strings

[stuckinthemud]

Hi guys,
I think this is just a moan, but let's see where it goes. I hate making bow strings and occasionally I find myself making bows to fit a string I already have on another bow just to avoid making a new string. Am I alone in this??

[Steve Milbocker]

Definitely not alone!!

[Pappy]

Don't really love making them , but don't dislike it enough to make a bow to fit a string I already have, new bows always get new strings.
 Pappy

[osage outlaw]

I don't mind making them.  It doesn't take very long once you get it figured out good. 

[PEARL DRUMS]

I enjoy making them and choosing colors to accent my rigs. I started making them in the mid 90s. Wouldn't want to guess how many I've twisted up. Maybe a thousand.

[Stick Bender]

I dont mind making them some times I like doing things that dont require a lot of thought like strings,chasing rings or sharpening tools the one I dont care for is when I have to shread 2 oz of sinew when I only have one day to do it !

[Pat B]

I don't mind making strings at all. I use a bowyers knot on the bottom so they fit any bow.   

[stuckinthemud]

I've got to give that a try, its mostly twisting up the second loop that is killing me.

[Marc St Louis]

Not crazy about making strings but certainly do not make a bow to fit a string

[GlisGlis]

I don't mind making strings at all. I use a bowyers knot on the bottom so they fit any bow.

+1   

[BowEd]

Not keeping those center strands parallel and untwisted before putting pulling or stretching pressure on the string or loops has pissed off many a bowyer watching their feathered in hand twisting disappear below their loops.
I'm usually a little excited so to speak to shoot in a new bow so making strings is part of the anticipation of that and don't mind it then.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Stuck if any part of it is kicking your butt, you probably aren't doing it right. Its incredibly simple and takes maybe 20-30 minutes to make one. Including serving it. See if you can find a local who can help you through the part that you're struggling with.

[High-Desert]

I absolutely hated making strings when I used B-50, one I switched to D97, and made a decent string jig, it's been so much easier not dealing with the 9 feet of stretching from B50. But yes, I have made bows to fit strings because I hated it so much. Once I switched, I just made a bunch of various lengths so once I get to that point of tillering, one of the stings will fit. Then eventually it gets its own string.

[stuckinthemud]

I'm very good at making an easy job really difficult according to a Team Leader I used to work with. 

It takes me about 20 minutes to twist up a string, I just don't really make them often enough to get the method ingrained in my muscle memory. Its not helped by being ambidextrous so I take a few attempts to twist both strands the correct way and roll them the correct direction, usually three tries at the first loop before it stops untwisting itself when I let go, then I struggle with positioning the second loop and frequently have to un-twist the string when the distance is too long or too short.  That means I tend to make three or four strings in a session (and some end up left-twist and some end up right-twist), by the time I'm on my third I'm on a roll, but the first and second are a re-learning experience.  I clearly need to build more bows so I can spend more time twisting strings, but, since I don't like making strings, when I get workshop time, I avoid it by roughing up another bow (I have three finished on the long string waiting for me to make their proper strings, one horn bow under way a three piece just started and a set of arrows ready for fletching, that's in addition to two other bows needing re-stringing)

[DC]

I sat down one day and forced myself to make a dozen strings all roughly the same length. The last few I had it pretty much figured out. For a while I was making bows to fit strings but I've only got one left.