i make a better quality endless than flemish so i would like to give an endless D97 a go to see if i can get it as quiet as my dacron and then enjoy the performance.

would 10 or 12 strands be allright for a 54# recurve if i padded the loops with some dacron?

how many strands for a 69# recurve.
the thing i'm considering is that endless strings have half the strand count in the loops.

10 strands would probably be OK for the 54#bow; 12 would give a larger margin of safety.  Either is too light in an endless string for a 69# bow, IMO.

14 or 16 for 69# then?

I use 12 strands for my 83# longbow,a 12 strand D97 is strong enough for up to a 100# bow.But that is a flemish twist,I haven't done many endless loop D97 strings.But it is easy to pad the loop ends on endless strings.A 12 strand would only give you 6 strands in the loop ends.

Ozy Clint:  I suggest you read the thread that O.L started here a month or so ago on thin strings.  Folks who tested the breaking strength of D-97 and a number of other materials found that most of them broke at much lower than advertised levels. If memory serves, a number of folks found that D-97 broke at less than 50# per strand, for example. Further, I believe that all of the strings tested were flemish twist, though some of the super thin 4-6-strand strings that did break broke in the middle on the string, not at the loops.

Jry309, is your 12-strand string an endless loop?

Orion,it is a 2-bunble flemish twist with 3 extra strands per bundle in the loop ends.Been shooting it on there for 2 years.I like to pad the loop ends to make them a larger diameter to better fill the string grooves,I feel makes a quieter string.I make 12 strand D97 for all my bows from 50# to the 83#,for the same nock fit.I have made more endless loop dacron for my dacron only bows,I've only made 1 endless D97.I just like flemish twist for my D97 strings.

Ozy, 10 strands will be fine! For both weights.

Keep in mind that Ozy is talking about an endless loop string, not a flemish string.  That means on a 10 strand string, only 5 strands goes around the nock, not 10 like a flemish string, and I continue to maintain that is not enough for a 70# bow.  It may hold, but it's marginal.  Padding retards wear and tear on the bow and the string, but doesn't add much strength to the string nock ends.

When I shot 65# @ 32" I used the same type of string I make for all my bows: a 12-strand endless Dyna97 string. I've never padded loops, never saw a need for it, and never broke a string in my life. Personally, for 69# I'd opt for 14-strands, but that's just me.

I Shoot 10 strand endless on a 54 and 60 lb recurve perfect ,, why sweat it if Ol shoots 4 or 6 , then 10 is overkill ,, but it works well for me as nock fit with .30 serving and carbons is good not to tight or too loose Good Luck!