flemish strings breaking

[vth0kie12]

i have been making my own flemish strings, but the keep breaking where about 4 to 5 inches from the end. they seem to be breaking where i finish twisting the bundle in. if that make any since.

the last one i made an effort to make sure both bundles ended at the same place. my strings have been coming out alittle long so i have had to put alot of twist in them.

also the all seem to break on the shot.

12 strains for 37 lbs

[4est trekker]

What string material are you using?

[vth0kie12]

pretty sure its brownell b-50   using to different colors

[Dublin Joe]

Are you scraping the belly with the bow strung?  If so you may be knicking the string with the scraper.

[red hill]

The few flemish twists I made had one loop to the top nock and a bowyers knot for the bottom. I didn't have to twist to adjust string length.
Stan

[vth0kie12]

its on a old wing recurve ... i haave seen the ones with the bowyers knots i just never really got how to do those

[DVSHUNTER]

try making them shorter so you are not twisting them as much. Good luck

[DVSHUNTER]

try making them shorter so you are not twisting them as much. Good luck

[chrisg]

Are you tapering out the threads? I mean each thread should be slightly different in length so that there is not one thick bundle at the join. The join should taper smoothly into the main body of the string. Three ply makes a smoother string and avoid sudden changes in tension that can happen with an uneven two ply. The plies, two or three must each carry the same weight too.
chrisg

[chrisg]

oh another thought, are you burning off the loose ends with a flame? That is a sure way to set up a mega failure!Synthetic materials do not like flame. Rather carefully cut the loose bits off with a sharp blade and wax the remaining ends into the string.
chrisg

[Roy from Pa]

Doesn't make sense. I've never had a b-50 string break. And 37 pounds is very light so 12 strands would be plenty.

[vth0kie12]

yeah i have been tapering the ends and i have been just leavin the ends hanging. this last time only one of the bundle broke. it seems to always happen on the shot, bu the arrow always flys good and hit with the others.

i agree it should be breaking. everything i have read say that should be a good size string.  i pretty sure it something i am doing wrong. i was thinking it was that i had more weight on one bundle than the other, but this last one i made sure they were the same lenght.


thanks for all the help guys i am just new to all this stuff

[Jeremy]

I use 12 strands on my 60# @30" bows...  

Can you post a pic of your strings?

The string groove on you Wing is smooth, right?  No glass slivers to cut the string?

[vth0kie12]

not real sure how to post pics....grooves appear to be smooth

[Jim Dahlberg]

When I first started making flemish strings 25 years ago I had strings break similar to what you describe.  You have to be sure to put "back lays" into the string after making the first loop before making the second loop so that the twisting of the second loop takes out the "back lays" in the length of the string.  Hard to explain in words but easy to understand when shown.  Put the first loop over a peg.  Go to the opposite end of the string.  Lay each bundle over itself counter clockwise if you are twisting to the right and laying the bundles to the left while making the loops.  You have to "back lay" the lengths of the string the same number of times that you are going to twist the second loop bundles together.  I prefer 3 bundle strings. I use 22 - 24 twists to make the upper loop then 32 twists to the body for the finished loop.  Then 32 "back lays" as previously described.  Then 12 - 16 twists for the bottom loop and 32 twists to the body of the string to finish.  When finished with the bottom loop you should be able to put your fingers between the strands and run your fingers from one loop to the other with no snarls.  If you have snarls the "back lays" weren't done properly.  Then twist the string 24 times counterclockwise and wax to hold in place.
Long description I know but it solved my string breakage problem.  Hope this helps.

[vth0kie12]

i think i understand what you are talking about and i dont do that. i will try it on the string i am going to make tonight.

thanks for the help

[macbow]

Wow Jim sounds like a really good string.

If I had to go to that much work would go back to endless loop strings.

I've never had a simple b-50 string break. I've had some come loose and some get frayed to the point I replaced them, but in 20 years of using flemish never had one break. I agree that less twist is better, but have shot a lot of them twisted tight.

If your using different colours I guess one bad spool can be ruled out.

I've had guys tell me that really old B-50 will sort of dry out and not hold wax.

How many shots would you guess before you have problems?

Since it is in the end of the splice padding the loops won't help much.

Hope you find the solution.
Ron

[George Tsoukalas]

It could be that you are twisting one bundle more than the other making one bundle shorter than the other. That bundle would be taking all the strain from the bow. Jawge

[vth0kie12]

the last string i would guess had around 100 to 200 shots on it. i just made it this week when the other one broke.

[Jim Dahlberg]

After rereading my first post I meant to say: "lay each bundle over 'the other 2 bundles' counter clockwise" and "put your fingers between the 'bundles' and run your fingers".
I had to learn flemish string making the hard way since there was no one else into making their own back then.  The book I learned from was written by Louis Hochman in 1957, "The Complete Archery Book".  The part that I kept getting wrong in the beginning was the "backlay" process. Thus broken strings. I have since taught many folks how to make flemish splice strings and have never had a broken string after getting the process right.  I have an osage selfbow that I hunted and shot weekly for 7 years with the original string on it.