Here's a hornbow my Dad finished recently. He doesn't post but he "lurks" here. He's made a handful of backed boardbows, but he's always had a thing for horn and sinew bows of this design. Water Buff horn, deer sinew, ash, and hide glue. After alot of trial/error he's got one completed and took it for a stroll in the backyard. These are the pics he sent me so far. He layed down a little more sinew than he wanted, which made the poundage higher. Hence, he's not drawing fully (yet! )in this pic with thumb ring. He hasn't put it on the bow scale yet, but says it feels similar to his 60#@28" Browning Safari 'curve. The bow is going through some tweeking/adjusting as it reveals areas needing attention. That sinew stuff amazes me how it allows for changes and repairs after the bow is complete. For being on the cusp of his 70th b'day, I've gotta hand it to Dad for being able to build and haul back a bow like that. Pretty ferocious still                

 

Here's partly constructed and drying.

Unleashing the fury...........

That bow is sweet!

Cool!!

Very Cool and Dad at 70 is still a brute! Shawn

   

Wow, that is simply coooool!    

David

Impressive work-

very nice bow!

Gil

That is awesome! From board bows straight to that? Amazing. Looks very very cool. Tell your Dad nice work                

"From board bows straight to that? Amazing."

LOL. That's the odd thing. More like working backwards. I occasionally appear in his garage and try to fiddle with making flatbows. With the two of us together, things usually break during tillering. But he's been feasting on hornbow info./history from various sources and websites for years now. And he's ruined a couple before this one turned out. Not only is the wood dovetailed together, he had to manufacture his own tool from hardwood which allows for firmly wrapping the bow with the cord pictured. That tool works so well it's also possible to crush the project. He also made a board with several pegs that makes it easier to string the beast and check tiller. Then, you can't have a twist string with these bows. So, thanks to plans on this site, he made an endless string jig and his first endless string. And there were other odds/ends he showed me at each visit. So it seems to be an involving endeavor with projects within projects. I was shocked at the megabucks some charge to make these things. Now I understand why. Alot of time and labor.

Very cool!  I certainly admire those who can build it themselves.  

ttt

My compliments to your Dad!!!
That bow looks just awesome.
My hat's of to you sir.
Regards, Bertm.

Very cool.

now that there is something else. nice job! so how does it shoot?

Pa sez it's F-A-S-T and S-M-O-O-T-H and Q-U-I-E-T

So I imagine sealing it is a priority now to inhibit bacteria growth, especially here in humid southern Ontario climate.
I last saw it on the stringing/tiller board. Can't wait to see it shoot. These are known to be extremely efficient, hardly dropping speed with a very heavy arrow. The Turks used them for flight shooting with knitting-needle arrows also.

I stand corrected: Pa sez this is his first hornbow, not one of a few attempts. I guess I've just seen it worked on over a long period.
I posted this also, along with more info. and Pa's response(finally!) on a certain Primitive site. Wasn't sure if rules here allowed for mentioning that. My apopogies if I've erred.

Here's some pics I just recieved showing the core construction.