What a difference a string makes

[Blacktail42]

I recently picked up a Blacktail bow from Tom Clum and I was trying different strings on it. Put on a new D97 from Mountain Muffler and the bow feels so much better after the shot. I was trying B55 both flemish twist and endless loop and felt there was some vibration after the release.

[Orion]

Yep.  Low stretch strings reduce limb vibration and consequent hand shock and increase arrow speed, sometimes at the expense of a little louder noise.  I'll take that trade off. 

[stevem]

I have a '71 Bear Kodiak Hunter.  Bought it about 8-10 years ago, and never warmed up to it. It appeared to have a B50 string, as it was old looking.   About 3 years ago I made a D97 string for it, just to see.  My experience was it became a different, better bow, in all ways.  Even quieter.  I don't think a fast flight strings will make all bows "better", but trying different things sometimes leads to favorable results.

[Kirkll]

Going from B-55 to D97 is a quite a jump.... now try going to BCY Mercury and you will get another.

I use Ricks Traditional Bow Strings on all my custom bows now and he makes a decent flemish twist.    Kirk

[Bamboozle]

Yes, get this, I changed to a B-50 from FF and not only was it quieter on said bow, it was 3 FPS faster on average.  Go figure!

[Kirkll]

Yes, get this, I changed to a B-50 from FF and not only was it quieter on said bow, it was 3 FPS faster on average.  Go figure!

Unfortunately that can’t be figured, because it defies physics. A modern FF string will always be faster than Dacron.

Did you get your post backwards here?     Kirk

[Terry Green]

Yes, get this, I changed to a B-50 from FF and not only was it quieter on said bow, it was 3 FPS faster on average.  Go figure!

Unfortunately that can’t be figured, because it defies physics. A modern FF string will always be faster than Dacron.

Did you get your post backwards here?     Kirk

Kirk, I did the SAME EXACT THING with an osage selfbow that I built. Are you really going to start down these roads AGAIN???

[Kirkll]

Sorry Terry,
I just thought he got that backwards. Didn’t mean to offend anyone with my opinion.  I have no experience with self bows.    Kirk

[Terry Green]

 Calling out members as a Sponsor???? Are you trying to self destruct?

 

[Roy from Pa]

No experience with self bows?

Hell yer not a real bowyer till ya make a self bow...

Anyone can slap together a couple pieces of glass:)

[Terry Green]

Pert time SelfBowzo...

[Terry Green]

Don't ask me why that 2nd pic is tilted.... I have no idea... that was done over 20 years ago.... 

Maiden Voyage....

[Terry Green]

Bear Necessities....

[Terry Green]

The Maiden Voyage was faster with b-50. Don't know why, don't care. Made me scratch my head, and I checked it again.  Same results.  Never would have believed it.

No matter, 3 fps does not define me as a bow hunter, or will prevent me from a kill.  3 fps is basically nonsensical brain fodder, like so much other stuff I could list and piss people off.

[trad_bowhunter1965]

Beautiful Self bow Terry. 

[Kirkll]

Calling out members as a Sponsor???? Are you trying to self destruct?

 

Absolutely not trying to self destruct... Wasn't my intention to call anyone out. It just seems really strange having a softer dacron string transferring more energy to the arrow shaft than a fast flight string. Never heard of that happening before.

Very cool looking self bows there. That is an artform i've never spent much time with, but totally appreciate.  I've got an osage stave with the rings chased on the back that has been sitting on a shelf for about 12 years now. I suppose i should  pull it out and finish it some time.     Kirk

[Roy from Pa]

12 years old, damn Kirk that otta be a great stave for a self bow.

Bet it darkened up a good bit in color?

Start a new thread in the bowyers bench section if you decide to start working on it, we can help you along if you need any suggestions tillering it out.

[Terry Green]

I'm not a selfbow guru at all as I've only built 2. Maiden Voyage was inspired by folks on another site(pre Tradgang) that your 1st selfbow would be a failure.  Either it would break or you will miss weight to the point of it being too light to hunt with.

Needless to say I still  have both 22 and 21 years later. Maiden Voyage and Bear Nessesities were 53 n 48 pounds respectively at finish.  By now I'm sure they are 3 to 5 pounds heavier.

[Kirkll]

12 years old, damn Kirk that otta be a great stave for a self bow.

Bet it darkened up a good bit in color?

Start a new thread in the bowyers bench section if you decide to start working on it, we can help you along if you need any suggestions tillering it out.

Thanks Roy,

I have known a number of bowyers that were really into board bows, and self bows over the years and I’ve got the basics down. I’ve actually built a couple lighter weight self bows from yew staves years ago, and  built my own draw knives and scrapers from old planer blades.

Time consuming tillering  process scraping and sanding the belly and exercising the limbs…. But it was a good experience learning how to manipulate where the limbs bend, and the effects it had on how they performed.

 The same theory applies to glass bows for balancing the limbs, only it’s achieved differently, or should I say “ it can be achieved” if the time is taken to actually tiller the bow. But that procedure starts with wedge configurations and taper rates to determine where the limb bends, as well as the shape of your form well before you lay up the limbs.  Then mounting them on and adjustable riser to maximize your limb pad angle.

You are right Roy…. Anyone can lay up a glass bow and have it shoot arrows. But building a well balanced,  smooth drawing bow that has decent performance requires years of experience. Starting with self bows is an excellent  way to learn how these things really work and makes a true bowyer out of you.

Most glass bowyers come up with a limb shape they like, lay up the limbs, get the limbs aligned, get their width profile ground, and their tillering process is nothing more than sanding glass until the tiller measurements at the fades or riser are even, then call it good. Very few bowyers I know take the time to actually tiller a glass limb bow and balance the limbs properly and wonder how come some bows have more vibration than others do and don’t perform as well.

There are tillering tricks that can be used to fine tune glass limbs too if you don’t mind taking the extra time to do so……

Now you guys got me going on this self bow project. I’m going to have to pull out that Osage stave out and blow the dust off it…..       Kirk

[Kirkll]

Btw…. I’m still scratching my head on how you guys were getting a performance gain out of a B50 string…. Do you guys have any theory’s on that?

 Limb mass vs arrow weight? Limb travel distance? Lower pre load at brace ?  Is it a self bow thing?  It makes my head hurt thinking about it…:biglaugh: