Kara Kurszan hornbow from Tc log - twist.. sinew damage?

As you have probably realized already, the width is 4.3 CM and not mm, sorry. BajanBow

Thanks, yeah, that's what I thought

It is a lot of time to cut this wood by hand with a small saw, and at first it was very difficult for me to make straight cuts, I end up cutting at angles when I didn't want to. Which means I should work on my sawing technique.

Couldn't really get access to a bandsaw.

Thinking of steaming or just wetting the wood to make it easier to carve, then heating it after they're done to get rid of the moisture.

For now I'm just trying to be patient, seems doable.

boiling for 20 mins on each side didn't help. wood is still hard to saw.

Maybe I should buy a coping saw. This saw doesn't seem very good for cutting against the grain. Or just find a bandsaw somewhere.

I doubt that I could find wood boards with the right width. Would 5.1 cm be okay? Maybe I could bevel it some on the bow side with my rasp.

maybe rasping away 0.8 cm isn't that big of a deal.. it'd take a long while


these boards are about 1.5" wide... so it'd be 7.6 cm wide with 2 glued to each other.

2 12"x6"x2" basswood boards would be awesome. That's two board feet.

Ahaha it's ending up being more expensive than just having Tc make me tepeliks for $40..

Hm. I think 3.7-3.8cm might be close enough to 4.3cm. I'll pack up and will hopefully finally see the bow tomorrow.

If it's too thin I could probably find some plywood or something to glue to it.

If it is slightly wider (few mm), no problem. If it is over 5cm then fixing the limbs is not stable (ideally it has the same width as the bow has). The height must be 6,5 cm or more, otherwise it is not possible to string the bow on the floor......
Do not struggle, find someone with a bandsaw.

I don't know anyone, though I could ask. Hope a coping saw is significantly easier to cope with.

...

if not, I will look.

3.8cm seems only a little narrower than the widest part of the bow, I think it'll be fine. And the bow is awesome. Hopefully I'll get to shoot it this weekend.

The bow's belly is convex, too, so if the tepelik is flat then the contact area isn't big either way. I think 3.8cm width is fine.
From the video, it looks like the tepelik is concave where the bow goes. It takes forever to remove wood from this with this Shinto rasp.

Good enough, or no way?

The surface of the tepelik isn't that even..

Should probably find something thicker and less slippery than paracord.

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The surface of the teplik is concave. The upper and lower arcs are close to parallel (again watch the video and pic). The paracord is too thin and slippery, try to get something thicker. It is good to see that Kurszan made it in one piece...

Bought some rope, and a new file that I hope will be faster. I seriously doubt that this is fir now, though I think it said it was fir.

By the arcs being parallel, you mean I should also cut it into an arc on the bottom, since it's not an arc yet? Yeah, it's been a lot more work than I expected. So I just tried to hack at the bottom with my knife to try to make it prevent the rope from slipping. Should get a vise tomorrow, so maybe it'll be easier.

Are the tepeliks symmetric, or does one side necessarily have to go to the ear, the other to the grip? They seem almost symmetrical, except for a difference in height in the bottom.

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I hope that I'll be able to shoot Kurszan this Sunday.

Thank you!

If there is no arc on the bottom it is not possible to tie the limbs when the tepliks are on the floor......
Yes this teplik is almost symmetrical.

Strung. I did not apply the tepeliks perfectly. They tended to slip away from the grip. A few minutes later, I strung it and it was very unbalanced. So I tried to balance it, probably at least 20 minutes. And now it seems balanced, been letting it rest, will go see if it unbalanced itself again. It seems like pretty hot, dry weather too. Seems like just around 20-23c, but I'm sweating from having strung it.

http://imgur.com/a/Mgy4F

Gonna go shoot now... ...

Ok. But it is dangerous for the bow.
A few things for the teplik:
Attach the rope to the teplik (Drill wholes on both ends)
Cover the surface of the teplik with leather or rubber and they are not slippery any more..
Kurszan needs two minutes balancing if you use the tepliks correctly so get some practice with them.

Thanks, will do. Did notice the holes with the rope attached.. but not the leather, it looked like bone or something in the teplik concave part. I made it a bit concave by filing. Basic woodworking 101, having a vise and a stable surface is extremely important.. finally was able to remove plenty of wood with that japanese rasp. Though I still had to stay up until 4am finishing up the tepliks, it was so much better than before.

