I made my first string (16 strands of B50 dacron) and took a shot at 10 yards. Hit the X in the target. Looked at my Exocet and found no string. It had broken half-in-two at the center (bolt) serving and each half was about 10 feet to either side of where I had been standing when I took the shot. My mistake was not reading Wabi's post referring to the breaking strength of B50. It is 20lbs not 49lbs. Thanks Wabi. I made a new string with 36 stands. It shoots very accurately, but has way too much stretch for me (I can't get it to hold the brace height). I'm going to Fast Flight and probably a Flemish string. Unless this post generates better ideas.
Wabi, what length do you make your strings for the Exocet. By the way I intend to make a Flemish Jig from a template I found on the internet. I am going to customize it to the Excalibur length string. I may make an endless string from Fast Flight and try it as well. I did not like the endless string from Dacron due to the stretch causing the serving on the endloops to come loose. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for your research on the Dacron.
patmax
Made my first string for the Exocet
Moderator: Excalibur Marketing Dude
Jim C,
I know it's listed at 50#, but every time I've tried it using a spring scale it broke way below 50#
I made a string for the Vixen using 26 strands of B-50 and it worked fine, but I went to 30 strands on later ones just to be safe. I've never tried one on my Exocet, simply because I use fastflight to gain the few extra fps for hunting. I'm no expert, but I believe all the factory strings are the same number of strands for all the Excaliburs, so I'd think 30 strands of B-50 would work for all. After all they use the same limbs, and for a trad recurve a string is made to meet the bow's poundage at the 28" draw length standard regardless of the archer's actual draw length & poundage at that length.
I know it's listed at 50#, but every time I've tried it using a spring scale it broke way below 50#
I made a string for the Vixen using 26 strands of B-50 and it worked fine, but I went to 30 strands on later ones just to be safe. I've never tried one on my Exocet, simply because I use fastflight to gain the few extra fps for hunting. I'm no expert, but I believe all the factory strings are the same number of strands for all the Excaliburs, so I'd think 30 strands of B-50 would work for all. After all they use the same limbs, and for a trad recurve a string is made to meet the bow's poundage at the 28" draw length standard regardless of the archer's actual draw length & poundage at that length.
wabi
can't argue with you wabi on what your own tests determined and i note that BCY no longer PUBLISHES breaking limits because they claim that there are different ways to measure it. 
while I tie hundreds of strings a year-some have been used to win national titles in JOAD and I believe one went to the world field championships on one of our lady recurver's bows, I always use the flemish twist dacrons on my bows or the ff FT on the one that has the magtips
while I tie hundreds of strings a year-some have been used to win national titles in JOAD and I believe one went to the world field championships on one of our lady recurver's bows, I always use the flemish twist dacrons on my bows or the ff FT on the one that has the magtips
Sorry, missed responding to the other questions.
I'd have to measure one to get the length, but I simply made it the same length as a factory string.
I was making flemish twist strings only. If you are making endless loop, you must remember the loops contain only 1/2 the strands as the main string. That is one big reason I have gone to flemish twist for all my bows!
As for stretch, well that's a normal thing for B-50, but it does cushion the impact of the limbs returning to the resting position, thus makes it the only choice for bows without reinforced string grooves. It also makes it quieter, and for my trad bows where speed isn't super to begin with, the gain or loss of a few fps isn't an issue, but noise is! With the crossbow, you aren't going to quiet it anyway, so the speed is an advantage in my view.
wabi
Jim,
If I remember correctly when I first tested the breaking strength I also got my local archery shop owner interested in the testing. I was concerned we weren't getting accurate tests because of the way we secured the ends of the B-50 to the scale hook. We even tried several wraps around the spring tied off with hitches around the hook to prevent the strand from being in direct contact with the steel. The BEST strength we recorded on his bow scale was 36#??????????
I still use the suggested number of strands for my bows, but if they are close to the line on weight I go 2 extra strands. (eg. if the chart says 12 strands for 35-45# and 14 strand for 45-55# and I'm making one for a 45# bow I use 14 strands - not sure of the actual recommendation, I'd have to go look at the chart )
If I remember correctly when I first tested the breaking strength I also got my local archery shop owner interested in the testing. I was concerned we weren't getting accurate tests because of the way we secured the ends of the B-50 to the scale hook. We even tried several wraps around the spring tied off with hitches around the hook to prevent the strand from being in direct contact with the steel. The BEST strength we recorded on his bow scale was 36#??????????
I still use the suggested number of strands for my bows, but if they are close to the line on weight I go 2 extra strands. (eg. if the chart says 12 strands for 35-45# and 14 strand for 45-55# and I'm making one for a 45# bow I use 14 strands - not sure of the actual recommendation, I'd have to go look at the chart
)wabi