Bowstring Tutorial

Please Read
I am not an expert at archery; I don't claim to be; et cetera. I'm just interested in making functioning artisan crafts. If you are a serious archer, and would like high-performance bowstrings, I suggest you find another source. This bowstring *will* work for you and it *will* have a long life and it *will* give you powerful shots, but it will *not* own up to the expectancy of an expert.

Questions You May Have
~ What is this bowstring material? The string you see in this tutorial is Dacron B-50.
~ Are there other types out there? Yes, there are - Fastflight, Kelvar, et cetera.
~ Why Dacron? Personally, I find Dacron works well for my purposes. Based off of what I've used, Dacron is the most forgiving on the wood, which is something I need when making home-bows, because I don't use wood-planks, I use tree limbs, and they aren't always the best wood.
~ Can I use other types? Sure, it's only personal preference. I'm just making a suggestion.
~ Can I use Dacron as serving string? Yes, I did, because there was no serving string in the colors I needed for this project. The only difference between serving string and bowstring is the material, and that serving string is generally not waxed.
~ Don't you need to wax bowstrings? Yes, you do. If you get your string from [link] then it will be pre-waxed, but I don't know about other places.
~ Why do you wax string? To protect it from the elements.
~ How long will the string last? Well, it depends. If you have a bow that has *never* been strung, and you string it, it will probably bend a tad more and the string will be less taut, which is fine, but if it bugs you as it does me, then you'll want to make another string. The string also stretches after a little while, and there's no cure for this. Finally, you need to replace the serving when it gets worn, to protect the string underneath that matters. And, of course, from time to time strings snap, and then obviously you need a new one.
~ How did you learn all of this? Trial and error, the help of many people, spending hours on Google, the library, et cetera.
~ Your nails look dirty. That's not a question. *glares* This is because when I made this, I had just de-barked the stave of wood I was making a bow out of, and all this brown green gunk got under my fingernails. It's dirty work, and I cut myself a few times, but you do what you have to.
~ Question not here? Leave it below and I'll answer it.

Materials/Supplies Needed
~ Bowstring Material
~ Serving String (if you prefer - again, I used another color of bowstring material)
~ Nails
~ Hammer
~ An old plank of wood
~ Scissors
~ Patience

Let's get started, shall we?
~ First, you're going to want to take that plank of wood we talked about. Measure from knock to knock on your bow/stave of wood - how long is it? Mine *was* 30" knock to knock (this string is was for [link] ). Good. Hammer a nail 1/4 of the way into the wood. Measure 28" or 28.5" from the nail, and place another one 1/8 of the way into the wood (you'll need to remove it later, and the further in it is, the harder it is to remove).

Step One
~ Before we start. How many pounds will your bow be? It doesn't have to be exact, just a guestimate, because the number of strands you use depends on this. For a 20# bow, the suggested amount is 8. This is what I use, 8 strands. For 30#, it is 10. For 40#, it is 12. Get the pattern? I highly doubt you want to pull anything more than 25# though. I also wouldn't suggest making anything less than 8 strands, because it just looks funny and it may snap on you. I'm also not going to bother explaining bow poundage and draw length and stuff like that here, if you really need to know, Google it, or pop me a message below.

1A. Take your string, and wrap it 4 times around the nails. This gives you 8 strands. Adjust this accordingly.
1B. Tie a knot here, a simple knot, but make sure it stays. Then, adjust the string so that the knot is over one of the nails.

Step Two
2A. Take your second color/serving string. Tie another simple knot, but make sure it stays.
2B. Begin wrapping the yellow string around the red string, and you'll want to make sure it covers your knot in the *red* string. Does this make sense? Make sure the yellow string is tight and closely wound. You'll want to make this about 10" long, or twice as long as you'd like the loop at the end to be. You can check this every so often by stopping and pulling the red string around the nail so that the yellow ends are matched, and you can see how long the loop will be. When you are satisfied with the loop size...

Step Three
3. Begin wrapping around *both* strings, so that it makes a loop. Be sure to cover your temporary knot. By now, *both* temporary knots should be covered.

Step Four
4A. Go to your spool of string, and cut another piece about 5" long. Make a loop (fold it in half and hold the two ends) and place it on the string. Begin to wrap your yellow string (the one wrapped around the red string) around your 5" piece, so that the 5" piece is securely wrapped. *Make sure you have enough space on both ends so that you can still see the loop it made and the tail ends*.
4B. Place the tail end of your yellow string into the loop of the 5" string. This works best if your yellow string is around the loop, and ends near the loop part, not the tail part. Again, do you understand? I may have to clarify this...
4C. Pull the tail ends of the 5" string...
4D. It may be a little hard, but that's okay, and pull the tail ends until your loop comes free out the other side. Your yellow string is now secure without an ugly knot. Cut any excess string off.

Doing the other loop...
~ Basically, you need to follow the instructions above, although this is much harder because you can't adjust the string to work around the nail. So, you need to take the nail out, wrap the yellow around the red, and continue on your way. When you've made the two yellow ends even, place the string back around the nail, and make your loop.

Doing the center serving...
~ Again, same thing, only, you want to include *all 8 strands* when you wrap the yellow around the red. Make your temporary knot, wrap, and on the other end, do the pull through. Now, you have two options:
~ Did you wrap over your temporary knot? I suppose this is fine, it just may look funny.
~ Is your temporary knot still sticking out? Okay, go back, remove your knot, and do the little loop-deal with it. You may need to unwind a few inches of the yellow so that you're able to have yellow to wrap around your 5" loop doo-hickey, but again, that's okay.

Step Five
Hopefully you turned out okay, and it looks like this! If not, that's fine too! It takes a lot of practice, trying to figure out the ends, and how much string you'll need and how big your loops need to be an so forth.

If this was confusing, ask me about what confused you, and I can try and explain it better. The reason you see nothing about the center serving in the photos is because it would have been a massive tutorial, and I didn't take that many photos, anyway.

So. Yeah, any questions, ask them, and I'll answer! Good luck!

Additional information:
~ Depending on how long your strings are, the spool of Dacron will last you a good 15 strings (for 50" bows), or so I've heard. I've made several strings so far, and I still have at least half a spool.