I noticed the other day my string loop is getting a little frayed; and, rather than take it back to the local archery shop, would try to tie in my own (first time). Got some string loop material. Knot seems fairly easy. Is it generally advisable to use wax on the string loop material before tying the knots? Does anyone use fletching cement on the knots after the fact?

I have also heard of some folks leaving a 3/8" tag on each of the knots, and then wrapping the tag against the bowstring, above and below,with serving after melting the ends with a bic lighter. Anyone try this? Seems like a little more secure way to attach it. Thanks. Roskoe

i melt the ends of mine and it worls good for me...i always melt on end before i put it on. then i cut of the excess and melt the other. in my experiences the more frayed the ends of the string are, they better they melt and ball up.

Melt one end first then tie the knot, then carefully cut and burn the other end. No need to go any further its not necessary.

I agree with what the others said.

I don't like the idea of leaving it long and serving the ends to the string for two reasons:

One -it adds more weight to the string which will slow you down. It's only a little, but when you have a short dl like me, every little bit helps.

Two - there is much more potention for the loop to lengthen. A loop tied as described above will stretch as much as 1/4". Even though I use a large set of needle nose plyers to put a lot of tightening pressure on the knot to start with, I still get stretch. Leaving the ends long seems like it would be even worse.

The one thing that hasn't been mentioned is to make sure you tie one knot around the string one way and the other knot around the string on the opposite side. There was a thread on here sometime within the last couple months with pictures. And like others said, burn one end, tie it tight, tie the other end tight, snip, fray, burn. No glue or serving needed.

Ive seen people tie knots along with burning to make sure it doesnt pull threw, I never have had an issue with the knot coming undone. When you burn them take the metal part of the lighter while the burnt part is still gewy and flaten it a bit, that will help insure it wont pull threw.

MELT THE END THEN FLATEN IT OUT WHILE STILL SOFT

Don't actually burn the frayed end but rather melt it with out letting it catch on fire. Burning makes the melted ball brittle.

Don't flatten the melted ball on the end. It only serves to thin down the ball and weaken it allowing it to possibly fold and pull thru. You want a nice thick ball on the end.

I dug this up from an old post I made. This is how I tie my string loops.

This is how I tie my nock sets as well as my string loop. I like a very small loop so it's a little harder to tie. If you like a slightly longer loop it will be easier.

Here you go:

I start out with a 4 3/4 in piece of loop material. I have found that Allen makes a great string loop material, it burns good, does not stretch and holds it's shape very well.

After I cut my loop to length I burn both ends into a nice big melted ball. I like to do this off of the bow as it gives me more control of the melt. If the flame is too close it will burn the end leaving a burnt charred like appearance. This is not good as it will make the end weak and could break. The end should melt but never catch fire.

Next I locate my nock position and tie in my first nock set. I tie the nock just like you would any knot but instead of a complete knot I only tie half, then wrap the serving material around the bow string and tie again. I repeat this till I have done it 5 times (you can do more or less) the last knot is a full square not to keep it in place. I cut the ends and melt into place.

I then slip on an arrow nock to give me my proper spacing and tie the second nock set. Once that is done I am ready to tie on the loop. This is a little difficult especially if you have big hands like me, but if I can do it anybody can.

I tie the first knot on the outside of my tied on nock and pull it as tight as I can. I do this by wrapping the loop material around a screwdriver and pull (like a "T" Handle), I then lay theuntied end down on the string over my second tied on nock. I tie the second knot. This one will be difficult because there is not alot of material to work with, you will end up pushing the melted ball through the knot. Take your time and don't get frustrated.

After it's tied you will have no loop to speak of but after you pull it some it will take shape. I use a pair of needle nose pliers to spread the loop and get it tight. After that I knock an arrow, attach my release and pull. I don't pull it all the way into the let off because I want as much weight to cinch the knot. Make sure you are pointing your bow in a safe direction.

It's important to make sure you tie your string loop in opposite directions so the melted balls are on opposite sides of the string.

When done it will look like this:






As you can see there is just enough room to put my release on once an arrow is nocked.

Good luck and remember it will take time to get that second knot tied on but this way you will be assured a nice small loop.


This is what it looks like with the release attached: