String Making Jig

[towser]

Does anybody have a drawing or the dimentions of a string making jig. Fancy making my own instead of paying for it

[Tarkwin]

have a look at P14 in this document..

T.

[Roduk]

Get pictures of a Yellowstone Dream Machine as sold by Lancaster Archery and copy it. That's what I did.

The best and most sturdy by far.

Good Luck

Rod

There was a guy on Ebay selling jig arms that fit on a standard 3 meter Unistrut (available from construction merchants in UK) that was quite a good idea.

Don't use wood it's no good for getting the tension you need on modern materials to get them spot on.

[tel]

That guy was actually forum member bruno! He was making a proper job of something that I was - at the same time - cobbling together - check out this thread.
The unistrut idea is a good'un, but I would settle on the smaller size for personal use. A few bits and bobs from the local DIY store and a length of 'strut from a local electrical or fixing wholesaler and for about £25 quid you'll have a jig that'll last your archery career.

[towser]

Thanks very much - really helpful

[BowSurfer]

Bowsports International published a design by Pip Bickerstaffe a few issues back if can get hold of the back issues. Very nice design in wood, but well built so it IS strong enough.

[tel]

Originally Posted by BowSurfer

Bowsports International published a design by Pip Bickerstaffe a few issues back if can get hold of the back issues. Very nice design in wood, but well built so it IS strong enough.

I think the best thing to do is use this or a similar design for dimensions, but replace the timber with unistrut. You then have the strength coupled with simplicity of use

[bruno]

I still have a couple left!

[BowSurfer]

Originally Posted by Roduk

Don't use wood it's no good for getting the tension you need on modern materials to get them spot on.

I don't believe that you need very high tensions when making a string. If you don't knot the ends (as recomended in other threads) then you cannot put a lot of tension on the string while applying the servings anyway or the loose end will simply pull off the post.
The REALLY important bit is that the tension in all the strands should be the same. This means that you want the individual strands to be able to slip round the posts individually as you apply gentle tension. If you have a lot of tension on then the strands cannot slip at all (especially with waxed materials) and it is very difficult for the tension to become evenly distributed.
Especially after rotating the posts it is necessary to reduce the tension and then apply it again gently and gradually to ensure that the strands all share equally.

[Quadratus]

Originally Posted by BowSurfer

I don't believe that you need very high tensions when making a string.

There speaks a recurve shooter!

A typical, well made compound string/cable needs to be made under a tension of 100+ lb. Most professional string makers (I mean the good ones, not the off-the-shelf, comes-with-the-bow jobbies) use a finishing tension of 300-700 lb. Much less and your string takes for ever to settle in and your peep sight spins like a whirlygig.

I have just used one of Bruno's string tensioners on 41 x 41 x 2.5 mm Unistrut (the heavy stuff). It is a good piece of kit and it worked very well. I don't know exactly what tension I had, but the strings were pinging like steel rods. The end result was a complete set of strings and cables for a Cybertec that didn't need any adjustment whatsoever to bring the bow to spec, and the peep stopped turning after about a dozen shots.

Incidentally, I made everything on the tensioner itself - I don't use the swivel bits, as I self-serve the end loops rather than using serving threads. I find this has absolutely no disadvantages in use, and is much quicker, easier and, I suspect, stronger.

Nice one Bruno