horn bow

[dave_t_aber]

As well as the sinew backed bow i have just posted a thread on, Im also in the process of building a horn composite bow. I am using water buffalo horns, both about 20 inches long, to make a 40 inch bow. The horns are both fairly straight in terms of lateral deviation, but both are curved quite sharply to form a large reflex. At present im at the stage of preparing the horns to be joined. As horn thins at the base, I need to put a riser section in, I was going to use wood, but I am using horn now, as I have some spare off cuts. The riser section will sit in between the limbs and the sinew backing, stiffening the handle section.

I am not attempting to put any syiahs (spelling?) on the bow, but I will leave the tips slightly stiffer. Im using the 2nd bowyers bible as a reference.

Anyone else made a horn composite bow on here? Im not expecting this bow to go perfectly, more of an experiment, hopefully, if it doesnt go right, I can make a second one with longer horns, and with some experience gained.

cheers
dave

[Huffy]

Well done for trying to build several different types of bow.

I have not anything as different as you are trying but I can point you to another source of information.

http://www.ozbow.net/phpbb2/viewforum.php?f=3

I hope that you can find like minded people on that site.

Best wishes, Mark

[dave_t_aber]

cheers,
I will look on that link you gave me. Its going ok so far, well, only as well as I could hope, but as ive read before, there comes a point when youve read all you can on the subject, the only thing left to do is make some shavings, horn shavings in this case.

dave

[Huffy]

Very true, its only by trying that you really learn.

Best wishes, Mark

[dave_t_aber]

Ive been speaking to people on Ozbow, seems like a few people on there have done horn bows.

look at this link, the bow is amazing, a masterpeice.......

ATARNet :: View topic - Turkish Bow(gold on Black)

I have had a little change of plan with the horn bow, I will use a core of wood, whereas before I wasnt going to, as some of the indian bows didnt have a wooden core, they were just horn backed to sinew, with a working handle section.

I have ordered some cherry for the riser section, which will be internal, and some elm for the siyahs, which I will now have. I am using a 3/16 mulberry core, but I may put a slight taper in it when I glue them to the horn. I will also use epoxy to glue the horn to the wood core, as ive heard that is more reliable. But I will still use hide glue for the sinew backing obviously.

anyone else tried this bow before, or anything similiar????

would love to hear from anyone that has.
dave

[^HUN^]

I see you have found ATARN, Alessi Francesco does indeed make some beautiful Turkish bows, as does Reto.
From the description you have given, I assume you are going to glue a cherry handle to a mulberry core? I think you would be better off using a maple core for its flexibility, mulberry is usually the wood of choice for crafting the siyahs. Alternatively, a bamboo core is a good choice as well, Korean bows use bamboo. If you have enough cherry, I would use that for the siyahs or get a decent piece of mulberry.

One point about the horn. When fitted to the limbs, the horn is oriented so that the tip section is at the handle with the thinner root of the horn at the limb tip.
If you are going to make one of these bows, why not use traditional methods? You are using hide glue for the sinew, try to get some isinglass fish glue. It's expensive but it is also the finest glue for the job.

Just a note for anyone thinking of making a composite bow, avoid the horn strips being offered at Flybow. They get their supplies from Dick Biz in Germany and they are not reliable. Best horn supply by far is Martin Hyslop at Highlandhorn.

[barney]

There's some lovely horn/wood/sinew bows on this site. You may be able to pick up some info from the forum.

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