My project.

[Parnell]

I'm posting this up to hopefully motivate myself to get his project going again.  So...Dall ram horns.  One strip is about 23" the other about 21.5"  The handle area is coming in at 1 3/8".  I'm seeing that with about a 3.5" overlap or the lap splice the bow length can be around 35".  I've put the strips into hot water once and clamped them down as best I could but they are still really gnarly.   Since, I've scraped them down more and figure they should be a bit easier to work with.

Suggestions for designs?  Would anyone want to weigh in on the Hidatsa like "gull" design vs. more a flat handled design?

If I'm going with a 3.5" lap splice, how long should the reinforcing piece of horn overlapping be?  How many rivets?
Should I reinforce the belly too?

It has been hard for me to straighten and shape the strips.  Suggestions?  Little by little over steam?  Does dry heat work or does it scorch the horn? 

I'm hoping to get this progressing and keep you all posted.  Help!

Stephen

[Parnell]

Some more straightening last night, some submersion and some steam. 

[PrimitiveTim]

thanks for doing this!  I've never seen the whole process of a horn bow before.  This is gonna be real cool!

[bubby]

Hopefully james or lofflerchuck will chime in, I know when making powderhorns a guy I know puts them in a hot oil bath and cooks them a while ti flatten out the horn for flasks, but oil and sinew is bad juju

[mullet]

You can do it with a heat gun, Steve. That's how James told me to do it.

[Parnell]

Same as wood, Eddie?  Use oil?

[mullet]

No oil, just don't burn it.

[mikekeswick]

Boiling water is best - impossible to burn. You only need about 15 minutes heat maximum.

[Parnell]

What I'm finding Mike is that I'm getting the uncurled limbs pretty close but they're starting to need small adjustment.  If I submerge the limbs again they want to go back to more of their original curve.  The last little bit towards the tips is giving me some trouble but I think I'm going to narrow them down a little.  Right now I've got .5" for their width.  I'm thinking they should be that wide after they are wrapped with sinew and I should be able to straighten that last hook more easily.  I'll also be needing to kick them forward to knock the string...

[bubby]

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,42181.0.html
beadman posted this some time ago in the how to's, he goes over heating the horn

[Parnell]

That's a useful link Bubby, thanks!

[IndianGuy]

Parnell, the waves in your horn look worrisome to me, ive made several really good horn bows and broke several too...that might cause you some problems.... Don't overheat or over steam, that will make your horn brittle, you almost have to get it right the very first time.
E

[loefflerchuck]

These are Alaskan dall right? In Adam's turk hornbow (bible) he says not to boil or steam the horn more than 10 min at a time. I have used Alaskan dall before but the bow tips had a bit of a twist that I compensated for with a offset handle. I stopped using dall unless I can find a good deal on 30"+ horns and these yeild a 34" - finished bow. I steam them wait a few weeks to see how much twist returns. Then cut the twist out(almost half the length). Remember these horns have memory and twist returns in time. 

[Parnell]

IndianGuy, I agree with the kinks and took them out with another round of hot water.  I've looked at the horn, illuminating it under a lamp and I can't see any problems with the horn so I'm going to continue on.  I'm not using hot water at this point, anymore.  I haven't had the limbs in boiling water for more than a few minutes at a clip and they seem still "oily" and flexible.

Chuck, I'm now using just dry heat, lightly, to make corrections.  I came up with these two wood clamps to get them pretty straight and feel like I made some good progress.  I'm now working on the lap splice, slowly.  It seems to be progressing.

Don't know if this bow will work out, but I'm going to do my best to see it through...

Here are some recent pictures of how it progresses.

I'm trying to recruit my wife to help me process sinew...Ha!

[loefflerchuck]

Using an electric burner is good dry heat method. If your using a heat gun be careful. You can dry out these horns. It will be a bow. Just maybe shorter after you cut out what you can't straiten