# Olympic recurve string question



## midwayarcherywi (Sep 24, 2006)

16, or 18 strand BCY 8125 is the standard set up for Oly recurves of that poundage. Halo, or Majesty is widely used as a center serving.


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## nuts&bolts (Mar 25, 2005)

GILL said:


> I am a string builder and have been working with a friend who has gotten into olympic style recurves. I am trying to find the best possible string build for him. He is shooting 42 lbs out of the top of the line Hoyt and the last string I built was 26 strands of BCY 8190. I believe that is 2 strands over recommendation. My thought was that the slightly thicker string would be quieter, hold up longer and would allow me to use a smaller diameter center serving which is less prone to separation or slippage while maintaining proper nock fit. How does this sound to you folks? Am I also correct the BCY 8125 has been the standard for this type of bow for awhile?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I like the Halo .015 serving thread.

Just build with the string material of choice,
with the small diameter Halo serving thread,
to get the nock fit that your friend likes.


Serving separation and slippage is a NON-issue for recurve bows.


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## Flehrad (Oct 27, 2009)

16, 18, even upto 20 is okay for 8125/G string material. I have a 20 strand 8125 on my formula with 42.5lb shooting weight, and it shoots very nicely. I use 0.014" halo on mine.


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## limbwalker (Sep 26, 2003)

18 strands of BCY 8125, then serve to suit the nocks. .020 Diamondback is my favorite for large groove nocks. Halo is too slick for my taste, but some folks love it. But 18 strands of 8125 is almost universal for 40+ lb recurves.

John


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## icehaven (Nov 30, 2010)

Flehrad said:


> 16, 18, even upto 20 is okay for 8125/G string material. I have a 20 strand 8125 on my formula with 42.5lb shooting weight, and it shoots very nicely. I use 0.014" halo on mine.


what happens if you shoot a lower number of strands?

i'm probably gonna shoot 40 pounds within a few months, and i just made my 14 strand 8125g 0.019 serving. i didn't expect to change the string since i don't get the chance to make one that often.


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## Destroyer (Sep 11, 2009)

limbwalker said:


> 18 strands of 8125 is almost universal for 40+ lb recurves.


Pretty much. I'd use 16 strands most times but never really noticed much difference.



icehaven said:


> what happens if you shoot a lower number of strands?.


Possibility of a bit more speed but less stable, somewhat. Shoot what you like really.


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## Flehrad (Oct 27, 2009)

Faster speed and makes my arrows not tune properly. My arrows were coming out weak and I couldn't back out my limb bolts any more, so I had to go up in string strands just for that slight drop, I'm putting down bareshafts at 90m with the tune, so I know its pretty good


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## Destroyer (Sep 11, 2009)

Flehrad said:


> makes my arrows not tune properly.


Excellent point, tuning. If you have a arrow that is spines a bit light (fine tuning) adding a few strands can help. Same as going to a different material.


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## Huntmaster (Jan 30, 2003)

> I am a string builder and have been working with a friend who has gotten into olympic style recurves. I am trying to find the best possible string build for him. He is shooting 42 lbs out of the top of the line Hoyt and the last string I built was 26 strands of BCY 8190. I believe that is 2 strands over recommendation. My thought was that the slightly thicker string would be quieter, hold up longer and would allow me to use a smaller diameter center serving which is less prone to separation or slippage while maintaining proper nock fit. How does this sound to you folks? Am I also correct the BCY 8125 has been the standard for this type of bow for awhile?


8190 is essentially thin 8125 - I think there is a difference, but it's closer to that than 452x

From what I read, 24 strands is equal in size to 18 strands of 8125. Your string might be just a tad tigh nock fit, but having not used that material yet, I can't say for sure if it would be too tight. To tell the truth, nock fit generally runs strand count. You may have to play a bit with center serving, but you should be able to make something work, even if you have to serve a couple extra strands in under the serving.

Yes, 8125 is prety standard for recurve strings - or 8190 if you like to play with the new stuff. Let us know how you like the new material!


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

I use 22 strands of Angel Dyneema, which is slightly larger in diameter than 20 strands of original 8125. Makes a perfect nock fit for Beiter #2 with original Dyneema serving. I find that very comfortable to shoot with at ~50#.

Rather than tune with strand counts, you can tune with center serving length, it has usually more effect as weight is closer to nock and where it matters most. +- 1/2" sometimes makes wonders.


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## zal (May 1, 2007)

Huntmaster said:


> 8190 is essentially thin 8125 - I think there is a difference, but it's closer to that than 452x


8190 is made from SK90 dyneema and gore fibers, hence the name. SK90 is very high strength, low creep material.


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## Flehrad (Oct 27, 2009)

shouldn't it be 8190G then since 8125 v 8125G is the replacement of one fibre line with the gore fibre?


