removing strands

[hoyt for life 2]

Would there be any problems if I removed a few strands from a string (recurve) by cutting them out just below the end servings. I know I would have to remove the center serving so i could be sure I cut the right two. Any one else tryed this or have any predictions?

[Leighton]

simply put; bad idea.

[hoyt for life 2]

would you care to elaborate?

[Flehrad]

Whoa, that is asking for trouble with that idea...

You're unbalancing the string strength really, and even if you have really tight end serving, there is a chance that the strand can slip from both ends and then you'll start to have consistancy problems if that happens...

If you wanted a thinner/lighter string, you would be far better to make a new one than to reduce it by cutting, especially if you accidentally nick another strand and it breaks while you shoot...

[Archangel]

Jaisus, that's the worst idea I've heard in... well about five hours to tell the truth, but that doesn't make it any better!
Remember there is in fact only one strand of material in a string, and it goes around the string a number of times. If you cut bits out of it you've totally compromised it's strength because bits of it could pull out.

If you cut two strands of an 18 strand string, you could split it into three sections; potentially two of them could be pretty thin (one or two strands each) so it wouldn't take much for them to pull out or stretch a bit, in which case you're effectively left with a 12-strand string, except worse.

If you want a thinner string, make one/get one made. There aren't a lot of reasons to need a thinner one anyway - it'll get you more speed, sure, but at the expense of forgiveness which is more important for target.

[Quackor]

Whoa yeah... definitely not a good idea... I guess everyone explained why, I'm just curious why would you want to do such a thing? Save money? (because it doesn't)

[Jordan R]

Quackor has the right idea about money. In the end you wont save any money (at least not for a long period of time) you will just

A. Probably shoot a lot poorer
B. End up having to get a new string when your string breaks
C. You might hurt yourself if the string breaks

So it wasnt a good idea from the start

[hoyt for life 2]

Ok so Im getting the impression I shouldnt do this, I can sort of understand the logic behind it. I'll let everyone know how it goes in a couple of days.

[Archangel]

B. End up having to get a new string when your string breaks
Bugger getting a new string, the one and only time I had a string break (which wasn't because I cut strands, just that I shot it for too long) it munged up one of my limb pockets. I'm just glad it was an Avalon so it's not actually part of the riser...

[Jay.G]

So he's actually doing to go ahead with this??!!! ou la la. God I wouldn't give a damn about the string if it snaps i would be thinking of what in the world am I going to do about my bow.

[Liam]

His got balls...

[BrokenArr0w]

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a344/BrokenArr0w/1149767808933.jpg

[c3]

I've done this quite often. You don't need to take off the centerserving either. You can simply snip strands from both sides to keep your serving the right size.

Ed Eliason has been doing this with his strings for 30 years. It works great on a well made string. It completely dispells the notion that individual strands in a string can slip in any way under the servings.

The only draw back is that when the center serving starts to get ugly you need a complete new string, but by then I usually want one anyway.

Cheers,
Pete

[Warlocke]

Why not just serve on a thinner centre serving?

Only reason I could think of to thin an existing string would be for nock fit.

If cutting a string won't cause string slip, why do strings stretch?

Some of this stretch takes place under the serving, so if the strands were cut then it is logical to assume the whole string is slowly unraveling, as it is made out of a single strand of fibre (assuming it is a single color).

[The One]

Only reason I could think of to thin an existing string would be for nock fit.

As well as gaining speed, changing the tune...

[Archangel]

As well as gaining speed, changing the tune...
You'd gain more speed by not having the extra bits underneath the centre serving too - and for target, speed isn't particularly important anyway.
I've never considered skinnying up the string a particularly good way to tune a bow. I suppose it might effectively 'soften' the arrow, but changes like that are what the button's there for :-)

[Drummo]

how many strands was the string originally? and how many strands are you cutting?

[Eberbachl]

and for target, speed isn't particularly important anyway.

Increased speed helps significantly with reducing wind drift.

Of course I wouldn't take speed at the expense of an ideal tune, but in it's own right, it is desirable - even for target.

;)

[slick]

WTF