Main Discussion Area > Horn Bows
using single piece wood for cores and many horn pieces for the belly?
superdav95:
Welcome to the dark side of bows! We don’t get much action over here but when we do it’s on! That’s an ambitious list of bows you got planned. I can do what I can to answer some of your questions where I dare to. I’m no expert either but have made some horn bows over the years. Adam’s book was my main resource actually and made some of my own personal tweeqs along the way. Here are a few thoughts from your list. As for a single core wood sections I would say for sure would work but need to make sure you have the thickness needed where you will need it. Maple is the preferred core wood for many makers. I know elm has been used also with success. I’ve not yet tried elm but do not doubt it would work. Using multiple pieces of horn on the handle areas may be fine but I personally would not do it extended into any portion of bending part of the bow. If I were to hazard to guess though I would say you may be better to test this multiple piece horn belly on a more conservative build like a Mongolian or relaxed ottoman bow perhaps then on a Korean which are typically very very reflexed and under a lot of strain on belly. I would stick to one solid piece of horn on each limb on the Korean. I have experimented with horn spliced bellies with some success and some failures. It’s mixed bag and I still have yet to determine what went wrong for sure. I use bamboo for my Korean builds. I carefully choose either matched spacing in nodes for each limb or a single piece and add the handle build up section later on the sinew side. I’ve done builds with rind side in and rind side out. On the Korean builds I score only with very fine grooving tool. They are not matching grooves. I use only sturgeon bladder glue for this. Not a mix. I make this glue from the the inner bladder scrapings of air bladders of the sturgeon. Croaker bladders also work well too but I have better access to the sturgeon bladders fresh. The sinew layer I use a mix of home made sinew only glue and sturgeon glue. About 30% mix glue 20% sinew glue to 10%sturgeon glue. The steam bend of rind side out builds with bamboo are possible but the bending is easier to make with rind side in (belly side). I am actually testing a couple of these now with rind side out bend limbs to see if any difference in strength or cast. Grooving is important on bows over 50lbs. It would be a shame to put all that effort in to only find a lot of time and resources wasted. Ask me anything you like and if I can answer I will do my best. Again I’m not expert but have learn a bit over the years of breaking and making which is the best way. Best of luck on your builds. Lots of guys here to help. Adam’s book is where you can get your measurements and details on dimensions. Persona message me too if you want. I just posted some update progress pics on my build yesterday so there may be infor over there that may be of some help to ya. Welcome to the dark side. lol.
Robert Pougnier:
Thank you for the warm welcome! This is one serious rabbit hole.
I've had my core and horn strips ready for weeks now. They were both made perfectly flat, then grooved 2 mm (not matching) and sized for several days with thin hide glue (220 bloom).
I'm pretty much physically ready to do the horn/wood glue up but I've totally stalled. I'm running into a couple roadblocks. Mainly around work time with the glue up. My problem is I don't have access to my shop or a space that I can heat easily. I am planning on adding a light percentage of fish glue to my mixture to extend working time slightly but I haven't even settled on a wrapping method yet.
I as going to do either c clamps or the rope method but without the tencik. Anyways, I figured there's no rush. I've also gotten sidetracked with projects. I'll share these soon.
I'll post some of the progress pics I have so far today.
I've really enjoyed seeing you folks projects and the experiments with horn bows, they are beautiful. Thanks for the input. I'll reach out likely with some questions.
superdav95:
--- Quote from: Robert Pougnier on January 17, 2026, 11:03:13 am ---Thank you for the warm welcome! This is one serious rabbit hole.
I've had my core and horn strips ready for weeks now. They were both made perfectly flat, then grooved 2 mm (not matching) and sized for several days with thin hide glue (220 bloom).
I'm pretty much physically ready to do the horn/wood glue up but I've totally stalled. I'm running into a couple roadblocks. Mainly around work time with the glue up. My problem is I don't have access to my shop or a space that I can heat easily. I am planning on adding a light percentage of fish glue to my mixture to extend working time slightly but I haven't even settled on a wrapping method yet.
I as going to do either c clamps or the rope method but without the tencik. Anyways, I figured there's no rush. I've also gotten sidetracked with projects. I'll share these soon.
I'll post some of the progress pics I have so far today.
I've really enjoyed seeing you folks projects and the experiments with horn bows, they are beautiful. Thanks for the input. I'll reach out likely with some questions.
--- End quote ---
Ya a cold shop is not what you want for horn bow builds. I mainly do mine in the house for the horn and sinew parts. Ill use a heat lamp aimed at my work as it will help keep the surfaces warm to slow the gel time down a bit. for sinew glue up i use 30%. ratio. 20% hide/sinew glue and 10% sturgeon bladder glue. the horn glue up is full sturgeon glue. I find this combo the best for me. as for the tencik i do not enjoy it at all and find it twists the limbs pretty bad and although it binds the horn well its just not my prefered method. Ive used the c clamp method a number of times and like adam mentions in his book i made a fabric sled of sorts to hold a series of small wood blocks to clamp down on which has worked well. hand clamps could work well too. I now use a yumi method. its a series of mini wedges hammered under rope thats been used to wrap the horn onto the core. the wedges as then pushed in under the rope creating tension and good squeeze out. Ive seen others on line use this method also with good results. i love it because it keeps everything nice and straight. see my horn build x2 post and youll see me demonstrate this method.
Robert Pougnier:
I've definitely checked out several of your horn bow build threads. They are filled with good photos and great info!
I like the rope and wedge system and may end up doing that instead. But I might wait until this spring when I have access to better space. Do you find that the glue has gelled by the time you start tapping the wedges under the rope?
I was really motivated and had good momentum on this project. I thought I would approach this step without too much stress hahaha.
Here are a few photos of my pieces so far. I don't have a photo of the pieces after sizing was completed, I'll take some. The first shot shows the bamboo/ash transition.
The core for this one is single piece white ash. I glued on some bamboo on the belly side at the siyah/kazan tip and will add a handle riser on the back side prior to sinewing.
Robert Pougnier:
Photos of the horn and ash after sizing.
The white in the grooves in the horn are not air pockets but rough texture left from the grooving.
The build up from all the sizing coats on the ash developed a bit of a convex surface even though the wood itself was flat. I'm hoping when the sizing is "activated" it will mate flat.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version