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## ryan b. (Sep 1, 2005)

on the bcyfibers.com page it says "lowest creep EVER in 100% dyneema". does that mean its the lowest stretch ever as far as a dyneema product is concerned or is this stuff even lower creep than 452x etc? is it more abrasion resistant as well? thanks.


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## ryan b. (Sep 1, 2005)

found the answers to my questions. it IS more abrasion resistant than dyna 10 (which is very abrasion resistant in my experience) and its also as low stretch as the vectran blends. i read that a few recurve shooters said it was louder on their bows than their old strings but i dont know the details of the strings in question. i will be ordering some asap.


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

Wow, great thread. I'm not sure I would have ever thought of the idea to change thread count to tweak arrow spine issues. What a great idea.


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## Flehrad (Oct 27, 2009)

Thumbs up to Coach Rob Turner at the Easton Newberry Centre in Gainsville, Florida for teaching me that tweak, I spent 10 days at the centre last year and learnt so much from him and Coach Romeo.


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## cwanty03 (Feb 10, 2010)

So the recomended strand count for 8190 is like 24??


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## Borderbows (Apr 4, 2009)

Flehrad said:


> Thumbs up to Coach Rob Turner at the Easton Newberry Centre in Gainsville, Florida for teaching me that tweak, I spent 10 days at the centre last year and learnt so much from him and Coach Romeo.


a couple of years ago a old school Bare bow archer turned up. She had 5 strings with her, and wanted to buy some limbs, but wanted to know if her existing arrows would tune. each string started with 22 strands, and she cut half a length of one strand out, shot three arrows, cut another half, and shot three arrows. Bow remained strung all the time, and repeated until the arrows resulted a weak reaction. Then added a new string but went stright ot cutting out what was needed. and the result was the same. so she left happy. the idea was if one string started to come appart, she could test the idea with the second string. which hadnt been shot so much.
This was a neat was of tuning a bow and she left us heading off to make a 14 strand string. she knew that would be a good start on arrow tune. What amused me was the comments that thin strings are unstable and all i can think of, why would a skinny string devaite from its known path any more than a thick one other than it nocks your bows tune out. so grouping would be effected if spine was wrong compaired to set up bow...


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## caspian (Jan 13, 2009)

a clubmate barebower ranks in the top ten in her class internationally, and she has a brace of different strings for different conditions, all made with particular strand counts and down to having the serving put on more or less to the turn so they can be reproduced exactly if required.


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## jhinaz (Mar 1, 2003)

cwanty03 said:


> So the recomended strand count for 8190 is like 24??


Yes, 24 strands APPEARS to be the recommended strand count BUT, as many people on here have said, you may have to experiment with the 'strand count' or the 'serving thickness' to achieve the proper nock fit. BCY's brighter colors (i.e. fluorescent orange, fluorescent pink, etc.) are thicker than BCY WHITE string and will therefore produce a thicker diameter string if the same number of strands are used. In order to achieve the same nock fit with FlUORESCENT ORANGE 8190 that I get with 18 strands of BLACK 8125 (using the same Halo .019 serving on each) I had to use 20 strands of 8190. - John


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## cwanty03 (Feb 10, 2010)

What if I'm using 8190 orange....what would you recommend for strand count? I just want an all around solid string. A happy medium!


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## icehaven (Nov 30, 2010)

cwanty03 said:


> What if I'm using 8190 orange....what would you recommend for strand count? I just want an all around solid string. A happy medium!


i currently have a string of fluorescent orange 8190 with 20 strands and 0.014" serving white. when the serving is wound tightly, small groove nocks are a loose but still snappy fit. large groove would fall off. if you plan on winding your serving tightly, i would suggest 22 strands with 0.014" serving


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## cwanty03 (Feb 10, 2010)

Thanks ice! Will do


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## jhinaz (Mar 1, 2003)

icehaven said:


> i currently have a string of fluorescent orange 8190 with 20 strands and 0.014" serving white. when the serving is wound tightly, small groove nocks are a loose but still snappy fit. large groove would fall off.


Option 2 (for 'Large groove' nocks): 
I currently have a string of fluroescent orange 8190 with 20 strands and .019" Halo serving Black. When the serving is wound tightly, large groove Beiter In/Out nocks give a proper fit. - John


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## Lindy (Nov 7, 2008)

I have a question. I make my own strings. Is there are problem using multi-color e.g. red, white and blue in FITA rules? Does the string need to be one color?


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## Lindy (Nov 7, 2008)

Maybe I can answer my own question. I found this from the FITA rules. "7.3.1.2.1 A bowstring of any number of strands,
which may be of different colours and of the material chosen for the purpose."

I assume this is the current rules.


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## Bean Burrito (Apr 20, 2011)

Lindy said:


> Maybe I can answer my own question. I found this from the FITA rules. "7.3.1.2.1 A bowstring of any number of strands,
> which may be of different colours and of the material chosen for the purpose."
> 
> I assume this is the current rules.


Yes, that sounds right. Never heard of problems with multi colour strings


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