Flemish twist question

Simon Banks

Active member
Never had a problem with a string before.. Got a new string last week (double looped Flemish twist) for my English longbow. When The string was finished it had a brace height of 6.5 inches.

About a week later and a n dozen arrows of practice I noticed the distance was going and the brace height had fallen by an inch and a half. So I put six twists into the string which started to bring the brace height up.. Another six and it was nearly there and then a couple more and if reached 6.25 which is my rule of thumb. Within a couple of shots the brace height was down again and I noticed the string ends where unbound.

I don't think I unwound it.. The brace height would a have decreased not increased.. So anyone shed some light on what happened?

Flemish twist is pretty bullet proof must it have been unwound before I started shooting?


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Valkamai

Member
Not really unusual for a Flemish to stretch with the first couple of dozen arrows. Also the staggered tag ends often show in the splice where they are twisted in, no harm in leaving them as they are or simply add a little extra wax to smooth them down. That is unless the twist is coming undone in which case you should stop using it (wouldn't have thought so of you've shot a couple of dozen though).
Do you have a photo of how much is "undone" ?

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Zhoo Zhoo

Member
I've had my new bow/string for a couple of months and the brace height kept dropping as the string stretched, and it's still a bit lower than it could be. I noticed this much more this time than with my first one, so I wonder if the string had been made with less tension. Both strings were by the same producer and presumably of the same materials*, but distinctly different in construction and feel. The second one had hardly any twist in it to start with, although as I'm twisting the brace height up, it's getting some now.

*The bowyer says they use fast flight but I understand this is no longer available and fast flight plus is now produced which is supposed to have less stretch. So maybe my new string was made with the original stuff!

Sue
 

Simon Banks

Active member
Correct it's already slipped 3" in length it now can't be stringed... I've contacted the maker for comment and ordered a new one and since I seem to be spending a fortune on bow strings at the moment I've spent ?14 on a spool of D55, serving thread and a serving tool so I can going forwards make my own :)


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Valkamai

Member
Good luck with the string making, I found a video on youtube by bearpaw archery very helpful with some good advice for Flemish strings. Remember that dacron is more stretchy than fastflight (if that's what you've used before) so make the initial string length shorter to allow for that.
 

Zhoo Zhoo

Member



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Oh dear! I definitely wouldnt use that! Looks like the laying in has become laid out. Have you watched Pip Bickerstaffe's video on string making in his "How a Bow is Born" series on YouTube? You have to lay in double the amount you need at one end because otherwise it unravels when you do the other end because it's twisted in the opposite direction.
 

flint666

Member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C07evRZT_PQ ive posted this before but it really is my goto video whenever people ask howto make a flemish string. ( also put it onyour facebook post) And it explaines the reverse twists very clearly., that string of yours looks very much like its been untwisted, or hasnt been made with all the twists in the same direction so when youve been adding twists its been undoing one end.
 
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albatross

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
Looking at the picture you supplied I would hazard a guess the the 'tails' have just been wrapped around the main strands of the string. There should have been a 'twist' put in before the 'tail' is crossed-over each strand. If you look at the picture you can see the tails appear to be just wrapped around each main strand. I may be wrong, but that is what it looks like to me.

Make your own. It's very satisfying and if something goes wrong you have only yourself to blame!

Dennis
 

Simon Banks

Active member
I've started to make my own bi-colour Flemish twist strings.. Just two spools of B55, serving thread and tool all for ?20 should have enough for a lifetime of bow strings.. :)


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albatross

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
I've started to make my own bi-colour Flemish twist strings.. Just two spools of B55, serving thread and tool all for ?20 should have enough for a lifetime of bow strings.. :)


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If you make the strings with one loop (top) and a bowyers knot (timber hitch) at the other end you will give yourself much more length adjustment. When you get an approximate correct final length you can cut off the unwanted section beyond the knot (but leave a short length).
 
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