String Board Adjustment for Different Materials.. Advice Wanted

[ItzaKen]

It appears that I have my string board dialed in for a Flemish string for my bow, using B55.

I'm "assuming" that I would need to make the initial strands longer, if/when using D97 and D10/Force10, which have little to no creep.

How much longer do I need to cut my bundles, going from B55 >>--> D97?
And going from B55 >>--> D10/Force10?

Thank you, All

[McDave]

Most of the initial stretching is from squeezing the wax out of the string, which is the same whether the string is made from B55 or D97.  Initially, with a minimal amount of twists in the string, I like to see the brace height about 1” high, which I find works its way down to a normal brace height over a day or so with a hundred or so shots, and then continues to stretch for a few weeks until I add a normal amount of twists to the string.  I have never really added any length to a fastflight string over a dacron string, although a dacron string may end up with more twists in it.  But if you want to account for that difference, I would say no more than 1” longer, which if your string jig doubles back four times would be a movement of 1/4” of the peg.

[ItzaKen]

Thank you!
I'm just getting my technique down and learning to adjust my jig and strings.
It seems that since my peg is at the bottom of a V, that if this is the only part that moves, a movement of 1/4" would only give ~ 1/2" difference.

[McDave]

It depends on how many times you loop around that peg to make one strand.  With a short jig, you might loop around the peg twice to make one strand, in which case 1/4” would make a 1” difference in the string length.  If you only loop around it once, then a 1/2” movement in the peg would change string length by 1”, as you say.

[Sojurn]

Assuming the string stretching comes from wax migrating out of the string bundle while you shoot,  could you heat the string (gently, with a hair dryer perhaps) while the bow is strung to expedite this process?
  Or do you think enough heat to melt wax would negativity impact the string fibers?

[McDave]

Strings can be safely pre-stretched if you've got room in your garage or workshop to stretch the string between two eye screws and a turnbuckle.  Tighten down the turnbuckle until you can feel about as much tension on the string, or a bit more, than the bow would put on it.  Or just hang the bowstring from a hook in the ceiling and hang 50 pounds or so of weight on it.  Make sure that the weight can't rotate or you might untwist your bowstring.  Leave it overnight.

I don't know about heating up the bowstring.  My instinct tells me that would be a bad idea, but if anyone has had good results with this, feel free to chime in.

[Steelhead]

One thing I do to get a string to stretch a little more if I need to elongate it or just get it stretched out more is this.

Wax the string.Take a 2X2 inch or 3x3 inch piece of leather.With the bow strung.Run the leather up and down the bow string between the thumb and forefinger till it warms up or heats up.Your just creating friction and it will lengthen the string a bit.Obviously do not over do it and melt your string.

Works for me and I never had an issue with string damage.I did it on a few brand new B-55 strings recently after I had shot them in and had them strung for a few days and my brace hieght decreased a tad after the leather trick and I put a few twist in them to get them back where I wanted them.They shoot nice and are totally stable.They have not moved one bit in 3 weeks of shooting them.

Once again dont overdue it.But dont be scared to try and use common sense.

[limbshaker]

You don't need to alter your strand length...

What will ultimately make your string its finished length, is how far back from the end of the strands you start your SECOND loop.

Make this distance LONGER to make your finished string shorter. 

[ItzaKen]

I just need to make it long enough for the first one.... I recently made one that was too short and ended up pulling the 2 shortest strands out and putting 2 longer ones in and then, trimming as needed to find out where to move my board pin.

[mahantango]

Kinda what limbshaker said. It's not that big a difference between string materials. Make your first loop then measure the length needed to get the finished length desired based on the amount of expected stretch.. That is where to start the second loop.