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very long size horn strips:80-120cm and price

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stiventiger
we find out that there are some extremely long size waterbufello horn which long 1 meter,even 1.2meter long, we can cut them into 80,90,100,even 120cm extra long size horn strips for making horn bow,but i worry such long size is not suitable for making horn bow,but i think again,may be good horn bow maker can use 1 pcs of total long size which is 100cm longer more can do total horn strips on bow core,may be such horn bow is much better work result on shoot,but i am not expert on horn bow making,if some horn bow maker expert could tell me if they can use 1 pcs extra long size horn strip( not necessary to put 2pcs 50-60cm long horn strips stick on bow core) to make total horn bow?and if they say yes,if you could tell me what is the better size,(long and wide and thickness)at least we can cut 120cm waterbufello horn into 100cm and 3-5cm wide of 1 total pcs.if necessary we can cut 110 even 120cm long.of corse looking for such so long size is only less 1th/1000 of noramlly size possibility,normal size is 50-60cm long.more longer more less amount.of course such long size is expensive naturally.
by the way for making strong competetion with UK and Germany horn strips 's company,i down the horn strips 's price 10%-20% than before depend on order amount,as i have 4 horn resourse to offer enough amount of long horn strips for making horn bow,i guess i can offer total world horn bow maker request's amount:1000pairs/year is no problem.and 2000pairs/year is not the dream and very simple,just pm to me,paypal(better way) and bank transaction is ok
Happy new year
thanks
Bede
The Kangxi Emperor had a bow with a single strip of horn from one ear to the other.
stiventiger

Bede wrote:

The Kangxi Emperor had a bow with a single strip of horn from one ear to the other.

so,if somebday can do horn bow with a single strip of horn,that will be great and fantastical thing.may be is also unique in the world,but who can do such horn bow?and i can offer such long size horn strips,if yo know if 120cm horn strips long is enough?
Bede
You could make a Qing bow with a horn strip of 135 cm if the thickness was sufficient.
stiventiger

Bede wrote:

You could make a Qing bow with a horn strip of 135 cm if the thickness was sufficient.

such long size 135cm is very difficult to get.
tiger
Stephen Selby
In terms of Chinese tradition, I'm not aware that the big deal was a single piece of horn. The big deal was white or transparent horn. What I suggest in commercial terms is to put a higher value on transparent or white horn (assuming it was from a healthy animal.)
stiventiger

Stephen Selby wrote:

In terms of Chinese tradition, I'm not aware that the big deal was a single piece of horn. The big deal was white or transparent horn. What I suggest in commercial terms is to put a higher value on transparent or white horn (assuming it was from a healthy animal.)

Hi
white or transparent horn normally is yellow cow(chinese call)or cow who live tibet,but such white or transparent horn is extremely expensive,i see some big size white or transparent horn(not strips)cost 200-2000$/pair depend on size and noramlly waterbufello horn is in black colour (original colour:healthy horn colour)
Stephen Selby
I think it can also be obtained from water buffalo (水牛). Peter Cua can obtain it in the Philippines.
Jos?Dom
Yes, it comes from albino water buffalo which seems to be very rare.
stiventiger
i hope elephent can grow their long horn on their head,and shape is similar like their tooth.
jkekoni
Apart from being VERY COOL THING, What would be the benefits for making a bow from single strip of horn?

It would be possible to make bending handle or semibending handle.

These are things are made into self bows, to maximise the length of bending limb. No so usefull for horn bow.

Or perhaps for making very very short heavy for very long draw? ( I am not buying this idea myself, just presenting it...) I was wondering would gemsbok<oryx gazella> be big enough for this.

There are bigger horn available that water buffalo. It is called baleen, however whales being endangered...
(Americans can buy it legally from ingenious people, who have limited whaling rights.)
Bede
Baleen does not have the same properties as horn. It is more fibrous and the cross section is triangular. It can be used for compression in a bow but it has no advantages over horn.
stiventiger
I haven't time and don't know how to do horn bow,but i can get 50% of all chinese horn strips to suppler all the world horn bow maker request's amount.
tiger
Peter Dekker

Stephen Selby wrote:

In terms of Chinese tradition, I'm not aware that the big deal was a single piece of horn. The big deal was white or transparent horn. What I suggest in commercial terms is to put a higher value on transparent or white horn (assuming it was from a healthy animal.)

Where bows with white or translucent horn were expensive, they were still available to the masses provided they had the cash. They turn up with some regularity in private and museum collections: Between myself and some friends we already count three, Changxing made them (and Wu yonghua kept one), the Grayson collection has one, and there is another in the Royal Armories in Leeds.

In contrast, I know of only three bows with a single strip of horn, all were made in the imperial workshops. They are located in the Palace Museum in Beijing (Kangxi, as per the original inventory tag), one in the Metropolitan Museum in New York (possibly Daoguang period, taken from the palace by a soldier in 1900), and one is in the Palace Museum in Shenyang. (attributed to Nurhaci). The last one is made with translucent horn.

Therefore I'd say they were definitely a big deal, but not something a regular bowyer would do.
stiventiger
yes,so,i can't do such business,but black waterbufello have some beauty tiger colour on strips,if you do them horn bow,it looks quite elegent,good horn bow standards should be nice looking and work quite well,yes?
Gaur
Albino water buffaloes are not that rare here in Thailand. Probably about 5-10% of the buffaloes here are albinos. finding long horns from them is a little harder and there is a market to make herbal medicine from grinding them into a powder so the price higher than the black horns but I still sell them for about $50 a pair. Some have the black strips in them like the picture posted above and that is what was desirable in old horn bows in China from what Adam told me.

I have heard some say that they might be a bit more brittle than the black horns but not sure about that.

Randy