Main Discussion Area > English Warbow

Heavy bow strings

<< < (9/9)

Rod:
I had a spell of messing with flight arrows a good while back and got down from 12 strands of fastflight to only 4 strands in the quest for a few more yards.
I got the distance alright, but the longbow started sounding more like a violin than a cello when the string was plucked.
The main thing I learnt is that the best reason for a finger shooter settling on a number of threads in  string is to make it durable and comfortable to shoot without sacrificing cast un-necessarily.
Believe me, if you think your bow string is hard on the fingers, just try 4 strands of fast flight....

In a warbow, reliability and the ability to shoot rapidly but with some control over a period of time would seem to me to dictate string thickness, rather than other factors.

BTW I have a small bow with it's original string, probably somewhat dessicated by know after a century or so. It has the gluey finish which being dry tends to crack and the string having been too dry for too long is no longer reliable.

I also have some Roumanian garden string which sounds very like the long fibre that Jaro mentions. I have often thought that one of the issues with modern linen is that the fibres are too short.

Rod.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page