It's not going to hurt any... fast flight will stretch possibly, but it's not going to make any significant difference in my OPINION and experience.

Much Aloha,

 

We generally will leave the string on the bow for 1 full day before we serve the center portion of the string. Does it make a difference? Probably not, but the owner has been doing it that way for years and I see no reason to not do it. These strings are obviously not under the pressure of the newer compound strings so I honestly don't know what the true answer is. It certainly can't hurt to let it sit one day.

 

Completely unnecessary to leave the bow strung for any period of time.

Just put on a temporary nocking point and go shoot, adjust as necessary, then make it permanent.

 

This is what I do. You my need to adjust brace height a time or two as the string stretches but lots of strings come pre-stretched. They still settle a little so just watch it for the first few sessions.

 

As mentioned, the "temp nock 'n' shoot" approach is fine. I cut small strips of masking or painters tape to use as temp nocks until the string finally settles. Easy on and off, and also can accommodate experimentation with different nock locations in order to obtain the best flight.

When I make a new string, I tend to leave it on the bow overnight (usually because I have made the string at night and ain't gonna be shooting anymore that day, anyway) and then serve and temp-nock it the next day. But you can't hurt a thing by putting the string into action fresh on the bow. Shooting will stretch and finally settle the string quite efficiently compared to just letting the resting bow do the work minus any shooting.

 

Most of the bows I shoot for few weeks before I put a nock on the string, if I nock them at all. Does it make a difference? I don't know. I shot a bow for many years before I ever saw a nock. It was about 1962 or 1963 when I got a Ben Person Cougar. It was not until many years later that I saw my first nock on a vintage bow I bought. Even today about half or more of my bows have no nock, though I have installed them on a few. I completely understand the presence of one but have found that the are not really necessary for me. Being an informal target shooter and setting each arrow up by sight, I have had and shot bows for years with no nock. If I was inclined toward hunting or shooting in adverse conditions I would likely have a nock on every string.
Before you ask, I don't see any difference in my shooting with or without.

 

A new string will stretch both ends and the middle so the nocking point shouldn't change. I pre stretch my strings before serving and then put them on the bow and shoot a couple of dozen arrows. Then I install nocking point and watch the brace height. Again, changing brace height will not affect nocking point height.

 

I build mine and shoot them, no waiting/stretching period required. Just keep an eye on brace height the first few sessions. Dacron is the string material that moves on you, and with that I would do a temporary nock point, sit over night, and shoot it a couple of sessions before setting a "permanent" nock point. I say "permanent" because they are easily changed or replaced, so I never really use a temporary and just move/replace it.

 

More you shoot it, the faster it will settle. You'll want to fiddle with your nocking point later anyway, once you get to knowing the bow well enough to tune it.

 

Mine are stretched a minimum of 2 hours at 250#'s before adding center serving.

 

I shoot Steve's strings. My favorites.
I string his 1/4" above desired brace. I shoot a few arrows, let it sit for a couple of hours, shoot some more. Even with the big hooks on the Hex 7.5 limbs, the rarely stretch to below desired brace.

 

k -

As someone who used to do something similar, I can tell you it's a total waste of time.

Viper1 out.

 

I like to put on a new string, run my fingers up and down it a few times creating some heat and getting it to settle a bit. Then I will put on my nock set and shoot a few times. Adjust the brace height, shoot a few more times and verify BH has not changed. Seems to work pretty well. Heating it up to start with tends to save several BH adjustments in the early going.