I have accumulated a couple of dozen 1/4# spools of string material over the last 20 years...some of them have lost their label. I know there's FF, B50, 452/450 half size, and 450+. Is there any way to tell one from the other? Some spools do have a red or yellow ring in the top, but most do not. thanks.

Dacron will cut with a nail clipper. Fast flite will not. This may identify B50 for you.

thanks! I will definitely try that tomorrow...if I can separate the dacron from the 450+ it will help quite a bit. The FF is small diameter like the 452.

This is a question that has come up in the past and there is never a very encouraging answer. The only good way to identify string material is from the label.

DDave

You may run them over a flame and see how they react and smell

Polyester/Dacron will easily clip with nail clippers.

Fast Flight materials will not clip.

Fast flight materials that melt smooth/create no ash when/while being burned are generally 100% HMPE/Dyneema. No way to know which.

Fast flight materials that don't seem to melt smoothly, and create an ash while burning are your blended materials such as 450+, etc. No way to know which.

Rick

thanks Rick...I thought you might know. It's not too hard to separate the thinner strand 452 and FF...the FF feels 'harder/stiffer' than the 452...to me. If I can separate the 450+ and dacron I will be happy. One thing for sure, if I make a string out of the dacron rather than the 450+, I can tell the difference after the first shot most of the time. thanks again to all.

I can place a string on a hook at one loop, put a cross bar through the other loop, and lean on it, then tell you whether it is fast flight, or dacron. The dacron will stretch & contact every time, even if it's an old shot in string.

Rick

I'm saving all of these tricks... :) So, is the little red or yellow ring inside the top of some rolls any kind of indicator?

[[[ "So, is the little red or yellow ring inside the top of some rolls any kind of indicator?" ]]]

Good question. I have to admit to being ignorant on this matter.

I used to think the rings indicate the type of material, but over the years I have gotten many spools of materials with no ring at all, or matching rings in spools of both FF & non FF alike.

This is probably not the case, but I started wondering if maybe the rings were bobbin bushings for different type sewing machines.

What a lot of folks may not realize is - these string materials are used in a lot of applications non archery/bow string related, and are use as thread for stitching in a multitude of different applications.

Rick

I will just take it that the color of the ring won't help... :) I could see the usefulness of such strong thread/string material for other applications.

Most of my string is 450 and b50. As Rick says, when you burn the 450, you get two different types of ash: One is ash, and one is melt. With B50 you only get melt.

I do a lot of conventional sewing, and use "cones", those are the spools bowstring material comes on. Whenever I have seen jigs for loading string jigs they have dispensed the thread from the side of the cone, sorta like line comes off a level wind reel. Cones are however set up to dispense off the end for thread, which is why there isn't any flange there. I have been assuming that cones work the same was as thread for bowstring, but then again, maybe they do dispense off the side and are just using the cones for their availability?

Anyone know? Doesn't generally make any difference, just a twist per turn, but if there is a right way, I would prefer to use it.

I do a lot of conventional sewing, and use "cones", those are the spools bowstring material comes on. Whenever I have seen jigs for loading string jigs they have dispensed the thread from the side of the cone, sorta like line comes off a level wind reel. Cones are however set up to dispense off the end for thread, which is why there isn't any flange there. I have been assuming that cones work the same was as thread for bowstring, but then again, maybe they do dispense off the side and are just using the cones for their availability?

Anyone know? Doesn't generally make any difference, just a twist per turn, but if there is a right way, I would prefer to use it.

Further follow up. I read here, I think, that Shrew strings were 6 strands of 450 and 2 strands of b50. Anyone know? Mayne Ron will see this. I have a Shrew Hill I wouldn't mind making a new string for.

One last thing, can you mix 450 and 450+?

My original Super Shrew strings were 6 strands of 450+ alone...as told to me by the bowyer many years ago. I liked it so much that it's all I have used ever since. I do have friends that now 'blend' their strings by adding B50 to whatever non-stretch material they are using.

Shrew strings were 6 strands of 450+ only.

Unless they are very near (and I mean VERY near) the same, mixing string materials is a waste of time, effort, and material.

The material of the lessor strength is just dead weight on the stronger, and can actually create a string that flutters, and is unstable in travel.

Rick

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