String makers....need help.

[Arctic Hunter]

I want to make a skinny string for my tall tines. I have been using BCY-X 18-20 strands and padding the loops to 24. How many strands would you recommend for a skinny BCY-X? I'm shooting around 55# at my 30" draw.

[JRY309]

I have made a couple of 16 strand BCY-X for my bows 55# and under.I don't think I would go lower then that with the BCY-X.I do pad my loops to 22-24 strands depending on the bow and how large the nock grooves are on my bow.A 16 strand BCY-X with .026 Angel Majesty serving fits my nocks great.

[DanielB89]

Artic,

all i use is "x" and technical "skinny string" would be 8 or less strands in my opinion, BUT you will have a heck of a time finding serving that will work on a string like that.  I have to double serve anything lower than 14 strands.  

There is a guy on here who goes by the handle of, "Keith Zimmerman", and i made him a 10 strand for his #70 bow.  He has been shooting it for several months now, and to my knowledge, hasn't had any problems.  
 
If your concern is strength, I know that a 4 strand would hold your weight, but good luck serving it.
 
I am currently making 10, 12, and 14 strand strings. I think that these are a good compromise to both.  I made an 8 strand for a customer and it was scary to be honest.  It was Super thin.  I couldn't help but think about it breaking on a customers $1000 bow.

There was a study recently, though some questioned the validity of it, that was a test of different strand counts.  No real benefits were seen from the study, not to say there aren't benefits.  

sorry for rambling, I hope I answered your question.  Feel free to pm me and I will send you my # so we can talk more.  

Daniel

[DanielB89]

double post

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Twentty strands of BCY-X is what I use on my indoor target bow, and it's pretty much identical to 12 strands of Dyna97. Personally, I've never seen any reason to go thinner than that.

[JRY309]

There are a lot of different diameter per strand strings out there.I have made quite of few of what I call skinny strings.A 8 strand D97 is about the same diameter as a 6 strand 450+,a 10 strand 8125,a 12 strand 8190 and a 8 strand Ultra Cam.I do have to double serve these to get a good nock fit I want.I have made and shot a 6 strand 450+ on bows upto 60#.I like to make most of my strings now with one serving,I use a .026 and .030 serving on my strings.I don't think it has been proven there is a big performance increase with skinny strings.I feel it can effect the tone of some strings and sound.I made a 16 strand BCY-X for my Hoyt Buffalo 54#.It settled in quick and maintains the brace height,no constant readjusting as with some other string materials.

[LBR]

Twenty strands of BCY-X is what I use on my indoor target bow, and it's pretty much identical to 12 strands of Dyna97. Personally, I've never seen any reason to go thinner than that.  

Same here, although I have dropped to 18 strands on some lighter draw weights.

For anyone who might not know, Jason is a World Champion archer, a very accomplished hunter, a string maker, and has written articles for archery magazines...amongst other accomplishments.  His credentials are matched by very few.

To get to the question at hand, I wouldn't go with any less than 14 strands for 55#.  I won't be going that low on my own bows.  18-20 has worked very well for me.  

It's not wise to base these decisions on a best case scenario.  X is very strong, and very durable, but something could go wrong.

Ask yourself a simple question:  why?

You might pick up a couple of fps, or you might not.  You might change the noise level, or you might not.  Neither is going to be changed enough to affect hunting or target shooting.  What you definitely will do is affect the durability and strength of the string.

Speaking for myself, I don't shoot traditional bows because I worry about a couple fps, or because I want to take the easiest route.  I know if I do my part with tuning and choose the correct arrow, I can get my bow VERY quiet.  I know that by doing something as simple as working on my release I can pick up as much as 10 fps or more without changing a thing!

Lastly, I am fortunate to know some pretty dang good archers.  None of the best I know use tiny strings.  

I'm not saying this to aggravate or insult.  It's just simple facts as I see them.  If anything, it would be to my benefit to advocate low strand count strings.  I won't, because in 20 or so years and thousands of strings I can't find any tangible evidence that they are better, and they do have shortcomings.

My opinion.  Take it for what it's worth.

Chad

[Bud B.]

Nice and informed response Chad. Thank you.

[Arctic Hunter]

Thanks for the help. I havent had any issues with the 18-20 strand strings, I figured I'd try it just to experiment. I have one bow and a lot of string material that I need to do something with...

Chad, thanks for chiming in. Does BCY have anything new coming out this year? It's going to be hard to beat BCY-X.

[LBR]

Doesn't hurt to experiment, as long as you don't push the limits too hard.  Never know--you might figure something out that one of us missed.

The newest things BCY showcased at the ATA show were some new color combos for 452X and Power Grip serving material.  I don't know of anything else in the immediate future.

Use that material up--we plan to be at Twin Oaks again with a bunch more.

[Jwilliam]

I recently started using 18 strands of BCY X. So far I'm really impressed with the results.        The BCY X string settled in very real quick. No real adjustments to be made. This stuff just doesn't seem to move. Really liking that !!!
I have been using 12 strands of Dynafight 97 for a number of years with very good results. But I think BCY X is a very good improvement.


Bill