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Questions on linen strings

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loefflerchuck:
Just bought a pound of 5 ply pure flax sinew. Hope it's still good.

avcase:
Linen thread seems to last forever as long as the roll wasn’t kept in a damp place where it was allowed to mildew. I have some old rolls of linen dating back to the late 1800’s that I tested, and it was as strong as thread made much more recently.  Sometimes the outermost layer of an old roll of linen thread is weaker because it had been exposed to sunlight or rolling around in a drawer for decades, but that isn’t a big deal.

I make endless loop strings too although Flemish should work really well too. Arvin made a pretty great looking string for his bows at the 2018 flight shoot. I just never got the hang of making a great Flemish string like some of the other string builders. Making sure the tension distributed to each strand is most important with linen regardless of the method.  If the string breaks a strand here or there during use, then that means there was an issue with uneven distribution of tension.

I’ve intended to upload a string build-along for years now. I need some linen strings for a couple of the bows my daughter plans to shoot this next year, so I will be sure to take some pictures of the process.

Alan

Alan

Scyth:

Chuck -

Years ago I did an evaluation of :

- linen
- tussah silk
- ramie
- nettle fiber


I using  drop spindle (see picture below) to make the threads for strands of the bow string.

-  each fiber is historically documented for bow strings . . .

-  each fibers has a different “hand” for a spinning i.e. a different minimum diameter for each strand . . .

-  the average 12 strand bowstring of Dacron  is about 3 mm diameter . . .

-  natural fiber range from 4 - 6 in diameter depending on the “hand” of the spinner ( finer strand used better ) . . .

- bow strings wax is a must for strength & longevity ( I use my own special “blend” that includes resin)


regards,

Scyth

willie:
Good topic with useful info, but what is "flax sinew"?

Scyth:
Willie -

. . . I believe it is Barbour’s colloquialism for “Thread” . . .

regards,

Scyth

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