How to Make a Flemish String

The bowstring is arguably one of the most important parts of a bow. Without it, the bow is inoperable. Flemish string is particularly fitting for the recurve of a longbow. This style of string was one of the more traditional and simple styles of stringing a bow.

Things You'll Need

  • String material
  • String jig
  • Serving
  • C-clamp
  • Knife
  • Lighter
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Instructions

  1. Preparation

    • 1

      Tie your string onto the top left nail of the string jig.

    • 2

      Unravel your spool of string towards the top of the jig. Wrap around the top left nail, then come down to the nail in the middle of the jig. Wrap the string under that nail and back up and go over the top right nail.

    • 3

      Unravel the spool down to the bottom of the jig and unravel around the outside of the bottom right nail in the jig. Unravel it around the outside of the bottom left nail.

    • 4

      Continue back up the jig and repeat steps two and three. Each time you come down unravel the string on the outside of the next nail up from the bottom. When you've gone around the sixth pair of nails, move on to step five.

    • 5

      Cut the string by taking your knife and going down the middle between the pair of nails.

    Wrapping

    • 6

      Measure 7 inches down on the strings.

    • 7

      Twist the far set of strings away from you, then wrap it towards you while taking the middle set of strings under the far set of strings.

    • 8

      Twist the middle set of strings away from you, then wrap it towards you, while taking the closest set of strings under the middle set of strings.

    • 9

      Continue steps two and three until you have 2 inches twisted together. Make a loop then continue to follow the actions described in steps two and three. Continue until there's no more string hanging out of the bundle.

    • 10

      Clamp the end of your twists together then do steps 1 through 4 on the other end of the strings.

    The Serving

    • 11

      Attach the Flemish strings to your bow.

    • 12

      Lay the serving along the twisted strings, then start wrapping around the serving you laid out and the twisted strings. You're going to wrap around twelve times.

    • 13

      Lift the tag up, and start wrapping around the twisted strings only. Your tag should be about 1 inch long. Continue wrapping the serving up the twisted strings until you're about 6 inches up from your tag. Cut the serving.

    • 14

      Go back to the beginning where your tag is. Pull the wrapped part at the end out so you have a loop. Twist that loop towards you so that it starts unraveling. As you unravel this loop, you'll want to bring the tag towards you, through the loop, then pull it tight to the right. Make sure you've tied the other end tightly.

    • 15

      Cut the extra ends, then use your lighter to burn the ends. This will melt the serving so it doesn't unravel.