Main Discussion Area > Horn Bows
Knots in Scythian bow slats
willie:
--- Quote ---In my personal experience it is very difficult to find saplings that don't have knots in them.
--- End quote ---
have you tried to find thick stands of saplings, possibly growing on previously disturbed soil, of the age where the pins are sufficiently grown over? Locations well shaded by overstory?or on the north side of hill? or in a gulch?
mikekeswick:
What country are you in?
In general try looking at the bottom of steep valleys, ditches etc. anywhere where the light getting in is restricted.
Limbit:
I don't think a pin knot 1mm is going to matter unless it is on an edge of your bow. If you are making a horn bow, the sinew and the horn will protect it to a large degree. The point the other guys are making is that the time spent finding good wood is time well spent. If for some reason you invest 6months to a year of your life arduously constructing a horn bow only to have it split on a pin knot...ouch. Not only that, a horn bow explosion can evidently be life-threatening. The wood mentioned in the article is incredibly hard to imagine pin-knot free when you see pictures of the plant, so maybe trusting ancient methods is fine in this circumstance. You could also try other wood. Notably, mulberry is mostly used in korean composite horn bows and a type of maple for Turkish horn bows. There is always yew if it is available as well as juniper. Mulberry and juniper have a huge range and you likely to have one of the two growing near you.
mikekeswick:
--- Quote from: Limbit on April 05, 2017, 01:41:51 am ---I don't think a pin knot 1mm is going to matter unless it is on an edge of your bow. If you are making a horn bow, the sinew and the horn will protect it to a large degree. The point the other guys are making is that the time spent finding good wood is time well spent. If for some reason you invest 6months to a year of your life arduously constructing a horn bow only to have it split on a pin knot...ouch. Not only that, a horn bow explosion can evidently be life-threatening. The wood mentioned in the article is incredibly hard to imagine pin-knot free when you see pictures of the plant, so maybe trusting ancient methods is fine in this circumstance. You could also try other wood. Notably, mulberry is mostly used in korean composite horn bows and a type of maple for Turkish horn bows. There is always yew if it is available as well as juniper. Mulberry and juniper have a huge range and you likely to have one of the two growing near you.
--- End quote ---
Trust me - if a pin knot is in a hornbow core it will fail. The mulberry in use in the Korean bows is just for the tips. Yew and juniper are next to impossible to find flawless pieces from.
Limbit:
Yeah, I think you are right. The video I was referring to about korean bow making has a heat treated bamboo core and mulberry siyahs. Pretty cool process regardless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cicYRzWss74
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