After a while the lower limb's inner limb near the handle wasn't bending as much so it looked like it had some setback handle, just a little. Should've had the teplik near the handle tied tighter, and not put the pivot so far from the handle when balancing if the inner limb was what wasn't bending enough. Or. Well. It looked pretty similar to the pictures on the etsy page, now that I look back. But a bit more unbalanced, with the handle going forward. The top one looked fine though. Bended more overall, too. (what I picked as top limb is left one in the 1st picture on the link above. Funny how the id starts with "Mgy", almost like "Magyar").

Kurszan survived. Ended up being pretty balanced. Shot, unstrung now. Didn't have time to make stiff bamboo arrows, shot mostly heavy, stiff aluminum ones. Pretty heavy in the hand, ears seem pretty heavy, similar weight to a pvc bow of the same length but no painful handshock at all with heavy or medium/light arrows (my 25lbs PVC and 30lbs/72" hickory bows have a lot more handshock, yet they are noodles to draw), speed is decent. Probably not flightbow class, but I'm happy. Rather fast with lighter arrows. Will hopefully test more with more appropriate arrows later.
High initial string tension, string makes a nice rather high pitch sound when plucked, more than any of my other bows. Punches hard and feels nice to shoot. Anchoring at the cheekbone with the index knuckle, it seemed very accurate when I did everything right. I think it is perfect as a reasonably strong bow at this draw weight. Shooting a 60# reflex bow is not the same as drawing 70# with rubber bands. The former is way harder, and I have to put a lot into it to make it feel right. Though rubber bands still help build strength. Shooting a heavier bow than usual is not a piece of cake like shooting a lighter bow just because I can pull more with rubber bands. I found it necessary to concentrate and ensure I have proper form. Pulling with aggression, but not carelessly, seemed to go easier. Same with medium weight bows, but I felt the effects more. It seems like it takes a lot of willpower to shoot well.. really builds character? :p

Can finally cross out "brace, balance and shoot a horn bow" off my list of things to do before I die, though this is only the beginning. Hope I can manage to take good care of Kurszan. Thank you for making these beautiful bows so affordable.




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Maybe I picked the wrong limb for the top limb, and shot it upside down. Or not. Here the top limb bends more, no? So it's a very exaggerated version of what would be okay?

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Are these bows upside down?

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Just making sure...

Also, arrows left some slight marks on the sinew on top of the handle. Probably from them hitting the bow as with weak spine but not necessarily because of that. Could be my technique. Yay.

merged with previous post, cant delete

Well I have seen Kurszan better balanced but for the first time it is not bad. The upper limb is slightly weaker, but it is really difficult to tell which one by seeing your pics. Again, pls follow the stringing video. Once the bow is strung, check the bending of the limbs but still leave the tepliks on for about 10 minutes (it might be necessary to tighten the tepliks). After removing the tepliks balance the bow. Check the bending when drawn (mirrow) and designate the upper and lower limbs. Shoot the bow and enjoy. Do not leave the bow strung when you finish shooting. And that’s all. BajanBow

what is all about with the tepelik, hasn't the bow been tillered and ready to strung?

sorry if I ask something stupid, never bought a composite bow before..

A.Haydar wrote:

what is all about with the tepelik, hasn't the bow been tillered and ready to strung?

sorry if I ask something stupid, never bought a composite bow before..

I think it's something with the tiller of this particular bow needing to be introduced before shooting each time during the stringing, to introduce the proper bending/tiller during stringing by stringing it with tepeliks on and letting it rest. Other bows might end up tillered without needing to use tepeliks to stress the material the right way? It also has a decent amount of reflex.

pcoutin wrote:

A.Haydar wrote:

what is all about with the tepelik, hasn't the bow been tillered and ready to strung?

sorry if I ask something stupid, never bought a composite bow before..

