what thread is best used to make a string for a recurve bow

[aaronjezarchery]

hi..what thread is best used to make a string for a recurve bow,
i tried regular upholstery thread 100% POLYESTER it works but it stretches by far.
also can i use a belt sander to taper a bow, because some people say electric tool weaken the wood.

cheers
Aaron.

[greybeard]

hi..what thread is best used to make a string for a recurve bow....

Get in touch with an archery supplier and order bow string material.

also can i use a belt sander to taper a bow, because some people say electric tool weaken the wood.

I use belt sanders on selfbows and laminated glass bows without any problems.

Don't use excessive pressure as this can generate high temperatures in the work piece.

Daryl.

[Dennis La Varenne]

Aaron,
Since it was first available about 20 years ago, I have used Fast-fligh string for all bows of any kind - recurved or straight, glassed and all-wood. I use it almost exclusively on all my selfbows. There has never been a problem of any kind. Occasionally, I have made forays into using linen for all-wood bows, but it seems not to be much better than Dacron for performance although it does not stretch as Dacron does.

[aaronjezarchery]

thanks guys, also why do you think that my wattle long bow broke about 4" away from the handle, the crack wasn't along the bow but straight through, just like pencils break.
the wood was dried 2 months
it broke when i was putting the string on by my self for the fist time since i made it, the way i was putting it on was with my feet against each other.

already broke three bows that way don't know if its because of too much tensions on one limb or wrong type of wood, the grains did go straight without any knots,
one of the bows was recurved bow and the others were flat and this last one was long bow.
please help because I'm loosing my motivation one making any more.

Aaron.

[Dennis La Varenne]

Aaron,

I have never used wattle before, but the question is, 'which wattle' because there are hundreds of varieties. The one most commonly attempted on Ozbow seems to be the ordinary Black Wattle (Acacia mearnsii) which tends to be quite brittle from most reports. Daryl would know more about it than I would.

If you have got to the bracing stage, then don't lose heart because you are almost there and need to choose a more suitable wood. If you are in Queensland, then have a go at ordinary Spotted Gum (Eucalyptus maculata) for starters and also Red Ash (Alphitonia excelsa). Both of those have proven to be reasonable - good bow woods and I have used both, especially the Red Ash with great success. With the Red Ash, try to obtain some long limbs or small diameter trunks on the ocean side of the mountains up the gully sides from water-courses (riparian zones) where there is some clearing going on.