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Building a Better Bowstring 
by Bartholomew Hightower

click on the images for the full-sized versions

Before reading this section, make sure you know how to build a basic bowstring, and how to make a crossbow binding.

I've been wanting to upgrade my appearance on the field, so I thought I would try something a little more medieval-looking. I took some of the same braided dacron that I use for the binding, and made a bowstring out of that.

It's looking good so far. In my mind, I have an image of a crossbows with massive strings bound from one end to the other. I decided 'what the heck' and tried to do the same.

Five hours and two sore hands later, I got what I wanted. You can see the result below.

I really like the way it looks, and it feels great to pull back. I haven't noticed any stretching so far, and don't expect to see any. It actually feels slightly more 'bouncy' than my other strings, though I can't put my finger on why I think that. Perhaps the braid allows for a little extra give. I have no idea how long the braided wrap will last as a serving, but one nice thing about completely knotting it is that I only need to take off the part that wears and replace that section. I am considering adding a leather wrap in the center.

The process for building a bowstring like you see below is nearly the same as for a regular bowstring, except that you use braided dacron instead of B50 (5 loops), and you skip the serving part in favor of tying the same dacron cord around the string in exactly the same way you knotted the binding for the crossbow.  

I start with a simple string jig, which is nothing more than a suitable piece of 2" thick stock with a couple of dowels drilled in and glued perpendicular to the surface of the wood.  For the size prods I make (36" before the tangs are cut) I find that a length of 33.75" measured at the outside edges of the dowels makes for a good string length, with about a 4" resulting brace height.

If you want a little nicer jig, you can substitute cut-off bolts for the dowels, as shown in this sketch:

To start making the string, I make several wraps of the dacron braid around the dowels.  Not too tight, about 5 or 6 loops (or more depending on the string).  I then tie it off in exactly the same way as I do for my standard strings, like this:

.It is nearly impossible to pull the dacron under the serving when you end a serving (as in my standard strings), so I typically just knot it as close as I can and burn down the excess.

   
For the string pictured below, I started by making one end servings.  This serving is going to be very LOOOOOONG, so make sure you have a long piece of string to do this with.  20 feet of cord should do it.  I used the same alternating half-hitch that I use on the prod binding, which is much easier to tie than it looks.  I tied 5 or 6 inches worth in a convenient part of the string near one of the dowels.

After I figured I had enough, I skootched the tied part around the dowel, and then used the same knotting technique to tie both sides together.  I made sure to overlap one or two of my previous knots to insure an aesthetically pleasing transition from the end loop to the rest of the string.

After comes the fun part -- making all those little knots along the string.  My advice is to get a movie and watch the movie while you do this, because it will take a while.  Actually, it is not really that bad if you wad up all the excess cord and put a wrap of tape around it.  That way, you won't have to pull 20 feet of cord for every knot.

You should finish this when you are about 2" before the center point between the two dowels.  Then you need to switch sides and make the loop on the other end.   

Doing the second loop is slightly trickier, in that you have to tie it while it is in place on the dowel.  Still, it's nott too tough; just start the off the dowell and slide them into place.  as you tighten each half hitch.  Try it and you'll see what I mean.  Continue the serving in the same manner as the first, stopping 2: before the center point.

I use a separate piece of the same cord to do the center serving.  It is important to do it this way, because the center serving will eventually wear out, and you'll need to take off the remnants of the old one and tie a new one on.  This can be done in the field, without unstringing your crossbow, and it made easier by the fact that the two long end servings are already knotted independently.

The string seems to perform quite well.  There is only a barely noticeable reduction in speed, but the trade off is that the string is very quiet.  My other strings go "thWACK!"  This one goes "thoop."

Will I make one of these for you?  Not likely.  

Will I stop using mine?  No way!