8 strands is enough (with padded loops), but I don't like it. I've heard from a few folks about smaller 450+ strings breaking without warning. I've also had another stringmaker (Rod Jenkins) tell me he's heard the same. Obviously it doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen.

Padding the loops is easy. I use dacron for the padding, whether it's 450+, Dynaflight '97, or 8125. I cut my strands about 15" long, and stagger them on the ends. For 450+, I like 14-15 strands in the loops (total--for an 8 strand string, add 3 strands of padding in each of the two bundles).

For the center serving, another way to get a good nock fit is use dental floss on the nock point. Just build it up to the fit you want, then add super glue and it should last.

Chad