Winter Horn Composite Bow

[kennym]

I'm watchin but I don't think I can build one that takes that long... 

I like to shoot them before that kinda  time elapses...

[Forwardhandle]

Yep every thing about these is time consuming & intimadating there is a lot of prep work to just get to the build but just doing a little here and there the core being really the most critical no taper sled just rasp and sanding sticks ,I have preped horn before and it can be fun wathing it transition from bent horn to a smooth lam but this horn smells just like burnt hair when you work it makes me gag some times 

[BMorv]

Yep I'm with Kenny.  Very cool build and I'll be watching, but I don't have the patience or the shop time to devote to something like this right now.
 
So this will be modeled after Ed's bows?  I really admire his horn/wood bows.  They are awesome. 

[Forwardhandle]

Yep after his but with the different core wood and length where still swag not a lot of room for error on draw weight Im trying for just bellow 50 lb but these bows typically  like a lot of my sinew bows pic up draw weight a year or two down the line , Im just rolling with it see where I end up the tiller is a slow process to but ones the sinew is on plenty of time for other bows !

[KellyG]

Horn bow is on my bucket list.

[wood carver 2]

This is a cool build. I’m looking forward to seeing it become a shooter.
Can a horn bellied bow be built using bamboo backing instead of sinew?
Dave.

[Forwardhandle]

Wow I'm surprised at all the interest in these bows the pressure is on me now...lol wood carve I have a friend that actually built one like that and ended up being a real dog the key to getting good performance out of these is to stress the material to the max the material has a fair amount of mass to it, I don't think Boo would allow you to get the reflex you need with out blowing up !

[Pat B]

James Parker(huntworthyproductions) has built all boo Asiatic bows with heavily tempered boo belly, boo back and multi-lam maple(I think) core.

[Forwardhandle]

James makes some nice horn composite bows to I think he was asking about horn belly , Dave Mead makes a real neat heat treated short boo bow to & material plans to make it  ! I have one !

[Pat B]

I misread that, Ritchie. Sorry.  But yes, James does build beautiful horn composite bows of all styles.

[Forwardhandle]

When I found out my friend was making these bows I looked for historic info not much avalible there was tons about other asiatic bows but the only referance other then some native American bows was a reference to a bow made by tribes in the mountain region bordering Russia in eastern Europe !

[Forwardhandle]

Made a limb templet at 58" ntn Im going to remake it and increase the length to 60" ntn the original was designed at 58" ntn 52lb @ 28" im incresing the length by 1 " and droping my horn from 3/16 to 1/8 that should give me a swag 52lb @31"  you can get a good concept how short of working limb is on these bows also sinew can be adjusted , at my dimensions should give me a little more stability slightly thicker core ratio there is a lot to think about with these in the design phase the last thing I want to do is sand horn for weight adjustment !

[KenH]

Wood Carver 2 -- bamboo will NOT substitute for sinew.  It won't dry and pull the bow into more reflex, it won't stretch like sinew, it won't add draw weight.  Just... no.  In some designs, raw flax (not linen) can be used.  It doesn't add reflex, only adds about 10% to the draw weight, and doesn't flex nearly as well as sinew, though.

[Forwardhandle]

I never Flaxed backed a bow I have used the raw flax to make tapered patches on lifted splinters or knots prior to raw hide the stuff is like working with cat hair...lol but WC sinew is not very difficult to do when I get to processing it I will show you some easy tricks with it that I picked up over the years , but with these bows its a ballacing act with the mass/vs/stress , the horn can take exstrem compresion its amazing stuff , these bows are capable of the 190s 10 gpp if built right !

[Forwardhandle]

I made this ruff templet for lay out but decided to modify the design again so Im remaking a longer limb templet in lexan when it gets here so I can see the centers after the hooks are bent ,the bow should end up 19" working limb 8" static ! The devil is in the details with this bow just like any other lam bow !
I really wish I could figure out a way to machine grind the taper in the stave but just cant come up with a feasible plain to stop the grind before the handle & static fades so back to rasp and sanding sticks,calipers !

[Flem]

"I really wish I could figure out a way to machine grind the taper in the stave but just cant come up with a feasible plain to stop the grind before the handle & static fades so back to rasp and sanding sticks,calipers !"

Could you use a spindle sander to hog down the stave?

[Forwardhandle]

Yep thats my plan and get it close or I thought I could make a templet and use the robo sander to get it with in a 1/32 , I have done the by hand method before scrape & rasp , sand , calipers its accurate but time consuming !