# Dental Floss-The possibilities



## Borja1300 (Oct 12, 2007)

I'm almost sure that it will break at first shoot


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## dkard (Sep 25, 2004)

*floss*

I don't think it will break on the first shot but I think it will wear very quickly.

dave


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## Shinigami3 (Oct 7, 2009)

Since most cord type dental floss is made of nylon, this seems like a pretty silly idea.

Ribbon type floss is Teflon, so it's an even worse idea.


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## Not Sure (May 25, 2007)

This is where Robot from Lost In Space (the original from the 60's) should pop up and go, "Warning Warning DANGERRRrr!!"

I say just rub mint leaves all over your Dyneema or 8125 and feel safe and have a minty nose and lips.

I don't know which dental floss you get but I'll bet that it costs more per strand than if you bought a quarter pound roll of 8125.


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## ScarletArrows (May 25, 2007)

go ahead build that dental floss string...just post a video of you shooting it the first time.
:crazy:


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## Warbow (Apr 18, 2006)

s26286603 said:


> Ok guys here is one for you. We all know that dental floss and super glue are good tools to the average archer and in some desperate cases the elite archer. But do we really utilise this super thread to its maximum ability?
> 
> Im wanting to do an experiment, so im asking if anyone else has done this one before i do it and hurt myself. Has anyone made a bow string out of dental floss......... Crazzy i know but think of the possibilities, cheap string material availible from your local shop and it smells minty! and comes pre waxed.
> 
> ...


Well, I'm all for pointless idle speculation and empirical testing!  It sounds like fun to me. The only downsides being the possibility of breaking expensive ILF limbs and sever personal injury  

The fact is that bow strings for 100 pound plus warbows used to be made out of **linen**, which is nowhere near as strong as nylon. Medieval archers would have killed for such a material (well, perhaps just roughed you up...) Anyway, a nylon bow string should be sturdier than linen, even if not ideal. But rather than just making a bow string out of dental floss, why not do some static breaking strength tests to compare the breaking strength of a single strand of dental floss to a single strand of B50, which has a static breaking strength of around 50# (is that where the B50 comes from?). Then you can calculate how many strands of dental floss you might need--assuming that the nylon in dental floss has a similar dynamic breaking strength as dacron (a pretty big assumption, but I'm guessing it should be true, and I think that nylon is actually more elastic than polyester, IIRC). I'm going to guess that the equivalent nylon string will be much thicker than even dacron, and certainly more so than 8125.

Oh, and try a static test on the teflon strands. Those should be pretty weak, and probably near useless as bowstrings. But, if you are stuck in the wilderness with nothing but cases of dental floss, a spoke shave and some hickory staves... :wink: (I'm not sure if minty snares would work...)


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

Great idea! Can I borrow your idea for my other sport and make a climbing rope out of dental floss?


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## Warbow (Apr 18, 2006)

Hank D Thoreau said:


> Great idea! Can I borrow your idea for my other sport and make a climbing rope out of dental floss?


Mock all you want. But the fact is that dental floss is used in archery in ways that the manufacturer does not intend. You can use dental floss to beef up a string serving, tie locator nocks and you can use the teflon stuff to tighten up a friction fit nock. And the OP clearly knows that his suggestion is a tad silly. It is not at all akin to using dental floss to make a climbing rope, though that idea might be fun to try. Mythbusters has already proven you can make a risky prison escape using rope made from **toilet paper**. It is all in the name of fun and experimentation. You guys seem way too serious.


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

Come on Warbow. Everyone is just having fun with the idea. Certainly I was. But if you really want to make a string out of dental floss then you better first compare the Young's modulas between the dental floss and some string material. This will make sure that the filament has the proper stress strain properties required of a bow string. As far as climbing ropes are concerned, I would not want to take a 50 foot screamer on either dental floss or toilet paper. That is a test that Adam and Jamie did not try.

And by the way...I use dental floss for my nocking point material -- and if I used it more for its intended purpose, I would not have had to have the periodontal treatments.


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## jwalgast (Aug 7, 2005)

As a dentist, I really want to know: Is anyone using dental floss on their teeth????? LOL


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## Warbow (Apr 18, 2006)

jwalgast said:


> As a dentist, I really want to know: Is anyone using dental floss on their teeth????? LOL


No, I use BCY B-50


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

Warbow said:


> No, I use BCY B-50


Touche !!!


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## Greg Bouras (Nov 17, 2006)

Bow string of Dental Floss? I think I tried that when I was 6yrs old or so on a cottonwood sapling and it did not work out.
Later in life I had a strange urge to move to Montana and raise dental floss.
I never did though.


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## Hunter Dave (Jul 17, 2007)

jwalgast said:


> As a dentist, I really want to know: Is anyone using dental floss on their teeth????? LOL


Nope, Fastflight!


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## Progen (Mar 17, 2006)

jwalgast said:


> As a dentist, I really want to know: Is anyone using dental floss on their teeth????? LOL


Not me too. I just use Tex-Tite on my teeth. Removes and prevents plague from forming.  Apparently nothing survives in the inert environment underneath too.


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