I think it's something with the tiller of this particular bow needing to be introduced before shooting each time during the stringing, to introduce the proper bending/tiller during stringing by stringing it with tepeliks on and letting it rest. Other bows might end up tillered without needing to use tepeliks to stress the material the right way? It also has a decent amount of reflex.

ah, I see.. because I thought tepelik is just a bowyer thing..

todo:

Drill holes [done]

Make somewhat thinner rope from the thicker agave rope. Perhaps longer, it's about 1.4m? I think it's fine. Braided. Flatter rope may be easier to get under the tepeliks. But I think it'd slip easier when hitched at the end. It'd stay together better, though..

Stabilize the lower part of the tepeliks so it rests nicely on the floor since it is uneven. Maybe find some rubber somewhere and glue it to the bottom. It was okay but it can be better. Will probably use cork from a wine bottle.

Continue rasping the top concave part so it's even, and so that it fits nicely with the convex belly of the bow, maximizing contact surface area.

Glue some rubber from a bike tire tube or something on the top. I don't have any... probably ran out of scrape suede leather as well. Maybe I should go hunting :twisted:

Sand and finish them with tung oil.

Make some arrows! Got some tonkin bamboo to heat straighten.
Planning to make them 30" long, while drawing to 28".

I realized I had a lot of unintended khatra when shooting on Sunday.. probably from trying not to collapse my hand

Used rubber from balloons to increase friction. Worked quite well... but I still didn't do a good enough job with the tepeliks. I'm getting better, I guess. Pictures soon.

https://static.pcout.in/hornbow-03-25-2016/

I'm sorry. Hopefully I'll do a better job later today.

- Be more careful with putting on tepeliks, make sure they don't slip away from the handle which is harder now because of rubber from balloons
- Try to put on the tepeliks more evenly
- String right after putting tepeliks on
- Balance and tighten after putting on string?
- After balancing after taking out tepeliks, let it rest for maybe half an hour at first, before trying to draw. So it doesn't lose the balance. ??

- Try to put on the tepeliks more evenly - Yes, very important...
- String right after putting tepeliks on - Yes
- Balance and tighten after putting on string? - I normally wait about 10 minutes with both the tepliks and string on, then remove the tepeliks and start balancing
- After balancing after taking out tepeliks, let it rest for maybe half an hour at first, before trying to draw. So it doesn't lose the balance. ?? - No, if it is cold wait 10 minutes, in normal temperature wait 5 minutes and start shooting.
You can also keep the bow strung for a longer period (12 hrs) once balancing is ok, just for better "remembering" of right shape later on...

I think I did a significantly better job balancing today.

Sadly, I won't be able to shoot Kurszan for 2 to 3 months, thanks to university.. :|

At least string and balance the bow on a weekly base. The death of a horn bow is neglect.

Took it with me. Wrapped sinew around the notches just in case.

This one string always made a noise at the notch when drawing. Left the other string back home, don't know if it does the same. I think it didn't.

Would a D-10 (like fast flight) flemish loop twisted string (without separate loops) really cause any problems with this bow due to the non-contact big siyahs?

I know from Adam Karpowicz's book that flemish splices were apparently used in Crimean Tatar ramie strings, but I don't know if just for the smaller loops that separate loops were tied onto.

Thinking of making rawhide and silk strings one day as well..

Managed to heat straighten a bamboo shaft a little, but it's still got a long way to go. All I used was an electric stove, a bunch of wet paper towels in a ball, a towel and my hand.

Will hopefully shoot Sunday..

Worst first... ... what looks like a crack in the horn. But it didn't get worse as I kept shooting ...

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Strung and shot Kurszan today. Wasn't as balanced as I wish. Next time I'll try putting the tepelik on the limb that bent less this time, first.

Used a pretty short (29"?) bamboo shaft with no head or fletchings. It was really stiff and thick, yet it seemed to act like it was weak spined at full draw... also with tail going up much of the time, even if I tried to nock parallel to my hand. Hm. Need to do a lot more bare shaft tuning. And working on my release.

Heat straightening bamboo is hard...

The noise from the loops when drawing is gone after filing, but I still feel the loops moving on the notches as I draw.

This is about an hour after unstringing.

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How would I fix twists on the limbs or handle?

Just strung and balanced the bow again, and unstrung it. It went much better than earlier today. I should continue putting the tepelik on that stronger limb first.

