string lenght HELP

[H-MANEOD]

I have a 54" recurve and a broken string.  I ordered a 54" string and had to put a ton of twists in it to get my 6.5 brace height.  Is the string safe or should I have ordered a shorter one and not shoot with the twisted string?

[Orion]

If your bow is 54 inches AMO, the AMO string length would be 51 inches.  If your string is actually54 inches long, it's way too long.

[H-MANEOD]

So you order strings 3 inches under the bows length.  Is it safe to shoot with a twisted up string?

[TxAg]

Twists in a string are fine if you ordered the correct length to begin with.

If you ordered a longer length and put a bunch of twists in it, then don't shoot it. Could be dangerous.

[Orion]

In a flemish twist string, some twisting is necessary to keep the string from unraveling.  Even with a continuous loop string (served ends), it's usually necessary to do some twisting to adjust brace height.  If you have one to three twists per inch of string length, you're OK.  If you have lots more than that, that's too much twisting, and you'll need to get a shorter string.  If you take the string off your bow and it starts to curl up like an overly twisted rubber band, it's twisted too much.

If the bow is marked AMO 54 inches, then yes, you order a string three inches shorter.  Not all bows are marked according to AMO standards, however.  The rule of thumb for non-AMO marked bows is 4 inches shorter than the bow length.  That works most of the time, but not always.

Measure your brace height with the string the way you have it.  Then take the string off and measure its length.  With those two numbers, a good string maker should be able to make a string the correct length for the brace height you want to achieve.  Good luck.

[cahaba]

SBD strings ask you to hang your old string by a peg and measure it that way. As stated above most recurve strings are 3" shorter tahn the bow measurenent nock to nock.

[LBR]

Orion has it, except...don't take the string off to measure it, especially with so much twist in it.  If you have to take it off to measure it, be sure you don't let any twist out and measure it under tension.  Put one loop on a nail and a pencil in the other loop and pull it taut and measure.  Mention that is how you measured it when ordering.

Wouldn't hurt to make a note of the brace height, string length, string material and type, etc. for future referance.

Chad

[Orion]

Yep.  What Chad said.

[JimB]

6.5" is way low for a recurve brace height.I'm not sure I'd measure THAT string.

[LBR]

Good point--I missed that.  It does sound way low--an inch at least--for most recurves.

Chad

[frank bullitt]

Well, from what I have read, the "original string broke". No reference there!
  First ?, what type, make bow?
  Second, where are you measuring brace height from? Throat, or back, or belly of riser?

  Yes, an overly twisted string will give a wrong reading as to what is proper length for this bow and shooter!

A string that has has too much twist, works as spring! The material is no longer bearing or carring the load, as produced. Also the more twist, means more uneeded material... extra wasted weight!

[LBR]

I wouldn't suggest shooting it with a ton of twists, but if it can be twisted enough to get the proper brace height, then it can be measured there and a new string made at the proper length.

[cahaba]

So sorry that I missed that your old string was broken. Senior moment. Everyone makes a mistake every now and then. Gosh. Talk to your string maker. Theres other things to consider besides just the string length too. LBR can fix you up.