Bamboo horn bow Orion

[Bamboo-Bows]

Hey what’s up everybody

It has been a while since posting on this forum so it was about time to share with you my latest creation. For a long time I have been wanting to make a horn bow combined with bamboo but I did not come around to it. There are just too many projects I want to get going, I think you guys can relate to that.

Now about the bow. I started off building a core out of hardwood and bamboo strips like most of my builds. I used Oryx horn for this bow because of its length and profile. The horn was cut in half and then sanded flat from the inside, leaving a narrow strip of horn that can be put on the belly. Up next I took a piece of moso and cut it to the same width as the core, then taking it to the beltsander for some flattening.

The bow was glued up using ropes and wedges. I temporarily clamped the horn and bamboo to the core with some masking-tape before wrapping the bow up in rope. It takes some time but you can easily inspect the glue line so you know there are no gaps. Whenever there is a problem, just hammer in the wedge a little tighter so it brings the parts together. Doing things like this enables you to pull the bow into a reflex. As you know, horn can withstand enormous stresses under compression so you definitely want a lot of reflex in there.

In the end the bow has a lot of pre-tension which I like. The bow is ready to go in the first few inches of the draw and smoothens out at the end. I decided to go all out on these, adding them to the list of bows I offer.
Here are some specs on the bow:

-   Length: 62”
-   Drawweight 47 lbs
-   Drawlength 28,5”
-   Brace height 6”
-   Max width 1 ¼ inch
-   String 10 strand fastflight


Orion horn bow by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Orion Bamboo Bows by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Orion by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Horn nock by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Horn bow Orion by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Bow Handle Orion by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Bamboo Orion by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Bamboo Bows teaser by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

Bamboo Bows teaser 2_edited by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

[bownarra]

Pretty sweet bow! You got a chrono reading from it? It would be very interesting to know what this bow is capable of.
I like the idea but think that the boo becomes the limiting factor in these bows. Popping a splinter would be a pain! The limited bend that the boo can take isn't going to allow full exploitation of the horn. Still it would be fun to make one and compare to a sinewed hornbow of similar weight. At 62" a true hornbow could go to a 40" draw.
what species of boo are you using?

[Bamboo-Bows]

Pretty sweet bow! You got a chrono reading from it? It would be very interesting to know what this bow is capable of.
I like the idea but think that the boo becomes the limiting factor in these bows. Popping a splinter would be a pain! The limited bend that the boo can take isn't going to allow full exploitation of the horn. Still it would be fun to make one and compare to a sinewed hornbow of similar weight. At 62" a true hornbow could go to a 40" draw.
what species of boo are you using?

Hej Bownarra, Thanks. I have not yet tried this one with the chrono. I shot another horn bamboo bow of the same design through the chrono, doing 183fps with 10 gpp. That one was 53lbs at 28". Indeed the bamboo can only go so far so it is not like a horn sinew composite and I don't have 40" long arrows  The bamboo I used is Moso and quite common.

[PatM]

Nice.

  Bamboo bends far as a fishing rod material.

[Lehtis]

Looks great!

[Hamish]

Got to agree, that's one sweet looking bow. Everything looks top notch.

[organic_archer]

Incredible, as always. I love the style of your bows, and you’ve gone above and beyond with this one!   

[Stixnstones]

 Beautiful piece of work

[Will B]

Your bows are really well made. Love the finish work. Thanks for sharing your work here.

[GlisGlis]

beautiful bow and great pictures 
do you have an unstrung picture too?

[Bamboo-Bows]

Thanks for your response everybody!

beautiful bow and great pictures 
do you have an unstrung picture too?

Here an unstrung picture


Orion Bamboo Bows by Bamboo Bows, on Flickr

[simk]

beautiful and interesting bow! thanks for the pics. maybe when you shoot it through the chrono you could post the numbers 

[superdav95]

Very nice lines on this bow.  Wow.  Well done

[Gimlis Ghost]

Masterpiece!

[bownarra]

Sweet that is a good speed @ 10gpp.
I may have to try one of these.
Thank you for your reply.
Pat - thanks for the valuable information....I had no idea fishing rods were made of bamboo......have you made any? What species do they use for fishing rods?  Would it be Tonkin? Yes I think so. Does Tonkin act the same as Moso? Does the thickness of the boo have a direct colloration with how far it can bend? Did you ever see the sectional tonkin cane arrows i've made? Anything else useful to add??