Main Discussion Area > Horn Bows
240's sheep horn bow build with Tom Lucas
NorthHeart:
The big day arrives for the back sinew to be applied. By the time i arrive Tom had already done his bow earlier that morning. Next we do mine. 3 layers total. The bow is strapped over a board into deflex and tied off at the tips. For sinew soaking, Tom prefers NOT to put it in water, but to lay it in bundles between two damp towels overnight. It is fully hydrated but not over hydrated. When you squeeze it no water drips from it and your finger is left just barely damp.
We have hide glue already warmed up on the double boiler. The hide glue is hot to the point its almost too hot to touch, it gels pretty quickly when its applied. We size the bow one limb at a time right before the first sinew goes on. He dips the sinew bundles in the hide glue then light wipes them off to leave some glue on. He doesnt work it into each strand with his fingers or anything, at least not to the extent that i have done when doing my sinew/wood bows with TB3 wood glue. Obviously it wont matter, as Tom is not one to take short cuts.
My sinew bundles are not so nice an uniform as his are, so they don't go down quite as smooth, he says that wont matter. He flattens them to cover the entire width of the limb, then overlaps the next section 3-4" over the first. The last layer is essentially built up down the middle, left a bit higher and narrow. Out of all the work we have done so slowly and carefully up to this point he is working super fast here. He explains that with the gelling of the glue there is not time to go slower, or for any delicate work like using a comb or such. The overall process takes him less than 10 min. He is very adimant about doing it this way...he does not like a cold joint(where you come back later and apply the hide glue over already hardened glue). Its thick and messy, but it should lay down and flatten out as it dries.
NorthHeart:
.....
NorthHeart:
......
NorthHeart:
Here is my bow freshly sinewed next to Toms. If youve been following along, its the flatter(less deflexed) and longer of the two that we are building for me. You can see the difference between mine and his, partly because his glue has dried out a bit more and flattened. And partly because his sinew piles were more uniform in length and better organized than the ones i provided. Again he assures me this is aesthetic and mine will function just fine. The bows will dry for about a month before removing them from the form they are strapped down to. We will do my other bow tomorrow hopefully.
DC:
Why are they tied into deflex? Most sinew bows I've seen are pulled into reflex to dry.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version