do matched pairs matter???
I want to make an Asiatic Bow. I found a great cource for materials. My first question is matched verse unmatch pairs. He sells match pairs for $80 (plus about $40 in S/h) but commented that unmatched pairs are about half price. Is this a cosmetic issue? I would like to save some money as long as it does not compromise the performacne of the bow.
The certainly need to be matched in terms of the size and quality of the horn. You can do that visually. The idea that they have to come from the head of the same animal is overdoing it; and even horns from the same animal may not match perfectly.
If you take two strips from the same horn, they are unlikely to match enough to work on the opposite limbs of the same bow, as the differing location of the strips would have different density of horn.
If you take two strips from the same horn, they are unlikely to match enough to work on the opposite limbs of the same bow, as the differing location of the strips would have different density of horn.