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Timber hitch of FF on war bow?
Frodolf:
I've just started making heavy bows, and the first three 80+# bows so far has gone well (juniper, hazel, elm). Frustration in stringing the bows led me to buying my first roll of Fast Flight +. And my gosh, it's so much easier to work with than B-50!
I have a problem though. It seems my standard "timber hitch in the bottom nock"-thing doesn't really work very well with FF and heavy bows. The knot often slips, despite three turns in the knot, and if it doesn't in cinches down on the bow so hard that is really crushes the wood (I use horn overlays and the wood being crushed is on the belly side of the nock). Also, the string tends to get crushed as well, looking kind of thrashed and crushed when I unstring the bow.
What do you guys do about this? Do you ignore it? Do you tie some other knot? Do you make "endless" strings with double loops? Then what about tillering strings? Do you beef up the loop and end of the string any?
Del the cat:
I make continuous loop (double loop) strings so they can't slip. That would also solve the belly wood damage problem.
Full horn nocks work well, they are a pain in the backside until you have done a few.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1VHUkDEGJA
Del
Frodolf:
I see. That' a very good video, thanks!
But what about when you're tillering the bow, going from long string to low brace to full brace, before getting the horn nocks on? Do you have various continuous loop strings for various lengths, or to you use a timber hitch or some other knot/hitch which doesn't cinch the bow as hard?
Del the cat:
See previous videos!
Here at about 3mins 30 secs...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8OjC7HV4Bk
I have one V long string with big loops and a toroidal piece of aluminium which I thread the string through to shorten it.
Del
WillS:
My 2c worth - I have a couple of different lengths of paracord with loops at both end for tillering, and I make a new string for each new bow once they're tillered to brace height.
The paracord tillering strings support bows of any weight well past 200lb, and you don't usually have loads of different length staves in the first place - most of the time you cut a piece to length depending on what you're making. That means you can have about 3 different tillering strings of paracord and you never need to keep adjusting them. The exception to this is when you have to pike a bow, or you're working with something unusually short/long.
If you can make a Flemish twist bowstring with two laid-in loops, you also shouldn't have a problem with the actual bowstring. After a few practice attempts, its fairly easy to knock up a finished bowstring in about 5 minutes without even using a jig of any sort, and if you have a way of knowing how long to make a string depending on the finished bow, again there's no faffing about with changing lengths etc.
To clarify, this is my procedure:
1. Cut stave to normal length (77" for example if making a self Yew warbow)
2. Select paracord tillering string for 77" stave
3. Tiller to brace height
4. Make Flemish twist string with loops at both end for 77" bow using formula for strand length
5. Fit string and brace bow
6. Tiller to 29.5", watch bow explode in spectacular fashion, swear loudly and return to step 1.
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