Читать книгу The Theory and Practice of Archery - W. Butt - Страница 8

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The best bowstrings are all of Belgian make, and cannot be considered of such good quality as they used to be twenty-five years ago. Then the best bowstrings were obtained from a maker at Liège, by name Meeles, the last of his race, who, with his wife, kept most jealously the secret of the manufacture, which had been transmitted through many generations in the one family, and they died childless without communicating it to anyone. Their residence was kept with the windows on the street side constantly barred up, so as to make sure that they could not be overlooked, and they depended entirely for the air and light necessary for their labour on the private garden at the back of the house.

In the choice of a string see that it has three, not two, strands; and care must be taken to avoid those that are too hard and stiff, as they are liable to be brittle and to break very soon. The next thing to be attended to is that the string is smooth and round throughout, and sufficiently increased in bulk at the ends where are the eye and loop. It cannot be doubted that a quicker cast may be obtained from a thin string than from a very thick one; but it will be better to choose strings strong enough in proportion to the strength of the bows to ensure their (i.e. the bows') safety rather than to pay too much regard to this quickness of cast. When the string is chosen its eye must be fitted into the groove of the lower horn of the bow. In order to make the loop at the other end the string must now be applied to the back of the unbent bow, and the first rounded turn of the loop must be made at about three inches from the groove of the upper horn, or two and a half inches in the case of a lady's bow. At about the distance of one inch and a quarter beyond—and one inch in the case of a lady's string—the crown of this rounded turn the string must be sharply bent back, and this sharp bend applied round the string on the other side of the rounded turn. Slip the sharp turn a little further down the string towards the eye, and twist the remaining reversed end of the string three times round the looped part of the string, beginning inwards. The sharp turn must then be pushed back into the first bent position. The eye must now be passed over the upper horn, and passed far enough down the bow to allow the loop to be passed over the lower horn and into its groove, and the loop should be so applied into this groove that the waste end of string shall lie between the sharp turn and the horn (see fig. 16). If the waste end of the string be then knotted firmly, and the remainder cut off, the loop will be finished, and, if successfully managed, will never shift or stretch when it has once reached its bearings. The virtue in this loop is that it is quite fast and tight when in use, and yet it can be very readily slipped off and opened for readjustment on the same bow, or for application to another bow of different length. By far the neatest finish to a bowstring is the addition of a second eye instead of the loop, and this is now very readily done by the bowmakers for their customers at a small additional charge; but every handy archer should learn how to make this second eye for himself. The following method is recommended. When the loop has been correctly adjusted, so that the string, when the bow is braced, is at a suitable distance from the bow (i.e. six inches or so for a man's bow, or five and a half inches for a lady's bow) mark with ink the crown of the rounded turn before mentioned (i.e. the point of the string, not of the waste twisted round the string in the loop nearest to the upper horn). Now unbrace the bow and take off the string. Undo the loop and straighten out the string (see fig. 15). At the distance of one inch and a quarter (one inch is sufficient for a lady's string) from the ink-mark, and on each side of it, tie tight round the string a small piece of fine waxed thread; cut off the waste end of the string at the knot made in finishing the loop. Keep the part of the string between the two ties well wound up during the whole of the succeeding stages of the manufacture of this part into an eye so as to correct the necessary unwindings. Unwind up to C, fig. 17, completely separate, and straighten out the three strands (1), (2), (3), fig. 17, of the remaining portion of the waste end of the string up to its tie at C. Pass a small marlinespike or stiletto between each of the three strands of the string, just beyond the other tie at B, and as close to it as possible. Flatten out the three unwound strands of the waste end fingerwise (fig. 17). Bend (keeping it wound up) the part of the string between the two ties B and C, so as to bring these two ties exactly together, with the separated strands (1), (2), (3) lying across the string at right angles to its worm (see fig. 18). Now insert the middle strand (1), fig. 19 (taking care to cross the worm of the string), with the help of the marlinespike under that strand of the string across which it lay in fig. 18.

Fig. 15. Fig. 16. Fig. 17.

Fig. 18.

Fig. 19. Fig. 20.

Give the commenced eye a quarter turn to the left (see fig. 20), so that it is seen edgewise, tie C being now out of sight.

Strand (2) now lies across the strand of the string under which strand (1) has just been passed, and the next strand of the string. Insert it (2) under this latter strand, and give the eye another quarter turn, showing strand (2) inserted (see fig. 21).

Fig. 21.

Strand (3) as shown in fig. 21 must now be bent to the left across the central upright strand of the string, and passed under that strand and brought out and back towards the right again (see fig. 22).

Fig. 22.

The loop will now be an eye, as soon as the two ties B and C have been brought close together again, and the three strands, loosened by constant manipulation, have been carefully waxed and wound up again.

From this point there are two methods of proceeding: the one, which will complete the eye so as to resemble the manufactured eye, by winding each waste strand round and round its own corresponding strand; and for this method the waste strands should now be tapered before they are wound in. By the other method each waste strand in turn should be passed over the next strand and under the next but one. The waste strands will again occupy alternate positions between the other strands. Wind up and wax the waste strands again carefully. Enough has now been done to secure the safety of the eye-splice; but it will be best to splice in once again each of the waste strands; then bind tightly over the waste for about half an inch down the string, and cut off the remaining waste strands.

