How to Make a Bowstring : Page 381

There are two materials that make good strings; these arelinen and fortisan. Linen needs no definition as it has beena staple fibre for centuries. Fortisan is a rather recent creation,being a product of rayon. There are differences of opinions,among experts, as to which makes the better string; the ver-dict seems to be that a linen string is easier to make while afortisan string may last longer. The writer advises the be-ginner to work with linen first. The details of making are thesame with either product.

A double looped string is, more or less, tailor made to fita given bow. Since the length of a string cannot be changedover 1/2 inch or so after it is made, it follows that measure-ments must be pre-determined and accurate. It is, therefore,necessary to have some kind of a device that will assure a con-stant measure of accuracy; the string board meets these re-quirements. See Fig. 42.