KenH style asian bow- FULL DRAW ADDED

[aero86]

so, ive decided to man up and make an asian style bow that ive been drooling over.  this is pretty much strictly a see if i can put it together, and hopefully have bow that will shoot an arrow ten feet!  lol.  this is what ive done so far.  its all red oak.  the handle is part of first failure at this, that one broke stringing it.  the bow itself is a piece of red oak 4 foot long by 1.5 wide.  cant remember the thickness, whatever you can buy at lowes, the thin one.  anyways, the siyahs are laminated red oak, using a piece that was 4 inches wide, thats why the siyahs are kinda short.  also, you can see how ive wrapped the ends of the siyahs with just some cotton string soaked with tbII.  the string, im just re-using a the string that came with the bow KenH sent to me, the original all wood asian bow. 

anyways, ive a few questions.  i plan to back it, for the practice, with some heavy canvas that i found cheap at goodwill.  it is a cotton canvas, but it should help keep me from dying if the bow explodes.  now, my question is, anything synthetic besides fiberglass i can use and buy locally?  id like the bow to stay together if at all possible.  also, if i toasted the belly of the bow, do i just toast till changes color a bit?  lastly, im just using titebondII for all gluings.

pics!  no full draw yet till i get it backed and i havent tillered it yet because its not backed.  i just couldnt wait to string it.

[Jesse]

Way to go for it. from the brace pic it looks like the handle could pop on ya. If you really want to cook the belly, doing so before you back it is a good idea. Got any pics of it drawn?

[aero86]

thanks for the suggestion on the cooking of the belly.  i think ill just go for it tonight while its still cool out back. i dont have any draw pics yet, as i didnt want to.  ive never glued on a handle like that before, so i really wasnt sure if i had done it right.  anyway to prevent that from happening?  think next one i make, ill glue the handle on first full width before i shape it, not what i did with this one

also, instead of canvas, maybe ill order a good backing, to add back some weight.  i know this is a primitive site, but i might go with fiberglass.  id love to do bamboo, but as this is an experiment, fiberglass would be the cheapest.  or if you guys think i should find a good hickory strip some where?  or should i not since ive already glued on the siyahs?  i just dont know where to go from here!!

[JW_Halverson]

Once you have run wrung the guts outa this test run I am sure you are going to build something a bit more elegant.  When you do, let me know, I'll send you some antelope rawhide for backing.  Strong as steel and a heck of a lot lighter weight, while still retaining your primitive aspects. 

[aero86]

thanks JW!  ive pulled it to about 22, just cause i couldnt help myself.  being only a piece of thin red oak, it doesnt have much weight.  im afraid this one never will have much to it.  unless, maybe if i use a hickory backing on it, cut out around and blended into the siyahs. 

ive found some fiberglass cloth online that people are backing bows with.  anyone ever dealt with that, even though its not primitive?  id be perfect for this little thing, i could coat the ends of the siyahs with it, removing the wrappings first of course..

[walkabout]

a hickory backing strip would add some draw weight and good insurance, thats what i believe ken uses on his.

[Parnell]

It's great to see people pushing for new skills.  Way to go!

[aero86]

well, i couldnt wait.  i decided to pull it further.  this has been killing me.  lol.  i believe i found a good piece of oak this time!  to get the tiller it has now, i just used 60 grit sand paper and sanded 50 times back and forth on both limb sides, starting about mid limb.

if anyone thinks i should do it again, please say, im not sure how this one should be bending.  also, does anyone think putting a hickory backing strip on this would even hold up?  since the siyah is already glued down?  or should i just save the backing for another bow?

[aznboi3644]

I wouldn't pull it any futher...looks like all of the bending is at the fades and very little on the outer 2/3's,

Looking good though I have a couple 48 x 1.5 x 1/2" boards...I'm just about done with a 48" OAL oak short bow.  Menards has a stupid good selection of straight grained select oak and red oak boards.

I can walk in and walk out with 4-5 bows worth of wood every week from there.

Keep it up.

[aero86]

it does look like thats where all the bending is.  my lowes is the only place that has the oak boards that size.  i think they are fine for the belly, but im working on getting some hickory for the back of my next one.  plus an idea for the siyahs on the next one..

i may tiller this one out a bit more though

[JW_Halverson]

You are getting schooled on this style of bow, though.  The next one oughta come outa the gate good and strong! 

Keep posting your work on this bow, it's saving me hours and hours of work!   hehehe

[aero86]

thanks again JW. 

if your interested in doing it, its really easy, this one is all red oak!  though, my next one will be hickory backed with a red oak belly.  though hopefully the siyahs that im gonna make hold up to it. 

[denny]

What kinda poundage are you looking for ? this would determine the backing for your next bow as well as this one. I think a material backing would work good you can buy polyester dacron at a fabric shop.Use tit 3 to glue on or go to lowes or homedepot and get some fiber tape in the drywall seaction and dope up with your tit3 bond.My choice is bamboo or hickory and maple for my bows. And I use urac 185 for glue up. Good luck looks like it is coming along well.

[aero86]

well, anywhere from 35-50 really.  im not being too picky as its just all wood.  you use the urac 185 between the wood?

[walkabout]

any estimate what poundage you ot with this one? im guessing that longer siyahs would add more leverage thereby adding more draw weight. generally you would probably want to glue on a backing strip of wood before gluing on the siyahs i think. also im guessing you would tiller it like a normal bow, only this tillering would probably be with sanding instead of scraping.