Crimean tartar style horn bow build along

[superdav95]

Hello all horn bow enthusiasts and aficionados…   I just sinewed up a molle bow and waiting fir it to dry so I figured out this fish glue to good use with a tartar style horn bow build.  I have the horn, sinew and maple and bamboo for the core build.  I decided to go with bamboo as I had it somewhat ready to heat bend into shape and bent it around an empty 20 lbs propane tank for shape. That’s the nice thing about bamboo it’s pretty forgiving with heat.  I didn’t need to soak it prior to bending.  I Matched each limb to same bend and then cut v notches for the tips/Kansans and also v notches for the handle section.  I went with 3” v on the tips/siyahs and 4”v on the handle.  I used some spare Maple for the handle and siyahs.  The sinew I’m gonna use for this one is gonna be moose blackstrap and the horn is Buffalo.  The limbs are 22” bamboo heat bent.  The siyahs are approx 7-8” long.  Handle section will likley be around 10” long which I’ll make a 4” v male notch one each end. 

[bownarra]

Funny you should post this....I'm just getting the parts together for a Crimean Tartar bow as well! Good luck with yours! It is looking good so far!

[superdav95]

Thanks man.  Ya that’s funny.  I’ve always wanted to try one.  And love the larger size comparatively to other styles of horn bows.  I’m thinking it’s gonna be a nice challenge for me anyway and checks a lot of my boxes.  Good luck with yours although I’m sure you’ll be fine as this will be old hat for you.  Using the fish glue on this one too so I’m glad I took the time to make it. 

Cheers. 

Here’s a few pics of the core glued up…

[bownarra]

The only thing I would mention is with the thin sals it is difficult to glue the horn on without inducing twist. If I were you I would glue some lams on the back of the sals to stiffen them. As a rule my working limbs will be 15mm thick when gluing horn on.

[superdav95]

Ya it’s gonna be a challenge for sure.  I’m gonna have to make a curve piece of wood matched for each limb to have something stiffer to keep in place for glue up of horn.  It was bamboo I had already thinned down and so I decided to go with it.  I’m realizing this will be a challenging bow in many ways but should be fun regardless even if it explodes!  All investments of learning I guess. 

Thanks again. 

Cheers. 

[superdav95]

Update.  Just glued up the horn today.  It took a couple hours make my jig and organize my set up to make glue up go as planned but I got good squeeze out and I think it’s good.  I made a 10 teeth per inch grooving tool out of an old scraper which worked fine. I did the grooving of horn and wood core yesterday and smoothed out the grooves to clean em up a bit.  Nice and deep. Approx 2mm.  The horn is fairly thick so I’ll have to remove some later but figured it would be easier to clamp down while thick.  I should have kept the bamboo thicker prior to glue up and that would have helped me out for sure but the jig worked well regardless.

Thanks for looking…

Cheers.  Here are few pics

[superdav95]

More pics

[bownarra]

great to see it progressing

[superdav95]

Few pics after glue up and removing from form. 

[superdav95]

Horn is pretty thick so I have some removal to do but glue up looks good.  Time will tell if it holds up.  Gonna let it sit couple days then start on it again.   

Thanks for looking!   

[superdav95]

Update on this tartar bow…. I put the first layer of sinew on tonight.  Followed Adams book instructions as best as I could interpret.  Measured the bundles and then split those in two separate bundles for the first course.  Did the first layer covering the bending section of the limbs then overlapped on the handle section.  Will let this gel and firm up over over night then string it in to a little more reflex.  I’m gonna do as Adam suggests and lay 80grams so 40grams per side.  Gonna do three layers or courses of sinew letting each dry 2 weeks in between.  So far the wood core is just a hair over 1/8” thick.  The horn is rounded a little more to do later but is slightly thicker then core but pretty close.  My aim is to have wood, horn and sinew all about same thickness in the end.  For the grooving on the top of wood core I found what I consider to be the perfect solution. A jigsaw blade for laminate wood 20tpi. The teeth were perfect and straight triangles as opposed to others I saw.  Happened to see these at Home Depot and figured why not try it.  It worked very well.  Flawlessly actually.  Super sharp and very easy to get started straight by hand.  Not that it super critical I guess but nonetheless I’m gonna use the courser 14tpi blade in this set to do the horn grooves in my next horn bow.  Gonna make a tool handle to hold the blade.  The nice thing about these is that they come already super sharp and ready to go.  I made my own groover with a file and lots of patients but would have had straighter lines with one of these little blades I think. 

Here’s a few update pics. 

Thanks for looking. Cheers
 

[superdav95]

So after about 6 days of letting first layer dry I’ve developed a slight more reflex curve on the right side.  Is this something I need to worry about or tend to.  Meaning should I scrape some horn off the opposite side to match the curves.  Let me know what you all think.  Maybe I’m overthinking it and just deal with it when I tiller.  I’d be interested to know what you think. 

Cheers

[bownarra]

This is normally an inconsistancy in the core. Leave it alone until time to tiller!

[superdav95]

This is normally an inconsistancy in the core. Leave it alone until time to tiller!

Roger that.  I’ll let her go then.  Could it also be the inconsistency in horn?  I remember when I glued the horn on one piece had more curve in it then the other when sizing.  Either way one more week till next layer.  Thanks for the input. 

Cheers

[bownarra]

the core is the stiffest part and is what gives the bow its shape.
Horn strips are normally easy to make the same thickness/taper.
Did you heat the horns before glue-up? Ideally they should be at 50 degs and therefore soft enough to conform to the core. Horn  has quite a bit less stiffness than the core.