Based on advice from ATARN facebook group (and originally Adam Karpowicz?), I will put superglue or some cyanoacrylate glue on the crack and then wrap it with sinew. There is no apparent problem with the core.

Not sure if duco cement would work better than superglue (cyanoacrylate) or not... ... since all I have is duco cement.

Flash was very good at showing the crack...

Uploading pictures.

Continuation of previous page.

http://imgur.com/a/uSNsy

Adam Karpowicz, Ottoman Turkish Bows wrote:

It happens quite often the horn surface develops fine, lengthwise fissures with use or as the bow dries after sinewing. This is most likely a result of the cross-limb contraction of sinew, which puts the belly under cross-tension. The cracking has no effect on the bow’s performance. Sometimes it is possible to fill the cracks with the cyanoacrylate glue, but usually the cracks can not be repaired.

Well, this crack is not lengthwise...

The crack did not get visibly worse after stringing and balancing.

Pretty sure this is due to my negligence. Unstringing it too fast, accidentally, clumsily hitting the bow against things, shooting too light arrows... guess it is a learning experience. Gotta be careful with these.

loctite 480 superglue should do. It is black. Bowyer said no sinew is needed. Nice.

Koger from ATARN facebook group wrote:

Not "any cyanoacrylic glue" - Look for superglue marketed as "Super thin". You want something with the consistency of water if you need capillary action.

The viscosity of water is from 1.8 to 0.5 mPa-s. The viscosity of loctite 480 is 200 mPa-s. Sigh.

I think what I might do is apply super thin glue, wipe it, and then apply loctite 480 before it all dries or something.

Loctite 480 would likely be good enough.

Will just try loctite 480, seeing that it's rubbery and shock resistant etc and that's what the bowyer recommended. Pretty pricey... It will supposedly arrive here between Friday and some time next week.

Don't really want to bother with a more brittle superglue material.

Hide glue and shellac also arriving! Wonder how good of a black pigment charcoal is, when I get my tung oil bottle back..

Alex Wittenaar wrote:

With such a crack the only thing to save this bow is to replace the horn I am afraid. It will eventually destroy the bow if you keep on shooting it, and I have my doubts about superglue solving the problem. If it were lengthwise it maybe would not be a problem. It unstrung itself while shooting you say? That might have caused it

Jaap Koppedrayer wrote:

]Could be a old male horn they got lots of ridges and cracks. I am with Alex that limb will go sooner or later. And no sinew is not a fix all.

Scary to hear this from such experienced people.

Well, I hope the Loctite 480 will be sufficient.

Meanwhile, I don't know what to do about arrows. Maybe I should build a spine tester..

I think my thumb release is still not that good. Though I managed to shoot off the left side of the bow with the thumb today, the arrows went waaay to the left.

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uh

I really doubt that it'll just suddenly explode after gluing.

I choose to trust Istvan. If it gets worse after gluing and then shooting, then I'll consider replacing the horn. If it just suddenly blows up at the crack... well, I guess that'd be another learning experience. At least it'd settle this dilemma.

Applied loctite 480, dried in a blob. I did file a tad because I tried to get to what seemed like a part of the crack that was covered by sinew, but didn't get to it. Hopefully dust didn't weaken the glue or prevent it from going into the crack or anything.

But I braced the bow, was pretty balanced, and drew it until it seemed to stack (my cheek, I'm probably 187cm armspan or so) several times. Probably 15 times. Nothing much wrong, just that the string loop was making a noise on the notch again. I wanna make a twisted string even more now. Though filing the notches to be rounder should help as well.

Getting tung oil, sand paper, etc. May make some black paint. Also getting some of that titebond hide glue, should help with the sinew wrappings in all my stuff.

Was more successful heat straightening bamboo today, although it's still annoying.

At the end of unstringing, still let it go a bit too quickly at the end although I tried to be careful and slow. I should avoid slipping the hands while I unstring, the video is a perfect example of how to do it right.

One of the ears seemed to make a cracking noise when I was trying to align it. but didn't break. was fine while I drew.

Found a few small holes on the sides of one of the ears which I plugged with loctite. Not sure if they were there originally. Probably not, what. Should I worry about horn eating insects?..

Today I strung kurszan again, did not balance except by changing the tightness of the tepeliks once strung until the limbs looked balanced and leaving it for a while. Did have to try to align the ears though.

