Mix the materials for bowstring

[JMM81]

Hello ,
can I mix fiber type to make a bowstring?
See if this can have an impact on the sound (lower fiber for noise reduction?)
  for example: ASTRO + XS2
If yes, which fibers mix well together?

Or is it not advisable?

Because I use the whisper string bodnik .corde that makes my bow silent but has a tendency to lie .Don I try to make a performance rope but also silent.

[Pat B]

I have mixed B-50 and B-55. My Treadway bow has FF type string mixed with B-50 I think. Not sure the brand type.
 Chad(LBR) will probably chime in with an educated answer.

[Crooked Stic]

You can pad the loops with a different material
. I would think different rates of stretch may be a problem in main part of the string,

[DanielB89]

absolutely, you can mix materials.  Just be sure that you put enough strands of the material with the lesser stretch.

[old_goat2]

Seems to me it would be problematic to build for a non professional, different rates of stretch, different strand diameters. Seems like it would cause cabling and the string wouldn't be very round.

[Pat B]

Like I said, my Treadway bow has a mix of materials. I'd have to say that Mike is a professional.

[old_goat2]

Originally posted by Pat B:
Like I said, my Treadway bow has a mix of materials. I'd have to say that Mike is a professional.

Does he mix it through the length of the string or just pad the loops? Big difference. I know of people having trouble keeping the bundles the same length when twisting in the string because of a slight difference in diameter of two different colors of the same string material. I'm sure there's some tricks to overcome it, doubt the OP is at that level and I know I'm not!

[Terry Lightle]

May be ok,but not on my bow.Spooked about different amount of stretch,just my opinion.   .May be fine,but like I said above just a little spooked.
Terry

[Pat B]

Full length.

[A.S.]

Mike Treadway has built B50/FF strings for many years.  I don't know which FF material he uses. I have never tried it, but have friends who have had them on his bows.

Some FF materials are so close, that mixing them would be possible......if that's all you have.

[JRY309]

I have been making my own bowstrings for my own bows for 20+ years.Me personally I wouldn't mix materials in the main body but have padded the loops with different materials.

[frank bullitt]

Alot folks have, and do mix dacron/polyester with high performance materials.

As for mixing hp strings, I have a D97/Ultra Cam, string I have shot for over 3 years.  Not saying you should!

[LBR]

What it amounts to is the material with less stretch is going to carry the load, the other material is just a built-in dampener.  Mike has tried a few different materials.  He's got a lot of 8125 from me.  He puts and equal number of strands of each material in each bundle.

The only materials I'd mix like that (other than padding a loop) would be Dynaflight '97 and Dynaflight 10/Force 10.  The only reason I'd mix those two in the same string is because they are practically the same material...but then there's no point in mixing the two.

I remember a guy at the original Howard Hill shoot in Wilsonville, AL promoting a fast flight/B-50 mix string.  Never tried one, never had a reason to since.

[nineworlds9]

I wouldn't do it.  I'd spend more time tuning or finding effective silencers.

[ron w]

Mike Treadway told me he did it full length many years ago. So I tried it and have had no issues. I like it for nock fit. Just a couple of strands 2-3 per bundle with your choice of FF material. Seems to work very well.

[Jasper2]

Treadway mixes FF and Dacron and I believe that the Shrew strings used to be mixed as well with 450+ and Dacron.  I've talked to Treadway at length about this as I'm sure many of you have if you've ever called him   :D   Guys that mix materials claim that it makes the bow quieter.  

I build my own strings and don't mix materials myself because I've done it and they are not any quieter to my ear so I see no need to mess with it.  If I gained something by doing it....I'd do it in a heartbeat!

For what it's worth, I've tried strings from the two guys that I mentioned above as well with the same results. Do your own testing if you can, your results may vary.

[mahantango]

I'd listen to Chad on this. His answer reflects my thoughts exactly. Makes no sense to me.

[Fletcher]

I wouldn't do it, the chance of a string failure isn't worth it to me.  I won't even mix engine oils.

[ron w]

If you have a skinny string of some type of FF material.....how could adding a couple of strands of B-50 to each bundle make the string more likely to fail. The 8-10 strand of FF are doing the work and guys shoot them all the time. The B-50 is just going along for the ride.......and my nocks fit well. I do it all the time and I think Mike Treadway has a good handle on what's good and bad........just my thoughts.

[BowDiddle]

I had a well known (can't type in his name?) string builder build me a mixed material string a few years back.

I wanted an Ultracam/B50 combo string, and I wanted it that way to make the string quieter, and have better nock fit.

He warned/told me, that unless I was shooting fairly low draw weight as to not overload the strands of the B50, that it would not work as I expected it to, and tried to get me to let him just build me a good fastflight string.

Well, he was right. I was shooting 65#, and that mixed string made the bow crappy to shoot.

Luckily for me he sent an all ultracam string served for my nocks, and with silencers (for free mind you) along with the mixed string.

He sent a note along with the strings saying when I was convinced, to put the ultracam string on, and be happy, which I did, and was.

Pat