Angular Egyption design

[BowEd]

Here's a proposed design.Any flaws to this design?
Another thing....I will be glueing in a small handle on the belly side for comfort of shooting reasons over top of horn lamination deviating from original.Of course it would be completely sinew wrapped also.

Thickness of handle starting out at 3/4"  2" either way  taperig from there & 1 and 3/16" wide tapering to 1" wide mid limb.Steam bend deflex in handle.Reflex limbs on form with dry heat.Glue on horn.Reverse brace for sinewing and extra reflex.
Goal is a smooth shooting good performing bow.

[superdav95]

Bow Ed.  I’m not sure I fully understand your drawing.  Is the initial steam bend a deflex bend then adding the horn and sinew while reverse bracing for reflex bend?     I may be missing something. 

[Gimlis Ghost]

Your drawing closely resembles illustrations of the unstrung flattened W of the originals found in King Tut's tomb.
https://archeryhistorian.com/egyptian-bow/


 I think you are on the right track. Good luck.

[BowEd]

Bow Ed.  I’m not sure I fully understand your drawing.  Is the initial steam bend a deflex bend then adding the horn and sinew while reverse bracing for reflex bend?     I may be missing something.

Yes.The concept is to put the horn on in tension on the belly after heat treating reflex onto core or wood.Then putting the horn into more tension after sinewing and reverse bracing.Horn can stand an unbelieveable amount of compression compared to wood.Sinew can stand an unbelievable amount of tension compared to wood.It's all about getting the extra out of the composite materials.
The bow can be very narrow [but not too much for stability reasons] to reduce mass.

[BowEd]

Your drawing closely resembles illustrations of the unstrung flattened W of the originals found in King Tut's tomb.
https://archeryhistorian.com/egyptian-bow/


 I think you are on the right track. Good luck.

I was kinda shooting for that look.Good winter time project.

[superdav95]

I think I get it now.  Cool.  This looks like a neat winter project. Wish I could get some horn to try one of these out.  Or any horn bow really.  Do you plan to straighten your horn strips prior to glue up to the reflexes core or will you be using the natural curve of the horn.  I’ve heard guys straightening the horn first.  Just curious

[BowEd]

I'll use gemsbok horn on this one.I've prepared this set some time ago.When the horn laminations are pre tapered they glue-up or conform to the curvature of the core very easily.Water buffalo horn can be used also.


http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,42181.0.html

[bownarra]

If you want to make a 'replica' then your drawing looks good. If you want to improve it a little and get more performance out of it then recurve the tips a bit. The better string angle will give you more 'leverage' and better energy storage. Also going with a flat back over the crowned back of the core will help with stability, durability and eliminate the need to wrap the whole thing in sinew.

[BowEd]

I'm going to use a piece of ironwood.I've already roughed out the top view profile and taken it inside the house.Hav'nt thickness tapered it as it is full thickness yet,but will dry very well in a month or 2.Not a perfect piece of wood but the knots will be eliminated after thickness taper.Some slight alignment of tips to be straightened too after thickness taper.No twist either.Overall not too crowned after narrowing it this way.



I'm rather busy this time of year hunting and hav'nt stripped the sinew yet either but this winter I'll get around to it.I just like this type and looks of this bow useful for hunting and the length of it lends itself to use these longer gemsbok horn laminations.If I change anything I would want to glue a section onto the handle belly for a more deeper grippng comfort as said earlier.Flipping tips is'nt going to be necessary as it'll be a working recurve with stiffish outer tips.Wrapping the whole thing in sinew was never considered and won't be necessary nor the tips either.Just the handle section maybe.
No gold leaf application nor articulate painting will be done on this bow.It's going to be a working in the field weapon.Maybe some birch bark/rawhide wrapping but done in a tasteful way.

[bownarra]

Guess you've already got your plan then eh...
Using wood with knots isn't a great idea though! Shame to waste the work when your core breaks...Just because the knots aren't visible the grain around them is still 'wonky'.
I didn't say my suggestions were 'necessary'....just a better way to do things....
Anyway good luck with it.

[BowEd]

One thing about your advice and preceding assuming attitude is you don't have the piece of wood in front of you like I do.The grain is nice and straight with very slight variation along it's side grain at least an inch and a half down from the back.The knots do not run to the back.Heat treating the reflex will straighten all those things out.0 propeller issues.I've seen a ton of self bow wood put into extreme design and this to me has 0 issues.Been down the road with these type of bows more than enough times to say that.I appreciate your advice over the safety aspect of things but a better final way of design???That's a matter of opinion.I have not seen all that much gain in performance by recurving the tips that's worth the trouble of doing so on a bow of this length.

The only thing I'm doing different on this one is to glue a handle section onto the belly on this one.4 to 5 inch in that deflexed section tapered to a knifes edge then wrapped with sinew for a deeper more comfortable grip.That should hold up I'd say.