In order to taper the waste strands, divide each into two equal parts, lengthwise, after the position shown in fig. 22 has been completed, and with a blunt knife fine down each of the two parts gradually till each tapers to nothing at the length of about two and a half inches from the string; now work in as much wax as possible, flattening each of the divided portions in so doing; readjust the divided portions, and wind them carefully together again. The waste ends may then be wound round and round the appropriate strands until they disappear; or the first method of splicing may be continued till they fade off and disappear, so that the finishing process of binding and cutting off the waste ends may be dispensed with. Don't bind the eye with string, leather, or any other material. If the string was originally sufficiently thicker at this part, its final failure is very unlikely to occur at either of the eyes, and there is a general belief that any unnecessary clothing of the eye interferes with the cast of the string. If the waste strands, untapered, be spliced in and in very frequently, the string will be somewhat shortened. A string that is too short—i.e. too far from the bow when braced—cannot be lengthened without altering the loop or remaking the eye, but a string that is slightly too long—i.e. not giving sufficient distance between the string and bow when braced—can be shortened by spinning it up tighter; but care must be taken not to attempt this operation with a hard-cemented, new string, as it will almost certainly prove fatal to the string, which will snap in two at the loose; and no string should be much spun up.

The next thing to be considered is the necessary clothing of the string, called its lapping. Without doubt the best lapping of all is a thin strip of whalebone, of the width of about one-eighth of an inch. This may be fastened on to the string at about two inches and a half from its (the string's) centre (this is calculated for the case of a bow whose centre or fulcrum is one inch below the top of the handle: if the centre be at the top of the handle, as in old Flemish bows, the lapping need not be so long, and if the centre be lower down than one inch, as in the Scotch make of bows, the lapping must be still longer) with very fine string, waxed thread, or silk, so that the whalebone lapping may be wrapped closely round the string in the reversed direction to the grain or worm of the string.

Let an arrow be now applied, resting on the top of the bow hand as if the hand holds the handle of the bow in shooting, and exactly at right angles to the braced string. This exact right angle must be carefully attended to, because, if the upper angle be an acute angle between the arrow and string, cast or force will be lost in the force of the cast being resolved, as shown previously in the case of an increased impediment, acting as an obstruction to the right line of force: the arrow will beat itself wastefully on the top of the hand in overcoming the unnecessary impediment; and, if this upper angle be an obtuse angle, the difference between the lower and upper portions of the string will be increased, to the manifest injury of the pre-arranged balance of the limbs of the bow. Mark carefully on the lapping the exact position of the centre of the nock of the arrow, and overlap with two or three strands of waxed filoselle very tightly for about one-third of an inch, with the mark under its centre. This is the nocking-place. The whalebone lapping must be carried down to the length of five inches in order to save the string from being frayed against the sleeve, armguard, &c.; and it will be found that this length of lapping will be sufficient for another nocking-place if the string, already provided with two eyes, be turned over. The occasional use of the second nocking-place will be found to lengthen the life of the string by changing the position of the wear and tear. A narrow strip of vellum used frequently to be used for lapping, and was applied in the same way as the whalebone. Long strips of the smooth hard covering of the rib of the peacock's tail-feathers were also in high favour as lapping at one time, but were found to be too frail. The lapping usually applied to the strings, as bought in the shops, is three strands, bound on together, of waxed twine, about the substance used for chemists' parcels, and the three strands are applied together, not so much in order to finish the lapping more quickly, as to safeguard the bow from breaking should the string snap. The dangerous recoil is then caught up by the triple strength of lapping twine well secured upon the string. This, of course, is supposing that the string has broken at or near the nocking-place. It is probable that every possible sort of twine has been at different times tried for lapping—from the softest floss silk to the most wiry fishing-guts, which actually help to cut the string when in use.

Fig. 23.

After all, the best lapping is that which will give a good loose, and at the same time will be lasting and be easily and quickly repaired should it fail during the shooting. Now all the lappings already mentioned are liable to get loose in use, and it takes time to refasten them. The following somewhat tedious process, the result of more than twenty years of experience, is recommended. Take a naked string with two eyes, and make a pencil-mark on it for the exact central position of each of the two nocking-places. Wax the string well. Wrap two strands nine inches long of waxed (yellow) filoselle tightly upon the string at each nocking-place for the third of an inch, with the pencil-mark under the centre of this third. Fasten off so that the waste ends shall come out close to these centres. Do not cut off the waste ends. Now take three strands of waxed filoselle of another colour (red), and in length from one yard to four feet. Wrap this tightly round the string, commencing from one and a quarter inch above the one nocking-place, and ending at the same distance below the other. Apply this wrapping the contrary way to the worm of the string, and let the waste ends of the previous wrapping (it does not signify which way this is applied) pass out between the wraps as they occur. Now take other three strands of (green) waxed filoselle, of the same length, and wrap them tightly on over all the last wrapping of red; but this time wrap the same way as the worm of the string. Again let the first ends of the yellow wrapping pass out. The principal wrapping is now complete, and the waste ends of (yellow) filoselle are ready in place to complete the necessary thickening for the nocking-places. This lapping is very firm and lasting. It cannot get loose in use, and it is in every part capable of almost instantaneous repair, and the archer has no need to carry about him any other materials than a few pieces of filoselle, some wax, and a knife.

The most convenient position for lapping a string is assumed by passing the left leg through between the braced bow and its string and sitting down with the string uppermost and the bow stave under the thigh. This description of the operation of lapping will be incomplete without instructions for fastening off, for the benefit of beginners.