Hello!
New member to the forum here and avid bowyer. I'm working on a some horn/wood/sinew builds for the first time and have a few questions. I've read through most of the horn bow forum but I hope I'm not repeating old threads. I'm attempting to assemble several bows this fall/winter and hope to have them broke in (or broken) this spring/summer. Since the available material on various methods is still relatively sparse to this day I was hoping to answer some of my questions here. Thank you!
Has anyone experienced with using multiple shorter lengths of horn? I've read that using a butt splice on a non-working portion of the limb is safe. I believe that Jim Hamm suggests using up to 5 shorter pieces on one belly, with one splice around the fades and a second toward the exterior of the limb. Has anyone tried this? I have both long strips and shorter horns that I am planning on experimenting with. I have both american bison and water buffalo horns that are about 16 inches long whole. I haven't processed them yet.
My other question concerns core woods and methods. I have a nicely reflexed elm stave that I am considering using for a single piece core. I have not read anywhere about folks building horn bows with a single piece, though there a many severely reflexed self bows with stiff siyahs. I know that the core is usually built backward of a self bow, so I was curious if anyone has played with this. I've had good success inducing steep and thick curves using steam.
I'll lay out the specs and combinations of core and horn materials methods I plan on using below. If anyone with experience would like to chip in some thoughts, I'd really appreciate it
#1 Ottoman horn bow. 50" ntn, single piece elm core used with the outer growth ring as the back/sinew side. Two long water buffalo horn strips for the belly and WT deer leg sinew for the back (likely 3 or4 layers). Hide and fish glue mix for the bond. I know this is a little bit longer than typical for these but it's my first and I want a bit of room to breathe. I'm shooting for a 65-80# @ 28" draw. I believe it's not really worth making these at a lower draw weight otherwise you underutilize the materials?
#2 Ottoman horn bow. 48" ntn, sugar maple core. Apple or maple siyahs, glued with a v splice. Same horn/sinew combo as above and same glue. Same range of draw specs but built using instructions found in Karpowicz's book for the core joints.
Next I want to play with the shorter horns I got to see if this works:
#3 Korean bow. 48" ntn, apple core with maple siyahs. I plan on trying three 12 inch strips of water buffalo horn. My question here is whether i should use the inside or outside bend for this. Or should I use an inside bend for the handle/fade piece and two outside strips for the mid/outer limb. The siyahs will be six inches, glued with a V splice and side-laminated with horn strips. I also expect to glue 3-4 layers of sinew on the back
#4 Egyptian bow. 50" ntn, sugar maple core made with single piece and outer ring as back/sinew side. four 12 inch strips of american bison horn strips with butt joints at the handle and somewhere mid limb and sinew wrapping at the joints. This one will just have a sharply angled and setback handle and long but fairly even and gently recurve along much of the limbs. I believe this design produces a more even strain along the whole limb and is not built the same as many composites with distinct siyahs.
I do plan on grooving all my mating surfaces and using a fish and hide glue combo for my joints. My understanding is that a mixture of both allows for a longer set time while maintaining good strength and elasticity.
Anyways, I know this is a mountain of work, and there are so many variables here. I will try to post pictures of them at various build stages and hope to tease some feedback out of folks! I expect some setbacks and long wait times so please go ahead poke some holes in this as there is plenty of time for me to course correct, and plenty of other projects to build!
Thanks folks!
