Flemish string

[bassmatt72]

Well, I just finished twisting my first flemish string and put it on my recurve, going to shoot it a little and leave strung over night then serve it tomm.! I also placed an order with Binghams, getting closer to starting my first bow! I know there is some of you that do these on a daily bases and by no means will my firsts be as good as you all but I will say this....I'm having fun!! I guess this kind of stuff happens when you don't have a place to hunt and no other projects in the shop.

[Deb]

I remember when we made our first strings. It took about an hour and a half. I never caught on to it, but Arvin can make a fine string now. Congrats on the new skill.

[Samiel2d]

stickbow did a very detailed walk through on his last 2 bow builds (that i am aware of) and as long as momma's happy and you're happy then go for it.

[froghunter]

guess i like to do it the hard way. I have two flemish string jigs and i never use them. come to think of it they are taking up space in my shed. think im a gona put them in the classifieds.

[cfraley]

They're going thru a couple of detailed (with pics) walk thrus over on the Leatherwall trad
forum now. Started out with a log and went from there.

[bassmatt72]

The bow I'm trying is going to be a 58" recurve 50lbs@28 green mt. camo action wood riser with black glass and maple limbs. I'll post some pics but not as detailed as sticbow did.

Deb, this one only took me about 20 min to twist, I have not served it yet, I'm waiting for it to stretch some first. I think I caught on to the twist pretty easy, I have done some braiding of belts, key fobs, and other things including making some bull whips and this kinda falls in line with that.

[Greywolf in Hawaii]

The twisting is the secret, too tight and it's like twisting two ropes.
Not enough and it don't look good. I don't use a jig to make my strings. figger out your string length you want, add 20 inches (10 inches on each end) then divide that number in half. drive a nail in a board so you have the distance of the HALF distance.
(a 60" string add 20" equals 80" divide in half, you have 40"
drive two nails 40 inches apart)
Wrap the B-50 7 times around the nails, wax one of the ends near the nail. now cut the 7 strands into on the waxed end at the nail. now you have a 7 strand bundle 80 inches long.

Do the exact same thing for the other color. Now you have two 80 inch bundles.
Mate the two cut ends, measure down 10 inches from the end, pinch the two strands side by side, between you thumb and forefinger. The bundle farthest away, pinch between your other thumb and forefinger and twist the bundle away from you(counterclock wise) and when it has 2 twists (or it looks good twisted) in the bundle fold it over the bundle back towards you. Now grab the other bundle and twist it just like the first, fold it back towards you.

So the sequence is... twist away and fold back to you, twist away fold back to you.
Do this till you have a 2 1/2 - 3 inch twisted length.

Fold the loop in the center and mate the colors at the twists.
This is the most important part, this area is what holds the string together, so take time and make sure they are tight fitting.

Again, as you did when you first started pinch the blended tails and twist, the bundle is now twice the size so look how well it's twisting.
Twist away fold back to you. same as before do 10-12 twists.

*** this is the hardest part to keep control of just work with it you can do it****

Now remember, we have the tag ends together, seperate two strands of B-50 and pull them up into your hand out of the way, now twist the bundle away and fold back to you, , drop two strands out of the other bundle pull them out of the way, twist away and fold back to you.

Now do a regular twist with each bundle without dropping any strands.

Now drop two stands and twist away fold back to you, do the same with the other bundle drop two, twist away fold back to you

Your going to only drop two strands every other time you twist.

On the last drop you will only have one strand(7 strand string remember) once both have been dropped do 6 more twists in the bundles.

Now tie the twist with a strand of sting or a bread twist tie.
Congrats your half way there, Yippeeeee !!!!

Hang the loop on a nail we are going to make sure there are no "loose stands" in the bundles, put one bundle between your thumb and forefinger and one between the fore finger other side and the long finger.

Squeeze the bundle and "comb" them to the end of the bundles. there might be a loose loop or stand in there, work it loose and make the bundles nice and tight.
Once "combed" to the end the bundle ends should be equal.
if not one side will be shorter this is the bundle you twisted tighter than the other,*** something to learn from***

Now, one more thing to do then we can start the other loop.

Lay the loop on your left leg(if your right handed) now pull one bundle across to your right leg, see the twists in the bundle? using your palm and roll the bundle to straighten the strands in the bundle.
Move the bundle at the stright part to the left leg and continue to roll the bundle till you get to the end. Repeat with the other bundle

Now listen carefully, put the loop on the floor and step on it. pull the bundles up put one of the bundle between your thumb and index finger at the second knuckle joint, now roll the bundle towards the tip of your index finger, you will notice the bundle rolled clockwise about 3 complete turns, do this 10-11 times, this puts about 30-33 "backtwists" in the bundle. Now, do the other bundle the same way.

Yes I know that was confusing once you see it, it'll make sense

Ok both are now "Backtwisted" and the ends are even( if they are off a little bit it's ok too)
Now, the loop.... measure down 10 inches and do the exact same thing as at the top of the page, same way same way the twists everything is exactly the same.

Now fast forward to the top loop, make the loop as wide as the limb on your bow recurves require a longer/wider loop. The longbow can be done using the same measurments as the other loop. now twist and drop strands like before.

Ok, now your ready to tie the twisted loop instead of tying the loop slide it on the top nock of the bow, pick up the other tied loop, pull snug and keep pressure on the string, making sure you are twinging in the "tight" direction put in 12 -15 twists and slide the nocked loop down the top limb and hook the loop on the bottom and string the bow with a bow stringer

Make sure the loop is seated on both nock place the riser in your lap, limb tips up, push down on the limbtips to help seat the string.

The brace height can drop as much as an inch or so to tighten with twists, unstring the bow and add twists to bring it back to Brace height. exercise the limbs a few time to help the string settle in. remember the string had no pressure on it during the making of the string so just work with it.

Use a bow square to find the shelf position on the string start your serving 3 inch above that mark and serve down the string 8 inches and finish the serving.

Viola..... you've just made a string with no jig.

[bassmatt72]

Awesome writeup sticbow! I was wondering how you were going to get a taper in there until I read some more!

[Greywolf in Hawaii]

When you drop two strands "every other one" it keeps the trimmed tag ends from just popping out the twists, it has two twists to hold them in the bundle and not "fuzz up".

I'm working on my own webpage. I can't seem to make a string in under 10 minutes (Photobucket requirement) so I'll put it on there.

I like simple, and old and reliable, Not new and improved

Glad you enjoyed it.

[bbs383ci]

thanks sticbow i ordered some string last night

[meangene1969]

huntinpool has started making some great strings

[huntinpool]

huntinpool has started making some great strings

Thank you SIR.