horse bow 45/27 (No. 14)

[simson]

after a long time having trouble with the internet provider I'm back again. the net is still very slow, but I hope in a few days the problems are solved.
I used the time without any internet of course for bowbuilding, so about eight or ten new babies are nearly finished. I will show them when speed problems are solved.

o.k.  topic title is horse bow ...

My friend Christian is now proud owner of a quarter horse. He asked me building a horse bow for him, specs should be:

> no recurve ( I don't know why)
> drawweight about 45-50#/27" drawlength

Being no horse rider and no expert in horses I see some upcoming questions.
my thoughts are:
1.) Bow has to be short, but long enough for 27" draw, I think about 54" with bending handle to get a smooth draw without stack
2.) It should be robust to handle tough using on the horse, I think osage or elm could be possible woods
3.) Christian didn't want a recurve for some reason, but I think flipped tips could be a good compromise
4.) Bow should not have spiky tips to prevent peaking the horse (and get a sudden good speed .... )
5.) With  a relative short bow of 54", I will go for a symmetrical with wide limbs (have no good reason why, but think so)

please guys let me know your ideas or say if the listed 5 points are wrong

tomorrow I will choose a stave  and will begin with  the job. I will keep you updated and show the done work every day

Simon

[George Tsoukalas]

Simon, sounds good. The plains bow was even shorter being somewhere in the 40's and some even shorter than that. It is a good idea to semi recurve or reflex  the tips so the draw will be smoother. Jawge

[Oglala Bowyer]

They (plains) did not have 27 inch draw bows if they were short (between 39 and 48 inches).  This includes gull or 5 curve.  Their draws were short.  Which makes sense if your chasing down a buffalo at a full gallup and you draw a bow at 22 or 23 inches with a bow that is 50 or 60 lbs there wouldn't need to be any reason to draw it further.  But i'm not sure if your friend uses the hungarian method of horse archery, which is something to watch as well 

[PEARL DRUMS]

I suppose the question would then be. Do you want a replica horsebow? Or do you simply want a bow to shoot while riding a horse? I vote for option two. Then no matter what way you chose, you will be "right" and your authenticity cant be qiestioned.

[Pat B]

Have you considesed a Native American horse bow? They are generally not recurved but are sinew backed and usually highly reflexed.

[wildkatt]

  Most of the bows I make are ( Horse Bows ) they average from 48'' to 51'' with draws from 24'' to 26''. I also do mounted archery and hunt from horseback. Flipping the tips will prevent stacking. Horse archery is different than most people think. Most of my Horse bows are from 45# to 60# depending on what the archer can shoot. Most horse bows are short draw bows with the execption of Asian horse bows which are usualy a 28'' to 30'' draw. Ifin you have questions feel free to contact me. Always willing to help someone get started. WARNING its adicitve. 


Katt

[JW_Halverson]

One thing to think of is the horse's safety.  Whatever style bow you make, try to make the limb tips as smooth, round, and blunt as possible.  If horse and rider take a tumble, you don't want ol' Buck getting speared. 

[warpath]

I agree completely with Wildkat. My background is mounted archery for over 20 years. I would have your friend try out a lightweight fiberglass bow first to see what they can shoot comfortably at full gallop. They may find that a 27" is more difficult than they think. If they are able to handle that draw length, then it's a question of what draw weight can they handle while staying on a horse at full gallop. Even now when I hop on a horse, even though I can use a 30" draw while mounted, I still prefer a 24" draw. This is my opinion and nothing more. Just some guidelines that I find useful when fitting a rider with the proper bow for them.

  G

[simson]

Thank you very much for your replies, esp. from the experienced mounted archers!

this will be no replica bow, just a  from horseback shootable bow.
He requested a fulldraw (27"), he's not used to shoot short draw bows
This will be an unbacked bow, no sinew
I really will do rounded tips (which will be the first time for me - I like the spiky slim ones)

I picked up an osage stave and chased a ring already. Unfotunately it has a huge propeller twist, nearly 90°.
I think of chosing another one or give it a try. Stave is now 56" long, clean - no knots, nice rings

Do you guys thing 54ntn + 1 (for the tips) is possible? Or is that too much on horseback?










Next step will be: layout limbs (devide in sections) and handle (marking upper limb, handle should be narrowed for more comfort)

Next session tomorrow
Simon

[simson]

some work with the drawknife



handle



problems: dogleg, not matching limbs, twist, sabre in one limb, ...





and a first not vivsible dead wood from a knot (hope I can avoid it)



now the steaming part, here is my absolute primitive apparatus





meanwhile a quick made bending jig



to be continued

Simon

[simson]

here is the jig in the vice, I tried to untwist the stave and made some corrections



a simple slot was made from an old lisence board, wedges holding the stave in line,
the green line on the bow marked the roughing out





she came out quite good, one limb still shows some twist and tends to the right



here is the setup to correct the problems from above
two clamps holding the stave in line, one clamp is on the tip end and is like a lever to give some momentum (rubber band) for untwisting



heating with the heat gun between the clamps

[simson]

here she is after all the corrections, sill 56" long



next cut off to get a 51"ntn bow





after some tillering and sanding ....





27"fd











I will dosome coatings of hard-oil on her, should be ready on Sunday and go to Christian


Simon

[toomanyknots]

Beautiful! Masterful handling of this stave. I just looked at this thread and was thinking "can't wait to see this finished", and then you posted about 2 seconds after that,  .

[Carson (CMB)]

Wow! You make it look so easy.  Beautiful full draw bend!

[Will H]

Nicely done Simson! You sure know what you're doing love your work!