Trad Gang
Main Boards => The Bowyer's Bench => Topic started by: twisted on September 10, 2008, 09:30:00 AM
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Hey everyone just wondering if anyone has built a horsebow or knows where i can find a buildalong or something thanks in advance
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Is this what you have in mind?Its the first one for me.
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo151/shikari_bucket/Picture3.jpg
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Hey shikari thats the style im looking to build for now until i i find everything i need for building a horn style one im now waiting for a guy i work with to the set of buffalo horns in his garage he brought with him when he moved to canada from the philipinnes many many many moons ago lol the sinew im hoping to get this season :pray: but any help or info u can share will be appreciated greatly
Barry
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I seem to be in the same boat as you old chap,I have a bit of sinew gathered up am hoping to collect more this year.I just put 2 coats of poly on this bow and am waiting for them to dry,It was a simple job this bow all in all,drew the form and riser on google sketchup,the fibreglass and glue came from binghams and the lams from kennym(fantastic guy and products).If this chap you work with has more horn i would be interested in purchasing it,if you need any details and a copy of the form and riser let me know.
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shikari not sure if he will have more i have found a place that i was told of online from the philipinnes puco ill try to find the info for him and pm it to u i know u can get a set of horns or roughed out lams or fully finished horn lams from him can remember how much though and if its no trouble for u it be nice to get details and plans of the form it would be greatly appreciated :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
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Twisted,
You might try contacting Chris Constantine about building such a bow. (Spitfire Archery) He may be able to help you out with your project.
If you are looking for horn that is pre-cut, try Peter Cua on the web. He sells horns, and pre-cut horn.
Tilbilly's father did a build-a-long on a horn backed horse bow, but I can't remember which site he posted it on.
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no probs ,am sending you a pm.
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R.W. thanks for the info times 2 i had just emailed tilbilly about that info again about the horn for shiraka lol
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Shikari,
Is your bow one of "Attila's Archery" kits? It looks very similar to the "Attila's" blank that I built.
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No,its not from a kit,i made the design for the form on sketchup,i thought of getting a kit but figured it can't be that difficult,so ordered the materials and made the bow,I have started work on the design for the next one,trying to improve before i make a real hornbow.
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Hey guys, Peter Cua's addy is [email protected]
The build-a-long is on the primitive archer site.
From the homepage click "message board" and then "bows" and type horn in the search bar. Have fun.
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The blank that I finished off puts an arrow out there with authority, but it has an enormous amount of hand shock.
Don't know if that has something to do with how I finished it, or not, but I followed the bowyers directions expressly.
My brother has a Hwa-Rang Korean bow from "Bluelake" and it is very nice. I don't like the handle on this bow, but it does shoot very well.
I also have a Spitfire Bow, and that is my "baby"
Still working at getting good with the thumb ring style of shooting. But, as I am up for shoulder surgery, my practice sessions haven't been on for a while! :(
Good luck with your projects!
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As for sinew, why not talk to a butcher or abbitoir in your area that processes deer. During the boom stick season, they have an abundance of sinew if you arrange to pick the sinew up before the garbage truck stops by. You'll have so much you'll be taking your pick and tossing the rest. At least that's "Pa's" experience.
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Hey, check this site out for horn..http://www.siouxtrading.com/item/9471/27/180
also you can call"the stage stop trading post"
605-673-4434 dont think they have web-set...
Shawn...
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Shawn,the site you mention sells american bufallow,and what's needed for an asian bow is asiatic waterbufallow.
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Opps..DUH!..
Shawn...
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R.W.I am a bit surprised with this bow myself,It really spits out an arrow and what surprises me is that i feel no noticable handshock,still need to make a new string and finish up the bow.i was thinking of putting on string bridges but seems like i don't need any,its also very quiet,all in all it was a good learning experience,might even try hunting with this bow this year.do you have any pics of the one you made?Tilbilly's dad's bow is a bloody work of art,its posted on primitive archer.I am addicted to horsebows now.
P.J.
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Shikari,
Don't own a camera, so I can't do pictures. Sorry.
The bow that Tilbilly's father built is excellent, especially considering it was his first go at building a composite horn/sinew bow.
"Jhoniel" has also posted pictures of his horsebow, and it is also very well done.
Have a look at the Spitfire Horsebows site, if you want to see pictures of numerous horsebows, and Thomas Duvernay's Korean Archery site, also.
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I am a fan of Korean bows and I have seen Jhoneil's bows on the web,they are really well made,constantine is an excellent bowyer but the spitfire's are not my cup of tea,if any i will definately consider a Korean bow to purchase,I am hooked on the mughal and turkish bows for now.
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I *believe* that Jhoneil got assistance from Chris, when he was building his bow.
If you have questions, you can try Chris out. He is usually pretty helpful.
And he does have a tutorial on thumb ring shooting, if you are going to go that route.
Thomas Duvernay also has a shooting tutorial.
On another point, you can use Gemsbock horn, also, to use on the belly of your bow. Don't think that it is much "cheaper" than water buffalo horn. It should be possible to use "cow" horn, if you can find horns long enough to cut your backing strips off of. Some thing like a Longhorn bull used to have on his head.
