String Education

[Moose Milk]

Please educate me about strings!
What are the differences in the strings for crossbows? Is there really a noticeable difference in custom strings? Why can't Excalibur put together a string that is as good as custom? Or do they?

[Doe Master]

As you are finding out . There is a lot of add ons to your archery inventory .
Yes there is a difference between strings . The string provided on the stock bow is good . It does the job it is was intended for . Push an arrow forward .
But if you want to do it faster or for the bow to have a personalized look . People go for the custom strings .
The stock string is a little slower but also more forgiving of a Absent Projectile Discharge .
As with cars . You can drive a unmodified car or buy whatever your heart desires for upgrades .
I used to make my own strings but now shoot one of our members strings religiously . But there are a few members here that sell strings . So no one is better than an other .

[UPSMAN]

Moose Milk,

Kevin (Doe Master) pretty much summed it up. You can drive a Ford Focus or upgrade to a top of the line Lincoln. Both will get you to your destination but the ride will be different. A fine man from Ohio,makes all of Excaliburs stock strings. They are all well made and will give you great performance. However, due to the sheer number of strings that Danny has to make for Excalibur, Danny does not have the time to customize and pre-stretch his strings. As Kevin stated in his post, there are several quality string makers on this forum. Search the trading post and it won't take you long to figure out who they are. You can PM them with questions and they will be happy to answer your questions about why custom strings are better. Hope this helps.

Dennis

[CrazyAce]

Moose Milk,

Kevin (Doe Master) pretty much summed it up. You can drive a Ford Focus or upgrade to a top of the line Lincoln. Both will get you to your destination but the ride will be different. A fine man from Ohio,makes all of Excaliburs stock strings. They are all well made and will give you great performance. However, due to the sheer number of strings that Danny has to make for Excalibur, Danny does not have the time to customize and pre-stretch his strings. As Kevin stated in his post, there are several quality string makers on this forum. Search the trading post and it won't take you long to figure out who they are. You can PM them with questions and they will be happy to answer your questions about why custom strings are better. Hope this helps.

Dennis

more to the point... put duel turbos in your ford focus and smoke the tires off.. or leave it stock and get 120k miles off stock tires... and save gas..

[BrotherRon]

Everyone has their own taste. I am not a speed freak and I prefer the slower 30 to 40 strand strings. I may lose a couple fps, but a 40 strand string helps reduce noise, recoil shock & vibration, and I believe they are more accurate because the string rides closer to the center of the nock. Of course, the material used also makes a difference in performance as well.

Ron.

[Moose Milk]

So is there a difference in materials?
What is the difference in a Flemish string and what is sent with Excal. bows? (don't know what Excal string is called)

I have a new Flemish string by Excal and without twisting it seems to be too short. It rests above the lines on the rail, is it ok if it is not twisted? Will it stretch enough that I will be able to twist it? I haven't shot it with this string am leaving it to see if it stretches enough to be able to twist.
The new Excal string seems to be thicker than the string that came with the bow (second hand) which is thinner and twisted a fair bit.
When I shot long bow, string didn't seem to be a big issue.

[vixenmaster]

Factory Excals come wid ENL strings. Flemish style is what most of the Custom String Makers make to sell. Materials are all a blend of this n that of fibers. One material may stretch abit more than another or one is abit faster or one doesn't have much give/stretch to it.

[Boo]

It would be more appropriate if you told us which bow you have.
There is a big difference between the strings that come with the different bows. The stock string on the Matrix or Micros are made from Dynaflight 97. The string that came with the older bows (Exomax, Equinox, Exocet 200 etc) were made from Dacron. The latter creeps like crazy and needs to be shot a lot to obtain a decent brace height. Dynaflight 97 by contrast, does not creep much assuming there is a sufficient number strands used and that there isn't much wax embedded in the strands.
You need to have at minimum 3 or 4 more twists in the string before shooting. When an endless string is there are a fair number of strands that are shorter than the others. Without twists, you are unduly stressing some strands. Putting a few twists in the string makes those loose strands go around the shorter ones, effectively shortening the distance between loops for those longer strands. Absolutely put some twists in the string before shooting and if your brace height is higher than normal, it will not hurt the bow when shooting.

[UPSMAN]

Moose Milk,
If you want to know anything about bow strings, Boo is the man to ask. He is the "Pope" of string makers.

[Moose Milk]

Thanks to Boo for that reply. I am shooting an Excal VORTEX and Don is sending me a new string, (thanks for the quick response)
As a new crossbow shooter I was concerned about shooting with a string that was not twisted, I will twist the one that I received from Xcal and use it for now maybe it will stretch down to the proper brace height, until I get my Boo string

[vpsaline]

The stock string on the Matrix or Micros are made from Dynaflight 97.

Boo, does this mean that matrix owners won't gain much performance when going with an aftermarket string...?

[Boo]

The stock string on the Matrix or Micros are made from Dynaflight 97.

Boo, does this mean that matrix owners won't gain much performance when going with an aftermarket string...?

There is very little to gain performance wise. To gain any performance over the factory string, you'd have to reduce the strand count and you'd gain a couple of ft/sec, that's it.

[nchunterkw]

As Boo said above - the older "Exo-Series" bows came with a stock Dacron string. So going to their "Fast Flight Flemish" gave you a big boost in fps because of the material upgrade. Nowadays the Matrix and Micro Series of bows already come with a string made from D97 material (endless loop style) so there is no more big jump in performance. Custom string makers use a variety of materials, but differences in fps from different materials is small.

[Boo]

Custom string makers use a variety of materials, but differences in fps from different materials is small.

And almost assuredly, you will loose a couple to a few ft/sec. If performance is your goal, stick with the factory string.

[vpsaline]

If I'm swapping out the string on a new xbow is it crucial to twist the newly installed string counter clockwise or it doesn't matter?

Is there a wrong way of doing it or is it dummy proof? Can the string be installed 'backwards'?