Braided Loops

albatross

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Has anyone made a longbow string with braided (spliced) loops instead of the usual flemish twist method?

What I mean is. Do the 'strand twisting' as usual as if making a 'Flemish Twist' but instead of forming the the loop and then 'back twisting' into the main bundle, splice the loose ends into the twisted section instead.
 
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ben tarrow

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Not a bow string, but I did this with our boss guy ropes.
I imagine that it would be quite difficult to do with a bow string as a lot of bow string material is waxed so the strands stick together and you've a lot of strands to splice in.
Give it a go. I'd be interested in how you get on
 

albatross

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Well I had a go. I watched rope loop splicing on a couple of videos. They all used a three ply rope. I cut three bundles of bow string material (red - blue - white). It was VERY time consuming and even though I had different colours, it was also confusing. The wax did not prove to be a problem - BUT the very small diameter of the twisted section I was trying to splice into was. I guess that's why all the demonstrations used large diameter ropes!

So I went looking on YouTube and found the following video
.

This guy uses only two bundles of strands and his method seems a lot clearer/easier that the tree bundle version. His video shows the method he uses more clearly than I could explain it. Although he starts the string with one loop and a bowyer's knot to get his string length correct for his brace height - he then goes on to show, with a very clear explanation, how he splices/brades the second loop tails into the main string.

I hope you enjoy the video. I will have a go with the two bundle method not the three bundle.
 

albatross

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This afternoon I used a bowyer's knot to set the string length for my ELB. I then made a 'braided' loop for the bottom loop. It did not take long to do. Here is a picture of the two loops. Braided on the left. Standard twist on the right. In case you are wondering why I wanted to try this alternative method. I have made lots of flemish twist strings for myself and friends. Even being very careful I find that you can end-up with a twist in one of the bundles, I have seen flemish twist strings where the two bundles are twisted independently and when twisted together they form a spiral effect, not a smooth round string like a continuous recurve string. By removing all the twists put in the bundles after the first loop is formed and using this splice/braid method eliminates any twists being introduced when the second loop is formed. I don't like being beaten by anything 'mechanical' and will have another go at the three bundle string when I have a bit more time.

I hope you find this idea interesting.
 

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