Horse bow

[shikari]

Thanks for the info,cow horn is not appopriate for asiatic bows,espically texas longhorn horn,it delaminates very easily at that has been my experience with it,i have an accuaintance that breeds longhorns and got some pieces from him and i noticed that it grows in layers and the layers had gaps develop in them as it dried,i think i will stick to waterbuffalow.

[JEFF B]

all this talk about horse bows we need pics  :D

[R.W.]

HO'NEHE JEFF,

As I posted earlier, no camera. So I can't do pictures. (Don't even have a film camera!   :eek: )

There are pictures of my bow and others on the Spitfire site, and I believe Thomas Duvernay's site has pictures of the Korean Bows.

Really, I should break down and get a digital camera, but I am still holding out on getting modern, and saddling myself with one of those new-fangled mobile phones! (No wonder I hunt with Traditional gear   :rolleyes: )

[JEFF B]

yeah i know what ya mean. i love the korean bow it is one awesome looking bow.  

[Tilbilly]

RW, that's water buff horn from Peter Cua. Dad cut out his own horn on his bandsaw. But since starting that bow, Cua has started selling horn already cut into lam strips. That would save people alot in shipping costs since you're ordering/shipping only what you need.

[Tilbilly]

O.K. Jeff, you asked for it. Hope you have something faster than dial-up...:)The skeleton. You can see the splicing work. Don't have pics of the steam-bending in my 'puter.

   

[Tilbilly]

All wrapped up after gluing on the horn.

 

[Tilbilly]

The upper of these 2 homemade tools is used in the wrapping process. It's gotta be done carefully. It can give you enough leverage that, if you overdo it, you can actually crush your project.

 

[Tilbilly]

Reflex, add sinew. Reflex, add sinew. Eventually, you get this. This one later ended up with the tips criss-crossing.

 

[Tilbilly]

The beast needs to be trained to get the shape/tiller. Here's a board made up to aid in the process. In the pic of tools above, the lower tool is used for putting in the bends. That, and the slow/careful use of a heat gun to warm the sinew. Too much heat and you have problems.
That board in this pic is also used to making stringing easier.
We were making flemish twist strings for other bows. Can 't use that on these. Thanks to Rob's tutorial on TG, we make endless loop strings. With my big hands and wide fingers, I'll never make another flem. string again!
 

[Tilbilly]

Excuse the mess. Not always like this, some days it's even worse   :eek:      
 

[Tilbilly]

[Tilbilly]

[Tilbilly]

Eventually(?) you end up at this stage        And it's very traditional to have your feet included in the pic...
   

[Tilbilly]

Time for a test run out back, with Pa behind the wheel. Hanson scale says 75#@28". Dad's pulling 30" here, not at his fullest draw. Just too much weight, but for turning 70 last Dec. he's still got it! The next one will have less sinew. Alot of trial/error went into the first one, this set of pics is extremely general. I didn't even mention the final sinew curing of something like a year or so. Dad can't find info on this, but he later discovered a way to gently rewarm and string the bow to get the draw weight down to around 60#. I got to play with it while 75#, shot 3 tight groups at 15 yards with underspined arrows on hand. Plenty of speed, quiet without silencers like a longbow.
 

[R.W.]

Tilbilly,

So the bow must be "balanced" ever time it is restrung? This is mentioned in Korean archery sites, and the heating, and balancings importance.

FYI, I have had flemish strings made up for my brothers Hwa=Rang, and my Spitfire. These have worked well for me, I don't know if my brother has tried his yet. I sent the string maker (Three Tree Strings) the string length, and loop lengths and he supplied me with a couple of very well made strings.

Chris Constantine uses a braided string for his bows, but I am not sure how he braids the loops into the string body.

Your Dad did a great job on his bow, Tilbilly. Are you going to try and do him one better?  

[Tilbilly]

Yep, more often than not the bow needs rebalancing each time it's restrung for shooting.

I could be wrong about the string info., it' s happened once before...    


No interest in making one of these, myself. No time, really. Work, house, wife and kids etc.
I've got 2 lam. wood/bamboo bows I started at Dad' s shop I haven' t finished either. Someday.

[JEFF B]

now that is awesome i wish i had one of those as i love horse bows.  can ya make em out of fiberglass lambs and say boo core or maple core?

[R.W.]

Ho'Nehe Jeff
The glass might stand up, if you don't put in a pile of reflex/deflex.
There are glass bows out there in a similar style to the one Tilbilly's father built, so it can be done.
You might consider glass on the back, and sinew on the belly.
What core was used in the originals, would probably depend on what part of the world the bow was built in. But maple or bamboo should work well.

[JEFF B]

all right can one be made just out of bamboo with a maple riser?