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a different type of horn-bow

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stuckinthemud:
There's some that think the Ulrich bow was retrofitted with a different prod, maybe it was built with a yew core prop and re-fitted with an all horn bow when they became fashionable?

stuckinthemud:
Well, I've been picking at this project when I got chance between times. Covid means I can get an hour a day to myself before I get on with The List. Each block takes a good hour to fit into place before grooving, sizing and gluing.  To allow time for the glue to set I've actually started on a second prod to see if I can work more efficiently.
I am about 1/3 of the way through the glue-up.

stuckinthemud:
Still unsure what to do about a yew core. The early crossbows all had yew cores, late crossbows definitely did not have wood cores, in fact one guild instructed its members to stop using wood cores as a way of pretending bows were stronger than they really were and customers were complaining.  A yew core would be more efficient, perhaps, as the yew raises the sinew above the neutral plane, making it work harder (I think) but needs extra length as yew can only bend so far while a horn bow can bend through a tighter radius and so be built shorter and thicker.

Now I know more than I did on the topic, it turns out I shouldn't have used buffalo horn.  Anyone know of a decent source for ram-horn in the UK?

bownarra:
Why not use buffalo horn? It is the best by quite a long way.

stuckinthemud:
From what I can gather, the original makers used sheep-horn so using water buffalo is a little like using Osage to see what a Mary Rose longbow could do. Be very happy if someone can correct me about this, it will save me a lot of work in the future.

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