Tilbilly, what horn did your Dad use? Water Buff, of gemsbock?
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Thanks for the info,cow horn is not appopriate for asiatic bows,espically texas longhorn horn,it delaminates very easily at that has been my experience with it,i have an accuaintance that breeds longhorns and got some pieces from him and i noticed that it grows in layers and the layers had gaps develop in them as it dried,i think i will stick to waterbuffalow.
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all this talk about horse bows we need pics :D
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HO'NEHE JEFF,
As I posted earlier, no camera. So I can't do pictures. (Don't even have a film camera! :eek: )
There are pictures of my bow and others on the Spitfire site, and I believe Thomas Duvernay's site has pictures of the Korean Bows.
Really, I should break down and get a digital camera, but I am still holding out on getting modern, and saddling myself with one of those new-fangled mobile phones! (No wonder I hunt with Traditional gear :rolleyes: )
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yeah i know what ya mean. i love the korean bow it is one awesome looking bow. :thumbsup:
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RW, that's water buff horn from Peter Cua. Dad cut out his own horn on his bandsaw. But since starting that bow, Cua has started selling horn already cut into lam strips. That would save people alot in shipping costs since you're ordering/shipping only what you need.
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O.K. Jeff, you asked for it. Hope you have something faster than dial-up...:)The skeleton. You can see the splicing work. Don't have pics of the steam-bending in my 'puter.
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/dadz/horn3.jpg)
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All wrapped up after gluing on the horn.
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/dadz/TurkishHornBow.jpg)
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The upper of these 2 homemade tools is used in the wrapping process. It's gotta be done carefully. It can give you enough leverage that, if you overdo it, you can actually crush your project.
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/dadz/tool2c.jpg)
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Reflex, add sinew. Reflex, add sinew. Eventually, you get this. This one later ended up with the tips criss-crossing.
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/dadz/horn8.jpg)
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The beast needs to be trained to get the shape/tiller. Here's a board made up to aid in the process. In the pic of tools above, the lower tool is used for putting in the bends. That, and the slow/careful use of a heat gun to warm the sinew. Too much heat and you have problems.
That board in this pic is also used to making stringing easier.
We were making flemish twist strings for other bows. Can 't use that on these. Thanks to Rob's tutorial on TG, we make endless loop strings. With my big hands and wide fingers, I'll never make another flem. string again!
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/dadz/board2.jpg)
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Excuse the mess. Not always like this, some days it's even worse :eek: :help:
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/dadz/board1.jpg)
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(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/dadz/board4.jpg)
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(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/dadz/board6.jpg)
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Eventually(?) you end up at this stage :) And it's very traditional to have your feet included in the pic...
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/dadz/newhornbow.jpg)
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Time for a test run out back, with Pa behind the wheel. Hanson scale says 75#@28". Dad's pulling 30" here, not at his fullest draw. Just too much weight, but for turning 70 last Dec. he's still got it! The next one will have less sinew. Alot of trial/error went into the first one, this set of pics is extremely general. I didn't even mention the final sinew curing of something like a year or so. Dad can't find info on this, but he later discovered a way to gently rewarm and string the bow to get the draw weight down to around 60#. I got to play with it while 75#, shot 3 tight groups at 15 yards with underspined arrows on hand. Plenty of speed, quiet without silencers like a longbow.
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/dadz/Archeryinthebackyard-05.jpg)
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Tilbilly,
So the bow must be "balanced" ever time it is restrung? This is mentioned in Korean archery sites, and the heating, and balancings importance.
FYI, I have had flemish strings made up for my brothers Hwa=Rang, and my Spitfire. These have worked well for me, I don't know if my brother has tried his yet. I sent the string maker (Three Tree Strings) the string length, and loop lengths and he supplied me with a couple of very well made strings.
Chris Constantine uses a braided string for his bows, but I am not sure how he braids the loops into the string body.
Your Dad did a great job on his bow, Tilbilly. Are you going to try and do him one better? ;)
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Yep, more often than not the bow needs rebalancing each time it's restrung for shooting.
I could be wrong about the string info., it' s happened once before... ;)
No interest in making one of these, myself. No time, really. Work, house, wife and kids etc.
I've got 2 lam. wood/bamboo bows I started at Dad' s shop I haven' t finished either. Someday.
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now that is awesome i wish i had one of those as i love horse bows. can ya make em out of fiberglass lambs and say boo core or maple core?
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Ho'Nehe Jeff
The glass might stand up, if you don't put in a pile of reflex/deflex.
There are glass bows out there in a similar style to the one Tilbilly's father built, so it can be done.
You might consider glass on the back, and sinew on the belly.
What core was used in the originals, would probably depend on what part of the world the bow was built in. But maple or bamboo should work well.
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all right can one be made just out of bamboo with a maple riser?
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Jeff,
I miss thunk there, in my last post.
Sinew on the belly won't do any good at all. Had a brain f*rt there
I have seen horsebows done with maple core, and sinewed backs, so bamboo should work alright
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good because i may just give one ago. :thumbsup:
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Jeff
Here is a website to scope out www.hornbow.com (http://www.hornbow.com)
It may have just what you are looking for.
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cool thanks for the info. :thumbsup: