HOW to make a simple siyah
Dear all
I am making siyahs,but with no luck.my mulbery broke into two when I bent it. I never had a problem in making siyahs before.
An old carpenter told me that my wood broke because it was dried.Then I put the wood in water for a day,the wood became very soft when I heated it.However, it broke too.
My quastions are :
1.Is it true that only fresh wood can be bent?
2.Since I have wasted all my mulbery, can I use ordinary hard wood for siyahs?
3. If I use other kind of wood , what can I do to prevent it from splitting? Wild tea is the strongest wood that I know,but it splits at the knots when it is drided.
I am making siyahs,but with no luck.my mulbery broke into two when I bent it. I never had a problem in making siyahs before.
An old carpenter told me that my wood broke because it was dried.Then I put the wood in water for a day,the wood became very soft when I heated it.However, it broke too.
My quastions are :
1.Is it true that only fresh wood can be bent?
2.Since I have wasted all my mulbery, can I use ordinary hard wood for siyahs?
3. If I use other kind of wood , what can I do to prevent it from splitting? Wild tea is the strongest wood that I know,but it splits at the knots when it is drided.
This may bew a very old problem. Ju Yuan Hao said that ideally, you need to find the branch already bent - i.e. it grew that way. In the old days, bowyers used to go to the mulberry groves and note the branches that were growing in a dog-leg, then cut them at the right season.
So bending mulberry is obviously problematic - it's not necessarily a problem with you.
So bending mulberry is obviously problematic - it's not necessarily a problem with you.
wk1234wk:
The wood for bending is best kept in water for several days. Then boiled for at least 1/2 hour. Kiln dried woods are much harder to bend and require soaking in water for a longer time.
It is very important the have the grain even and parallel to the outer surface for bending, best if the bark side of log is the outer surface.
Adam
The wood for bending is best kept in water for several days. Then boiled for at least 1/2 hour. Kiln dried woods are much harder to bend and require soaking in water for a longer time.
It is very important the have the grain even and parallel to the outer surface for bending, best if the bark side of log is the outer surface.
Adam
The mulberry siyahs of the bamboo horsebow reproduction Geuk-hwan Park made several years ago came from a several-decades old bow saw.
http://www.hornbow.com/mokgoong.html
T
http://www.hornbow.com/mokgoong.html
T
Adam and Thomas :
Thank you.I am glad to know that dry wood can be bent.I think I seem to understand a little more about siyah this time.I need more time and more kinds of wood to check it.
Any advice for question 3------preventing siyahs to split,especially when the siyahs are made of unknown hard wood?(I shouldn't be this greedy,but I just want to know more.)
Thank you.I am glad to know that dry wood can be bent.I think I seem to understand a little more about siyah this time.I need more time and more kinds of wood to check it.
Any advice for question 3------preventing siyahs to split,especially when the siyahs are made of unknown hard wood?(I shouldn't be this greedy,but I just want to know more.)
Reto:
I must say ,''you make very beautiful siyahs.''
According to your siyahs,I know one more reason for my broken mulberry.That is-----it is too thick(18mm).
Last week,a farmer told me if hard wood was soaked in tung oil(wood oil),the wood became golden;if in CaOH2 for a week,it became beautifully red.I will try your siyahs in this method.
By the way,Tong oil is not oil ,but a kind of narural varnish made from the seeds of Tong tree(桐油树).The trees only grow in south-western China. Traditional bowyers used it as the covering of hornbows to stop moisture.In old time,we Mheng(Chinese majority call us Miao People) used to deal with wood or bamboo bows in Tong oil for months to strenghen them.
I must say ,''you make very beautiful siyahs.''
According to your siyahs,I know one more reason for my broken mulberry.That is-----it is too thick(18mm).
Last week,a farmer told me if hard wood was soaked in tung oil(wood oil),the wood became golden;if in CaOH2 for a week,it became beautifully red.I will try your siyahs in this method.
By the way,Tong oil is not oil ,but a kind of narural varnish made from the seeds of Tong tree(桐油树).The trees only grow in south-western China. Traditional bowyers used it as the covering of hornbows to stop moisture.In old time,we Mheng(Chinese majority call us Miao People) used to deal with wood or bamboo bows in Tong oil for months to strenghen them.
Be careful of soaking in oil any part that will be glued later. I don't think that you could ever remove the oil sufficiently so that you could then glue the pieces well.
The same problem can also occue with soaking or steaming wood: it may never dry out sufficiently. If I recall correctly, Tan Danjiong quoted Wu Shusen (Chengdu bowyer) as saying that steaming could not be used to bend wood for bows.
S
The same problem can also occue with soaking or steaming wood: it may never dry out sufficiently. If I recall correctly, Tan Danjiong quoted Wu Shusen (Chengdu bowyer) as saying that steaming could not be used to bend wood for bows.
S
Dear all
In the last month,I used up all my wood to make siyahs.Now I have tens of them and they look much better than the ones that I made before.
But unluckyly,I can't find a pair of them because they differ in angle and shape.
I made them in the same way and the same jigs.
All the other things are going to be ready,cores,hornstrips,handles,hideglue,sinew,snake skin and wanish.
I can't put the picture of my jigs here without a camera,so look at this one.My jigs are copied from it.
http://groups.msn.com/ferretsarcheryweb ... gatip.msnw
In the last month,I used up all my wood to make siyahs.Now I have tens of them and they look much better than the ones that I made before.
But unluckyly,I can't find a pair of them because they differ in angle and shape.
I made them in the same way and the same jigs.
All the other things are going to be ready,cores,hornstrips,handles,hideglue,sinew,snake skin and wanish.
I can't put the picture of my jigs here without a camera,so look at this one.My jigs are copied from it.
http://groups.msn.com/ferretsarcheryweb ... gatip.msnw