Drew the bow as well. No blow ups at the crack yet! I wonder if I should file the sinew next to the crack on the belly and maybe side of the limb, and apply loctite 480 there as well. Just in case?

I only string it with the two person at the knee method now. Step through is awkward and feels like I'll twist the limbs. Though it looks like it could be okay if done properly..

No problems besides noises of the string at the notches. Gonna round the notches some. Also, managed to make a flemish string. Will make double loops for it. That should help. I think a tan (or white to imitate silk?) endless string with twisted double loops tied on like described here would look and work really nice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwp6UJOUfZY

The cool thing about twisted rather than served loops is that they should be softer and less noisy..

The strings Tc sent me with the bow should probably be fine anyway, if I round the notches some more.

pretty sure this bow will have 0 handshock at 10gpp... i think i've shot it at wayy less than that. now if only i had a scale.

what am i doing at 4:22am

no idea what the draw weight will be at 30" yet..

Planning to draw 29.5" from belly.
If my sense of smell isn't too off, filing or sanding horn makes a smell like that of burning hair, and this shellac smells like rum, brandy or something. Amber shellac has a beautiful color. Pretty sure I could get drunk off of it... but it'd likely be poisonous or cause all sorts of health complications, obviously. I mean, it's diluted in ethanol?
I had forgotten about the smell of tung oil. Such a strong nutty smell.

I hope the notches on the bow will act better after I filed and sanded them a bit, trying to make the notches "rounder".

Planing to make a quiver of layered, glued cardboard (leather later?) that may be a mix of Manchu (because small quivers and I want a small quiver, and I found an appealing looking one) and Turkish/Polish? styles.

Hopefully I can manage to heat straighten a few shafts tonight. I wetted them, sanded them down, and wetted them again for some reason. Hoping the moisture will help some with heat straightening. I had cut one down that has a bit of a snake/kinkiness near the nock end, and it's backwards (thickest place towards the nock? or just the bottom of the bamboo towards the nock...). Gave up on trying to straighten it more and just accepted it. I wonder if it'll act stiffer when backwards, or weaker.

I want to make two arrow straightening tools. One like the Japanese use (apparently the groove on the Korean one is more perpendicular to the tool which doesn't seem as desirable...) and a possibly more primitive stone one as described here:

http://www.primitiveways.com/arrow_straightening.html

All of this for tonkin bamboo from no more than "garden canes". That I have half a thousand of because I'm crazy.

I thought of finishing the arrows with shellac, then tung oil... but. it seems friction from targets can turn the finish into a glue. maybe I should just do shellac and oil the shafts before shooting.

Humidity is 68-75% tonight, so I'll pass on shooting. Most of the rest of the week is rather humid with some precipitation as well.. temperature is 18C.

Made a heat straightening tool. Tried to bend a cane at the nodes, ended up making a kink right next to the node. Now it's all wonky. Great. Guess I'll have to settle for snakey arrows...

Filed further notches, sinew wrapping, covered again with shellac.

Is this enough sinew to make a difference reinforcing? I think backstrap sinew would be so much better than this leg sinew with the short strands and difficulty processing...

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Blob of titebond 480 that I am hesitant to sand off further. It doesn't stick out that much.

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Ugh, twist? Maybe I made the tepeliks poorly and not evenly, maybe from stringing it badly, maybe it doesn't matter.

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I sucked at making the tepeliks, now the bow is somewhat twisted. Though I think stringing the bow clumsily might've had something to do with it as well. All this with a non-contact bow, I don't think I'll ever be able to handle a contact ear bow.
May try 3d printing some.. if the printer here allows

unstrung few minutes after being strung for the entire night, about 12h. Twist seems a little less now, but only a bit

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New string I made, twisted, flemish with double loops, brown D-10 material, 12-strands main (pretty skinny imo) and 24 for the loops. The only slight problem is the knot at the loops kind of gets in the way, acts as a "string bridge". May be a bit more unstable.

Brace height is a bit more with it...

The rough feeling of the string rubbing against the sinew/notches is much much less noticeable now.

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maybe i'll start posting about this in primitive archer if I ever manage to fix the twist or something, or once i 3d print tepeliks since ATARNnet is so dead :(

Stick around!

