Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

I caught a little grief the other day for mentioning I waxed the d-loop material before I installed it on my 82nd. Last night....I was at my pro shop...setting up my bow.....and to serve in the nock point and to serve in the drop away cord......we used waxed serving material.

If wax is a "lubricant".....why do we use waxed serving materials (if indeed this is a common practice) ?

Thanks!

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

It keep out moisture, you are water proofing it, not lubing it up.

Wax is a pretty poor lubricant anyway because it will hold dust and grit and eventually cause more wear than it prevents.

Paul

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

Waxing the bowstring is necessary for a number of reasons. First, under high magnification, the fiber make-up of the string is visually different from what you may think. Millions of extremely fine fibers going in many directions make up a single strand. The general flow is unidirectional lengthwise with a clockwise twist. All those millions of fibers need a lubricant between each other in order to not create friction or any other force to compromise their integrity. The more unidirectional fiber flow, the better the string. Regardless, the lubricant must be present. That is the reason for the wax. A barrier between fibers is always present yet also holds them together and their total strength is enhanced. With our high-tech world, wax is still the best material for this purpose.

Dan

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

So is it a lubricant or not? And....if it isn't a good idea for aD-loop.....why is it a good idea for serving in a nocking point or a cord?

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

I wouldn't ever consider it a lubricant. If anything I'd consider it a moisturizer/conditioner. It's definitely not a lubricant when you use it on mod screws, c-clips or anything else like that to hold them in place. I know buckeye and I talked about this a while back and how you can use string wax in place of a removable loctite.

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

Think about what you are doing with a d loop.... You are constantly torquing it by using it to pull back your peep so it is inline with your eye. It also takes a seriousbeating from string occesilation (sp?)after each shot.

Waxed serving material that is cinched down onto you bows center serving or pulled thru your string and then served to lock down a rests linkage system is apples and oranges compared to a loop...... They do not go thru the abuse a d loop does.

I do however wax my d loop..... I just make sure it gets no where near my knot bases and string serving where the loop is cinched down.

Also, I never said it is a true lubricant, I said it acts as one, especially when you wax your serving and then wax your loop before you tie it on. Wax on wax = slippery surface ;)


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RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

Use it on your next oil change GMMAT, (wax.aka lubricant)you will get your answer.

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

I get slammed all the time for talking about stuff I do. Usually the slammer eventuallyfigures out I'm right, even if it does take some of 'em several years to get there. ;)In the case of waxing the string loop material before installing it, I'm on your side. Wax will act as a lube and help the knots tighten up a lot better. If you use a general purpose string wax, it won't make the material so slick it'll scoot around on the serving.

Ever made a flemish bowstring? You wax it up good with a sticky wax to help keep the twists together while you're forming the loops. When I do general maintenance waxingonmy strings and string loops, I like a lubricating wax with graphite or silicone mixed in - the stuff you DON'T want to use before tying on your string loop, but is great for maintaining it after it's installed. If I intend to go out and shoot in wet conditions, I'll wax my string with a wax that's more of a waterproofer. When it comes to choosing a wax for a given application, you have take the type of wax and the additives that are in it into account.

Or you can just not worry about it and pick a general purpose string wax like BohningTexTite or BCY ML6. Good waterproofers, not ideal for some jobs but passable and certainly better than nothing.

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

Do some searching on it. One of the reason you put wax on a string is to lubricate the fibers. ML-6 is a silicon based wax. Anybody care to argue whether Silicon is a lubricant or not?

Dan

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

ML6 has some silicone in it, but it's more like TexTite than anything else. It's not gotnearly as much silicone as White Lightning. That stuff's like greased snot in a tube. :D

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

Maybe I missed the question. I thought it was is wax a lubricant. Maybe it was which is the slickest;)

Dan

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

Here we go again!!!!!! Wax has silicone in it, therefore it's a lubricant!!!!
Wow....... Dont put it on the knots of your loop!!!!!!!!!!!!

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

In all the time I've been shooting with a d-loop I have never been told not to wax the material.

That being said, I've also never had the problem of my loop twisting as Jeff did.

I wax my loop material because, as was mentioned, it helps to cinch the knots down better. I'll continue to do so and I highly doubt I'll have a problem with them being too "lubed" up.

As for the original question; Is wax a lubricant? Sure, because of the stuff that makes it up, it has lubricant qualities. Do I believe it is enough of a lube to cause problems? In my experience, no. What I can see being a problem is wax on wax contact. Don't wax your serving where you tie your loop before you tie it and you shouldn't have problems. Cinch a waxed loop down onto dry serving and there shouldn't be a problem.

But, what do I know? ;)

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

"Cinch a waxed loop down onto dry serving and there shouldn't be a problem. "

[&:]good one!!!!!!!!!!

RE: Wax as a "lubricant"? (bow setup)
 

To answer your question...is wax a lubricant?.....Yes and no. What it REALLY is, is a"barrier" between the many fibers a string is made up with. This barrier keeps dirt and moisture fromworking it's way into the string and instead keeps it on the surface.This as most knowwill prolong the life of your string. You must remember "lubricant" doesn't always equate to slippery. Some lubricantsare not slick at all and in fact some are tacky. Case in point...Axle grease while a "lubricant" is far from slick, quite the opposite, it'stacky and sticky like a pasteand anyone whohas evergot iton themselves knows full well just how hard it is to remove it.:DSynthetic motor oil on the other hand is a lot slicker......BOTH are lubricants though. Such isthe case with conventional Bohning Tex-Tite wax (red lettering)it's far moresticker than say.. Bohning Xccelerator Wax which is way slick, yet both are string wax.

Now as to waxing serving material.....If served properly a served (or conventional overhand knot) nock set or peep serve will not move even if it's pre-waxed or waxed before you tie. This is due to the complexity of the knot being tied. A release loop knot is a simple double hitch knot and is more susceptible to moving, lubed or not. Pre coating it may ormay not cause it to slip around the string as there are a lot of other factors at play.Keep in mind that in NO circumstance would I ever pre-wax serving material or release loop material with Bohning Xccelerator Wax as it's very slippery and I suspect one would run into a lot of problems tying knots.

I usually do not pre-way my loop before putting it on but I have done so in the past with conventional Tex-Tite wax and had no problems. What I usually do is tie on the release loop thenwax it, knots and all. I do however pre-wax all of my BCY serving material (polygrip .020) before I tie my peeps or nocksets into place. I do this because I like to use the overhand knot method and the heavy wax in the Tex-Tite willhold myknots in place as I tie them making an overall more secureknot.

Hope this helps answer your questions......