Need some help please on Flemish string and D97

[Norseman]

Hello Everyone.

Made myself a jig today and tried my hand at making my first flemish string. I watched Chad's  Doing the Twist DVD and thought it would be fairly simple.

First question is this:  I have a Hill Country Harvest Master longbow and it is 47lbs at 28 inches.    When using D97 how many strands should I be using, and should I pad the string loops.

Second question is this:  I am doing the first loop OK however, when I go to do the second loop I am straightening out the strings and then putting in some reverse twist so that when the loop is finished the rest of the string should be fairly straight with no twists in the main body ( at the serving ) I first tried putting in 33 twists counterclockwise and that didn't work...there were loads of string twist still in, so I backed it off to 24..still twisted when the loop is done. Then I tried clockwise and still have twists...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I am going to try another right now....and I will try about 12 twists to see if this helps.

Best regards
Paul

[Norseman]

Update....

Built a real skinny one....doubt I will use it as it was a 8 strand D97 without padding the loops, but tried doing only 12 back twists and I got really close.

So I think a bit of fine tuning at it should all work out.

I think I will settle on 10 strand..how many padding strands should I add to the loops?  And do I count each strand as one or does it count as two

Thanks

[longbownut]

I finally got the number of twists about right by putting one different colored strand in each bundle so that I could more easily see how many twists it took to untwist to straight (old eyes), and then added about that many.  Mine still aren't perfect, but they're a lot better than they used to be  
 bob

[Ground Hunter]

Norseman, yes pad the loops.  I pad mine to 14.  Where you will likely start having issuse is with nock fit.  You can play around with padding under the serving, or get different size serving material.  -- Spey On!   :D  H

[frank bullitt]

Paul, sounds like your on track! As for your first post, 10 strands will be fine.

As for the reverse twist, I count to 12 as I put them in, twisting clockwise. The size of the string, and the "twister", will determine the outcome!

Keep notes, and don't be afraid to undue the string and start over. It saves on material, too!
Thats the good thing about flemish over endless.

For the padding, 3 stands in each bundle will do. Keep watching the video, you'll pick up other things, and if you need any help, holler. Alot of experience here at the Gang!

Keep twisting,

Steve

[LBR]

Thanks for buying the video!

Looks like you are on the right track--it just takes a little practice to personalize your technique.

10 strands will work just fine, but you might want to experiment with 8 or 12, just to see what fits you best.  I like to pad my loops out to 16-18 strands.

If you need any help, feel free to call or e-mail.  Info. is on the DVD.

Chad

[Norseman]

Thanks guys for the help.

As I said I did an 8 strand without padding and it came out perfect in length to 57" for my 60 inch bow.  It wasn't perfectly round at the serving location but very very close. It fit the tip string nocks well.  I put some safety glasses on and drew the bow several times and it felt good and no slippage.  I did a quick serving just for fit and tried them with my Gold tip Trads.  Using Halo in size .024 and I got a tight fit on the arrow nocks, but a bit of a file will cure that.

Thanks for all the tips. I like the idea of a tracer strand for better counting...my eyes are too old too.

Thanks for a great DVD Chad...I did note one thing I am doing differently that you. When I am making the first loop I am using about 8" of string and holding it so that the main body of the string is to my left and I have the tapered tips to my right, working about 8" into the length to begin my first loop. Am I doing this right ( hope that makes sense) I think it is just the opposite of what you are doing, but seems the end result is the same.....just a dominant hand issue?

Best regards
Paul

[LBR]

It works either way--I think most do it the way you described, I just learned the way I show in the video.

Chad

[Norseman]

Thanks Chad.....thought I was some kind of anomaly..LOL