For those of you making your own silk strings… can you recommend a good silk and a good source for it?
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Watching this. I so far I’ve used Gutermann 30wt Silk Thread from JoAnn, but I am new at making string so I just wanted something cheap to try.
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How would you rate your results so far?
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I use the same Guttermann from joanns for mine. I got a bunch on sale for like half off a while ago. They are good but honestly a little mid. Maybe not mid but I feel like I can do better. They’re fairly durable and I like the way silk strings whip and slack. I twist 8 to 11 wraps from 10’7” down to 8’6”ish. About 20 percent reduction.
I want to get some nicer silk but it’s hard to find a good deal and I am broke atm. Gonna try to buy a bunch of different ones as soon I can have a hobby budget again. I had some really nice buttonhole silk that 3 wraps made one string but that was the entire package which was 8 dollars. oof.
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How would 2 ply 100wt Kimono silk work?
if it’s this, it’s VERY thin. This is one of the only other ones I tried and it took 20-28ish wraps to get a normal thickness string. I didn’t like it better than guttermann
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I’m currently making a super extensive guide to making silk string how I did it, so I’ll link that to this thread once I’m done.
edit:
It’s HERE: Everything I know about SILK STRING making, and where to buy cheap and high quality silk!
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I never tried any other silk strings, so I don’t have much frame of reference. I like it well enough. It spun nicely and was better to work with than rayon. The result is nice and smooth. I need to make a thicker version. So far tried 7 wraps spun from 11ft-9ft. So similar experience to @bigstupidbees.
If your main criteria are easy to find (in the USA at least) and often on sale, it’s not bad.
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