I think most of the ATARN activity takes place on Facebook, and this site has become the Archive more or less. Activity slowed here several years back when Stephen Selby retired and ceased managing ATARN.net. Over time this place has become somewhat "broken". For example on the left here it says I live in Venice, FL. Haven't been there in 6 years but the site won't let me change that! ANdthe Search here is not all that good...

But I saw several posts recently, where Peter Dekker is renovating this site and plans on re-energizing it in the next couple months. Type www.atarn.org and you'll see what I mean.

The Facebook page is OK, but too many people try to post things that are just too in-depth for a "small post" site like Facebook. Plus not everyone likes or wants to take part in Facebook, for a variety of reasons.

I used to be involved with Primative Archer and Paleoplanet, but the majority of the folks there are not interested in historical accuracy. or for that matter Asian Traditional Archery. This is still the best place on the Internet for the subject in all its broad coverage.

Thanks

Here are more pictures. I now string the bow after putting the tepeliks by having it face with the back down, one ear on the ground and holding it on the other ear and stepping in the handle. Seems stable enough.

The string I made stretched a bit... brace height went a bit down.

Thinking I'll make an endless one w/ double loops. Hopefully the loops won't slip with this 'dyneema'... either way the string shouldn't fall apart since I'll keep the double loops long outside the knot with stopper knots.

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Bubbles and dumb camera that doesn't want to focus on what is centered. Pretty sure thse bubbles are just the shellac. Maybe the crack on the belly was just a crack on the shellac...

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This limb seems pretty good.

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Less twist? Well, I think it got worse recently :\ We'll see again hopefully this Sunday. Maybe, if it was worse, it was from the sun heating it up this Tuesday... sigh.

Thinking I may tie blocks and a bamboo slat to the twisted side to try to correct the twist. Tc gave me advice to clamp it to do the same..

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The twisted limb, I think? Ear looks misaligned but it's sort-of-overall-aligned... looks aligned when Iooked through the belly and it seems to bisect the bow sort of evenly.

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Self-made arrows with ugly plastic points that are a bit too light and apparently not stiff enough, and a very beautiful bow

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Twisted limb touching my leg

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Bisected

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Ugh, part of the.. splice lifted off while printing. Should use helper disks next time. Also, the hole for rope is too small..

The 3d printed teplik exploded. May try printing the half that broke again, rasping, re-gluing, and using it for a mold. :|

wonder if i should make aluminum tepeliks

cmiiw, but too light arrow might effect similar to dry fire your bow..

A.Haydar wrote:

cmiiw, but too light arrow might effect similar to dry fire your bow..

yes
just in case, a tepelik exploded, not the bow. the bow is fine it's just the limb is a bit twisted w/ the limb tracking to the side
but i've heard of adam karpowicz testing hornbows at 3gpp or so? ridiculously light imo.
The lightest arrow I shot was an easton jazz 1916 30" with the smaller point (75 or 100gr... probably 100) a few times though, that was around 6-7gpp. Had handshock. The bamboo arrows like in the video had no handshock.
however this bow is pretty slow due to the horn on the ears and thick ears.. may be similar to historical magyar bows with antler plates though
but the string was stiffer than dacron... maybe that contributed
i'm waiting for istvan to tell me about how to apply heat and pressure to correct the limb which is tracking to the side, I assume while it's unstrung

yup. clamps.

and stuff.

for now, the bow stacks at 28.5" from the back more or less with a 6.5" brace height

It's been difficult to re-straighten it. Maybe once we move in around a month and I have a workbench. And am getting more money I'll be willing to spend on tools and such.

there was some other method with a pipe clamp..

Anyway it's maybe a bit less twisted now, I judged it shootable yet it was quite handshocky. I still have a small scar on my bow hand from it... ... (after maybe 2 dozen shots). I think at the "root of the hand", above the the hypothenar eminence, right under the base of the little finger. I don't think it was wrong nock point, the arrow was going pretty straight up/down.

I need to experiment more before making any conclusions.

