Making a Horn-bow
Hi Everyone,
I suppose I should introduce myself first! My name is Dave, I'm 14 and from Sunderland in the UK, I've been into archery for about a year now, and I'm very interested in every aspect of making my own equipment. I've always made my own arrows, and I've made 2 English longbows, with another two part-done.
For quite a while now I've been very interested in making a horn-bow, but to be honest I don't really know where to start! I'd really appreciate some info on what I should be thinking about doing. I'd like to make a horn-bow with relatively little reflex, unlike Turkish bows, something like this sort of thing: http://archery.maupa.org/items/details/888
I was thinking of using American maple for the core, as I can get it easily, would this be OK?
Also, I was wondering about glues, I know that fish glues are what were used originally, can these be bought, or would I have to make it myself? Or could modern glues be used?
If anyone could post a sort of step-by step guide that would be absolutely fantastic, or if there are any books you could recommended to me.
Another thing I was wondering about was the preparation of the horn - how do you go about this?
I know I'm asking an awful lot here, apologies!
edit - By the way, I've read through many threads on this forum, and they've been very useful, however it's the very basic stuff that I'm trying to work out at the moment!
Thanks very much,
Dave
I suppose I should introduce myself first! My name is Dave, I'm 14 and from Sunderland in the UK, I've been into archery for about a year now, and I'm very interested in every aspect of making my own equipment. I've always made my own arrows, and I've made 2 English longbows, with another two part-done.
For quite a while now I've been very interested in making a horn-bow, but to be honest I don't really know where to start! I'd really appreciate some info on what I should be thinking about doing. I'd like to make a horn-bow with relatively little reflex, unlike Turkish bows, something like this sort of thing: http://archery.maupa.org/items/details/888
I was thinking of using American maple for the core, as I can get it easily, would this be OK?
Also, I was wondering about glues, I know that fish glues are what were used originally, can these be bought, or would I have to make it myself? Or could modern glues be used?
If anyone could post a sort of step-by step guide that would be absolutely fantastic, or if there are any books you could recommended to me.
Another thing I was wondering about was the preparation of the horn - how do you go about this?
I know I'm asking an awful lot here, apologies!
edit - By the way, I've read through many threads on this forum, and they've been very useful, however it's the very basic stuff that I'm trying to work out at the moment!
Thanks very much,
Dave
Hello, I am also new to horn bowyery. I made my first horn bow based on Andrew Hall's drawings of the Moshchlevaya Balka bow, it failed, but that was due to impatience on my part. I am just starting a few more this summer. I hope to document my process during the summer as well. I will post my step-by-step when I finish it.
Here is a list of the steps that I wrote up yesterday, I may have forgot a few, hopefully some more experienced bowyers will look it over and correct anything that is wrong.
Composite construction (for MB bow)
Saw horn
Scrape/rasp horn to thickness (4-6 mm, will sand thinker later)
Boil horn flat
Sand to final thickness and to flatten completely
Cut core to length
Steam bend reflex at handle
Cut out riser
Cut out siyah
Cut V into each end of core for splice
Cut/file V into siyah for splice
Glue splice (jigs to clamp)
Glue riser
Shape core to desired width (1.5 inches at least)
Sand core to desired thickness (taper from 3.5 to 3 mm)
Coat horn and wood with very think glue until some builds up
Glue horn to belly
Shape horn to match core
Sinew
Separate sinew into strands (pound leg sinew, comb back sinew)
Collect sinew strands into bundles of equal thickness
Arrange bundles for easy access (do not stack or let bundles touch)
Prepare glue (consistency of thin syrup)
Reflex by tying string between tips of siyahs
Block up in stable position
Coat the core with a think layer of glue and allow to soak in (a.k.a. sizing)
Apply sinew to back (soak, start at center, work out, stagger and blend ends)
Let dry one to two weeks
Repeat sinewing one or two times (don’t forget the sizing)
I am using gemsbok horn currently, because it was cheaper. Despite its straight shape, it is a lot of work to get flat, I would definitely recommend using water buffalo instead, next time I by horn thats what it will be. I don't know if water buffalo horn would need to be boiled, but i don't think so.
Evan
Here is a list of the steps that I wrote up yesterday, I may have forgot a few, hopefully some more experienced bowyers will look it over and correct anything that is wrong.
Composite construction (for MB bow)
Saw horn
Scrape/rasp horn to thickness (4-6 mm, will sand thinker later)
Boil horn flat
Sand to final thickness and to flatten completely
Cut core to length
Steam bend reflex at handle
Cut out riser
Cut out siyah
Cut V into each end of core for splice
Cut/file V into siyah for splice
Glue splice (jigs to clamp)
Glue riser
Shape core to desired width (1.5 inches at least)
Sand core to desired thickness (taper from 3.5 to 3 mm)
Coat horn and wood with very think glue until some builds up
Glue horn to belly
Shape horn to match core
Sinew
Separate sinew into strands (pound leg sinew, comb back sinew)
Collect sinew strands into bundles of equal thickness
Arrange bundles for easy access (do not stack or let bundles touch)
Prepare glue (consistency of thin syrup)
Reflex by tying string between tips of siyahs
Block up in stable position
Coat the core with a think layer of glue and allow to soak in (a.k.a. sizing)
Apply sinew to back (soak, start at center, work out, stagger and blend ends)
Let dry one to two weeks
Repeat sinewing one or two times (don’t forget the sizing)
I am using gemsbok horn currently, because it was cheaper. Despite its straight shape, it is a lot of work to get flat, I would definitely recommend using water buffalo instead, next time I by horn thats what it will be. I don't know if water buffalo horn would need to be boiled, but i don't think so.
Evan
Thanks very much for that Evan, that's answered a lot of my questions! I can get hold of Buffalo horn pretty easily, so I'm lucky in that respect.
I've only got one other question - how do you go about tillering a horn-bow ("teaching" it to bend)? with longbows it's fairly easy, due to them being straight, however with a recurve but I suspect this will be very different? As I said I'm not trying to make a C shape bow, but a bow with little reflex, however the siyahs will still be at a pretty steep angle.
I've only got one other question - how do you go about tillering a horn-bow ("teaching" it to bend)? with longbows it's fairly easy, due to them being straight, however with a recurve but I suspect this will be very different? As I said I'm not trying to make a C shape bow, but a bow with little reflex, however the siyahs will still be at a pretty steep angle.