics involved!?
I guarantee you that the string makers of old did not use hide glue to 'protect' their hemp strings. You only have to try this to find out for yourself. I do not for one minute dispute that they may have had some mixture to rub onto their string for 'protection'. However wet hemp is stronger than dry and the most likely use for this mixture would be partially to keep excess moisture off the string but also to stop it drying out too much...this is the killer for hemp strings - again I know this because i've grown my own hemp for string making and have done a lot of testing with the cord i've made.
The problem with a lot of these books is that they are written by people who have little to no practical experience but do like searching through old books! Nothing wrong with that in itself but practical experience would have told them that the error of their assumptions.

[Paul/KS]

I've started making three ply strings just because I like they way they look.
Plus I seem to have accumulated a lot of rolls of thread...    :rolleyes: