Korean horn bow. while im waiting...

[superdav95]

This is a little project im doing while i wait on my other 2 horn bow builds to dry up.  its a xl korean style horn bow.  im hoping for around 55lbs at 30".  its length is 56" with steamed in siyahs.  should be interesting to see how she tillers out. so far so good!  still have sinew to do obviously.  cheers

[Bob Barnes]

That has a very pleasing shape so far...can't wait to see how it turns out.   

[superdav95]

Thanks Bob!  Still have much more removals and shaping yet to do and more reflex when sinew gets added. 

[ajooter]

Can't wait to see how she finishes out!

[medicinewheel]

Can't wait to see how she finishes out!

X 2

[superdav95]

Here is a project I have been working on for a little bit on the sidelines while working on my 2 other horn bows. It’s a modified Korean horn bow. Its core is bamboo and horn is It’s little longer than traditional Korean horn bows. It’s going to be around 54-56” depending on how things go with poundage estimates. I’m aiming for 50-60lb bow at 28”. So at 30” may be in the range I’m aiming for for full draw. If I feel like it can do more and isn’t stacking too bad I’ll go further then 30”. I’ve never made a Korean style bow before so some experimenting going on here. It sits around 33mm widest part out of handle then very slightly narrows to 25mm at the tips. I have some wiggle room for length at the tips. The thickness now is just around 9mm on main part of bending limb section with core wood and horn. The horn tapers towards the tips and thickness increases overall to about 10.5mm. I’m planning to sinew this with approx 65-70 grams of sinew. I’m estimating that sinew thickness after both layers will be around 2-3mm thick giving me an overall thickness around 12-13mm. Should be interesting where I end up with my poundage and how close I’ll get to my goal here. The tips of the core were soaked and steam bent the recurves. The limbs were then heat treated/belly toasted and rebound flat and grooved for horn. The nodes placement was a key consideration for me as well. So I used a pair of matching limbs from same section of moso pole bamboo that was prepped. The main bending portion of each limb is identical and have no nodes in that section. Over the last 3 days I have been preparing the backside of this little bow for sinew. I used 28tpi groover blade to score the surface after removing all of the rind. I then sized the back with sturgeon glue 5% for 12 coats until shiny. I know this is likely overkill but figured deep penetration of thin glue may save my bacon on this bamboo. After three days of sizing it looks good and clean and saturated. It’s ready for its first layer of sinew! I’ll be using 25% sturgeon glue for the sinew layers. I like to do premeasured bundle/strips for each limb. I’ve tried sinew many different ways and for me this is the smoothest/cleanest look. I pre soak and clean and comb out each bundle on a board just slightly wider then my limb. I let it just rest long enough to gel a little then apply fresh glue with little radiant heat to adhere well. I then smooth it out with my fingers. Can’t remember where I first saw this method or who to give credit to but whoever you are… thankyou! lol. I do like this method. Here are a few pics

[Mad Max]

Looking good

I made a glass 48" Korean from a tracing I got from James Parker, 14" of reflex
It was a fun project

[superdav95]

Thanks.  Ya they are very interesting bow design.  I made this one a little longer for my needs.  I hope it doesn’t blow up! 

[superdav95]

60grams of sinew so far.  Will need a little more I suspect.   Likely another 30-40grams. 

https://imgur.com/a/ff2eGic

[Mad Max]

Tape adhesive on the sinew?
Are you going to sand the sinew before the next layer?
For my information
Looking good

[superdav95]

No adhesive just tensor wrap that can be stretched.  It’s for horses for leg wraps.  I got it at our local feed and farm supply.  It’s awesome stuff and leaves a nice finish and mildly compress the sinew on more extreme reflexed bows.  I’ve done then without too but I like the way this keeps everything tight

[Mad Max]

Cool stuff

[Mad Max]

How long are you letting it dry before the second layer?

[mullet]

I'm looking forward to seeing this finished. I think you might have got the sinew technique from James Parker, I remember him doing it on a formica cabinet board about 15 years ago.