how to make a turkish hornbow?
hi there,
after making for one year about 25 bows (selfbows and backed ones) from whichI broke one third I got the obsession of making the absolute bow: the turkish bow.
where I live, in ulm germany, the museum has three old turkish bows and two mongolian chinese ones from the 18th century. so I got the chance to draw and x-ray them. I also went twice to karlsruhe that has one of the best collections of turkish bows in europe.
I also tryied to get detailed information on how to make such a bow. so I read joachim hein, latham/patterson, the saracen archery of faris and elmer (I am still waiting for the klopsteg book) but noone has the complete information and the search turned out to be quite frustrating.
I think I dont have to mention that about half of the information is wrong or false since those guys were not craftsmen.
so let's start at the beginning. I suggest we make it step by step.
the first point is the construction of the wooden core.
sec?nd the horn application and
third the sinewing
already at the wooden core I got many questions. how do you saw the grip ? with the tree rings vertically or horizontally?
when do you make the grooves for the horn? before glueing the pieces together or after?
where does the horn end towards the syiahs, and how far from them?
how do you embed the ends of the horn?
what kind of device or tool do you use to make the grooves?
if there is anyone out there who can answer these questions I would greatly appreciate it.
many thanks for your contributions,
stefan
after making for one year about 25 bows (selfbows and backed ones) from whichI broke one third I got the obsession of making the absolute bow: the turkish bow.
where I live, in ulm germany, the museum has three old turkish bows and two mongolian chinese ones from the 18th century. so I got the chance to draw and x-ray them. I also went twice to karlsruhe that has one of the best collections of turkish bows in europe.
I also tryied to get detailed information on how to make such a bow. so I read joachim hein, latham/patterson, the saracen archery of faris and elmer (I am still waiting for the klopsteg book) but noone has the complete information and the search turned out to be quite frustrating.
I think I dont have to mention that about half of the information is wrong or false since those guys were not craftsmen.
so let's start at the beginning. I suggest we make it step by step.
the first point is the construction of the wooden core.
sec?nd the horn application and
third the sinewing
already at the wooden core I got many questions. how do you saw the grip ? with the tree rings vertically or horizontally?
when do you make the grooves for the horn? before glueing the pieces together or after?
where does the horn end towards the syiahs, and how far from them?
how do you embed the ends of the horn?
what kind of device or tool do you use to make the grooves?
if there is anyone out there who can answer these questions I would greatly appreciate it.
many thanks for your contributions,
stefan
Stephan; There are experts on turkish bowbuilding who visit this site.
I suggest that you start by posting some drawings made from your exrays. We haven't seen something like that yet. I have some tracings made from ancient war bows that I will inject when it is appropriate.
There are some excellent repros posted here which should answer some of those questions. All these questions have been discussed and are archived here.
I suggest that you start by posting some drawings made from your exrays. We haven't seen something like that yet. I have some tracings made from ancient war bows that I will inject when it is appropriate.
There are some excellent repros posted here which should answer some of those questions. All these questions have been discussed and are archived here.
hi Jack,
thanks for your relpy. well this is quite a big site and to be honest I did not sift through all of it. could you be more specific to where this information could be.
I'd appreciate it.
by the way the drawings I made are tracings, it means there are real life scale and won't fit into my scanner. from those xrays I got the information how long the syiah and the grip joinings are but not really much other useful information.
stefan
thanks for your relpy. well this is quite a big site and to be honest I did not sift through all of it. could you be more specific to where this information could be.
I'd appreciate it.
by the way the drawings I made are tracings, it means there are real life scale and won't fit into my scanner. from those xrays I got the information how long the syiah and the grip joinings are but not really much other useful information.
stefan
Stefan; Make a drawing with the important dimensions. Draw the curves accurately. Maybe visit a photocopy machine. Cut the origional up and reduce each part. Do what is necessary. I'll do the same. (same problem). Post what you can.
There are some pretty good craftsmen in Turkish bows who visit this site. So far, I can not remember anyone posting those instructions, though it is possible. There is a long history in keeping that information secret. I would like to see this information become common information.
Turkish is not my specialty but what I have seen is that if one makes a statement that another believes is incorrect, someone will quickly reply to the contrary. So to get the information together, start posting your plans and see what happens. Take the lead, you have already made considerable effort.
And go through all the old posts and look for something helpful. Invest more time. If you want to make a violin, you go to school. There is no Turkish archery school for several centuries. We'll help. -j-
There are some pretty good craftsmen in Turkish bows who visit this site. So far, I can not remember anyone posting those instructions, though it is possible. There is a long history in keeping that information secret. I would like to see this information become common information.
Turkish is not my specialty but what I have seen is that if one makes a statement that another believes is incorrect, someone will quickly reply to the contrary. So to get the information together, start posting your plans and see what happens. Take the lead, you have already made considerable effort.
And go through all the old posts and look for something helpful. Invest more time. If you want to make a violin, you go to school. There is no Turkish archery school for several centuries. We'll help. -j-
Hi Stefan and all,
I am adding some links which can interest you.
http://archeryring.nm.ru/articles.html
Read mainly articles at the bottom of the page ( 4 links ) - it is old discussion from Leatherwall forum about making turkish composite with great Adam's ( and other known bowyers ) contributions.
You can glance at these pictures too ( although not turkish one ) :
http://archeryring.nm.ru/bur_bow.html
Regards , Jano.
I am adding some links which can interest you.
http://archeryring.nm.ru/articles.html
Read mainly articles at the bottom of the page ( 4 links ) - it is old discussion from Leatherwall forum about making turkish composite with great Adam's ( and other known bowyers ) contributions.
You can glance at these pictures too ( although not turkish one ) :
http://archeryring.nm.ru/bur_bow.html
Regards , Jano.
hi Jano,
sorry, your links jump to a russian site and all the characters are question marks: http://www.newmail.ru
stefan
sorry, your links jump to a russian site and all the characters are question marks: http://www.newmail.ru
stefan
Hello Stefan,
I am sorry about this nuisance, but if I read correctly a warning on this new site, they are changing hosting server and the services will be functional again from March, the 21th. If not, I have these topics saved and maybe we can negotiate with Stephen to place them here.
Regards , Jano.
I am sorry about this nuisance, but if I read correctly a warning on this new site, they are changing hosting server and the services will be functional again from March, the 21th. If not, I have these topics saved and maybe we can negotiate with Stephen to place them here.
Regards , Jano.