I need a better scale, these measurements are ballpark. Arrows shot:

Big aluminum with 200gr point: 600-700gr - 10-12gpp..
Bamboo flu flu: 550gr or so - 9.3gpp
Cheap chinese bamboo: 480grains - 8.13gpp
Korean carbon arrow: 463grains - 7.8gpp

Coming next at some point:

Fixing the twist, perhaps this way (from vine maple build along, Primitive Archer howto's and build alongs, by Gordon). I think the twist is near the end of the 'sal'... Need pipe clamp, C clamps, wood.

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Improving the tepeliks. Cabinet scraper and bubble/spirit level to make sure it's level. A router or a curved scraper for the concavity? Rawhide from pet store dog chews to cover the tepeliks. Sanding & shellac for the finish.

Making a Korean style jig for putting on tepeliks. Need wood, Japanese saw.

Making a bow stringer from paracord for stringing once the tepeliks are on.

Finding grip & nock point for balance?

force/draw curve

Making weight matched arrows, need a grain or gram scale.

-grain scale
-spirit level
-wood 2x4
-thinner, larger wood plank
-rawhide dog chews or leather
-tanning solution, container?
-more paracord?
-pipe clamp
-4 C clamps
-cabinet scraper, curved & straight
-infrared thermometer
-shellac chips & solvent? the pre-dissolved shellac expires..
-forrester wood shafts?

Hopefully this thread could help people know what it's like to care for hornbows, know what to do..

Bow hasn't been strung for about 2 weeks, it's not all that reflexed now though. I want it to rest because it got unbalanced last time, idk. also don't wanna string it much with that twist..

May have to end up making new tepeliks from pine rather than fir, since pine is easier to carve and all that.. I guess, if I mess them up.

Got some 4" vise and some other stuff. Forgot the spirit level... at least I got an infrared temperature sensor so I won't overheat the bow. Also, apparently heat corrections should be done from the horn side, according to The Art of Shooting a Short Reflexed Bow with a Thumb Ring. I imagine horn is less susceptible to heat damage than sinew and collagen glue...

The shellac on this bow has been peeling off, thinking button lac could work better.

Wrapped a mushamma with some black leather from a chair (not the temporary black bow sock on the pictures). the handle got all nasty from my sweat dissolving with the shellac and sinew, which I may try cleaning up with clear rum or something.. and it was a bit small anyway, though wide-ish and flat

Took these pictures, the twist is visible. I really, really need to work on my strength, flexibility and technique..

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I wonder if that crack was just on the shellac and not the horn...

want to get: pine board, spirit level

next up: Korean style dojigae (tepelik) jig from pine
Doing better concavity on tepeliks with cabinet scraper, making sure they're level using spirit level. Will need to make sure table & vise are level..
Finishing tepeliks and putting on leather
Bow rack!!
Jig pegboard thing for twist correction... no clamps, just pegs and rope twisting for tension?

So many things. I need to stop getting overwhelmed. One thing at a time.

Next up: Make sinew glue by 'cooking' at 70 C in water for 24 hours. Apply to the sinew blemish in the inner limb. I think I might've created that blemish with the edge of a clamp or something when trying to correct the twist last time. That blemish just seems to have been getting slowly worse and worse.

https://goo.gl/photos/dyzq69sgSmyEgor37

Also make blueprints for tepelik (again) and for twist fixing tools.. hope I can get them done for me O_o

For the glue... should I use tap water, filtered water or distilled water?... Maybe I should just pour filtered water on it/dissolve glue on that

Finally made new tepeliks with poplar - level and the correct width! used a jigsaw and a bench disk sander. need to concave it with a chisel and sandpaper (and a half moon rasp?), then find some leather to glue on top of it somehow. it's kind of hard to make straight cuts with a jigsaw...

Haha this is total baby stuff

Next up is untwisting and more hide glue and sinew wrapping... after I graduate and move out of here, most likely. i'll have to scavenge for a big piece of plywood somewhere. don't wanna buy one.

Guess it's about time I get started sizing the bow with wood and pressing it with plastic while hot, I should have enough time in finals week...

Also sort of started making a 76"ntn maple D bow, hopefully with hemp fiber backing, aiming for 60#@32". I have no idea if I'll be able to make that with that board.

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I haven't strung Kurszan in... a long time. Several months.

Hopefully I'll be able to just untwist it and balance it, and it'll be fine.