Has anyone else had problems with a flemish string breaking on their recurve? I had a string break last weekend and a buddy had one break about a month ago. We made the strings at about the same time 6 or 7 months ago. Both strings broke or wore through on the upper nock loop.

One gentleman suggested we serve the nock loops to help prevent this. Are there any other suggestions to correct this?

Just wondering.

Thanks,
Daniel

Sounds like your nocks need reshaping to remove ridges or, more just as likely, you need to look at how you're unstringing your bows.  If you're sliding the upper loop down over the limbs when you unstring them and the limb edges aren't properly rounded (or your string loops are too small) you're going to wear through the loops quickly.

I have been building flemish strings for 8 years and have never had one break yet (or course I just ginxed myself, lol). How many strands are you building the strings and what draw weight are the bows?

Daniel:
Another thing I would check is. That type of failure is sometimes due to an overlay starting to come loose, check the nock grooves very closely in the area where the string is breaking, or as Jeremy said it could just be a rough spot in the groove, it doesn't take much.
Bob

Dirt and grit will alwo work on the string.  It will first fray the string and then the individual strands will begin to wear through/break.  Rough/sharp edges in the nock grooves is the likely culprit however, as others have already pointed out.

I have noted of late that a two bundle combination of red and black B-50 seems to show that the black bundle is abrasive to the red bundle at the loop. At first I thought this excessive wear was due to a sharp spot, burr, or grit, but I've since been careful to note this wear and its progression is clear and even throughout the loop with the black wearing against the red.

I then checked the manufacturer web site and found in their FAQ section that the breaking strength was tested and measured equal between the B-50 materials that were dyed different colors, but there was no reference to any abrasion resistance testing between the different dyed strands.

I'm now of the opinion that absent grit, burrs, etc. which should reflect specific wear, and the presence of an even and uniform wear upon one bundle whereas the second bundle is wear free, something else must be amiss. If this were the case, I'd fear that any serving would only serve to hide such wear from inspection.

Daddy Bear

Yes.

  :mad:  

Luckily I just replaced my 55# DH Hunter that I've been shooting for the past 15-20 years.  Unfortunately, my son had been shooting it and prepping to use it for this hunting season.  The flemish string broke at the the upper loop and cracked the nation out of the upper limb tip (crack runs off center, is about an inch long and goes from belly to back).

Good thing he still also shoots his K-Mag.  Needless to say, I'm not super happy about the limb tip and have no plans to buy any further strings from that particular source.

Shooting light arrows will cause a string to break because you are dry firing your bow essentially. I had a big problem with breaking strings so on the advice of Dan Quillian I increased my arrow weight by a 100gr or so, never broke another string.

Don't know is arrow weight is your problem but it is something to think about.

NEVER

building your own is inexpensive, safe, and easy. also you know it is done right.

Thanks for your replies. I think the loops were too small and were being abraded when I unstrung my bow and slid the loop down, I am going to make a couple of new strings this weekend with a larger upper loop. I also ordered a bow stringer to hopefully make it easier to unstring my bow without running it over the sharp corners on the tips.

Thank you all again!
Dan

QuoteOriginally posted by Daddy Bear:
I have noted of late that a two bundle combination of red and black B-50 seems to show that the black bundle is abrasive to the red bundle at the loop. At first I thought this excessive wear was due to a sharp spot, burr, or grit, but I've since been careful to note this wear and its progression is clear and even throughout the loop with the black wearing against the red.

I then checked the manufacturer web site and found in their FAQ section that the breaking strength was tested and measured equal between the B-50 materials that were dyed different colors, but there was no reference to any abrasion resistance testing between the different dyed strands.

I'm now of the opinion that absent grit, burrs, etc. which should reflect specific wear, and the presence of an even and uniform wear upon one bundle whereas the second bundle is wear free, something else must be amiss. If this were the case, I'd fear that any serving would only serve to hide such wear from inspection.

Daddy Bear

I think what your seeing is uneven bundle tension, where the black is carrying more of the load, and as you say abrading the less taut , therefore softer red.The color dye floofs up the material fibers in the lighter colors, making a strand of one color a different diameter than another and if adjustments aren't made the string will have uneven bundle tension.

You can always put a few more strands in the ends too.  
I agree about the wear of two different colors probably being the difference in string tension either in the twist of the indvidual bundle or when putting them together.

I'd definately let the stringmaker know this happened--he/she can't fix it if they don't know about the problem.  Once in a great while a bad spool of material can slip out of the factory.

The only strings I've personally had break in a loop were due to a rough edge.

Chad

QuoteOriginally posted by SHOOTO8S:
 

QuoteOriginally posted by Daddy Bear:
I have noted of late that a two bundle combination of red and black B-50 seems to show that the black bundle is abrasive to the red bundle at the loop. At first I thought this excessive wear was due to a sharp spot, burr, or grit, but I've since been careful to note this wear and its progression is clear and even throughout the loop with the black wearing against the red.

I then checked the manufacturer web site and found in their FAQ section that the breaking strength was tested and measured equal between the B-50 materials that were dyed different colors, but there was no reference to any abrasion resistance testing between the different dyed strands.

I'm now of the opinion that absent grit, burrs, etc. which should reflect specific wear, and the presence of an even and uniform wear upon one bundle whereas the second bundle is wear free, something else must be amiss. If this were the case, I'd fear that any serving would only serve to hide such wear from inspection.

Daddy Bear

I think what your seeing is uneven bundle tension, where the black is carrying more of the load, and as you say abrading the less taut , therefore softer red.The color dye floofs up the material fibers in the lighter colors, making a strand of one color a different diameter than another and if adjustments aren't made the string will have uneven bundle tension. [/b]

This is the most logical explanation I've heard, Thanks!

I never had this issue when I was using a bland color combination such as brown and green. For some reason I just decided I liked the red and black combination and this was when the issue showed up. I just had three new red/black strings made up from a new batch of material to test. If I cannot get this to work, I'm going back to my old color combination.

later,
Daddy Bear

Daddy Bear...uneven bundle tension shows up as lumpyness for lack of a better word, with the loose bundle raising up higer in the twist of the main body of the string...making the string lumpy and out of round.

wax wax wax. I had 2 break last year and all I can figure out was my neglect to wax the string