Scythian bow

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Sat Mar 16, 2013 3:12 pm

Thanks for all the good wishes. I will finish wrapping the bow and them make a fd graph and chrono some shots.

There was an interesting event several days ago. I had strung the bow for further drawing exercises and the upper limb threw off the string with a loud snapping sound. Three or four lams had split apart for about 6-8" on the belly but none had come loose from the back! So a lot of thin glue was worked into the cracks while massaging the limb back and forth until the glue came out of many places at once.

I then cleaned up the bow and wound the entire area with inner tube strips and slowly heated over a low fire which created a good squeeze out. By the way, the sinew layer was not even colored by the incident. I weighted down the affected area for alignment and the next day had to carve off most of the rubber.

Then the skin layer of sinew was added yesterday and I will wait a week or two before testing. I must say that this kind of thing is beginning to be less alarming; an event which would have seemed catastrophic just several years ago. So I beg a little more patience.

If I am not being too long winded let me relate something else. It has taken some time because I did a no no and wanted to see if it worked. I had run low on horn on the older, heavier Scythian bow and made a long V splice on the belly of one of the upper limb areas of that bow. I figured that if a butt joint has some possibility of success, then a butting V splice should be even better. The point points toward the grip. It has held well for about a year and a half at this point but it is wrapped entirely under the sinew skin. There are also several heat bending failures glued and encased in that bow. (Bless me father for I have sinned.... )

Orda Khan · Post by **Orda Khan** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 5:30 pm

Jack,
Do you still have the pic of your other Scythian being drawn? It would be nice to see a comparison between the two, as this one seems to be working differently in the upper limb (from memory)

Both bows are stunning IMO ... best curves on Atarn

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Mon Mar 18, 2013 1:28 pm

I think you are correct. The upper limb is not bending as much in this bow. I struggle to fully draw (depending on how my shoulder feels).

Uli · Post by **Uli** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:44 am

thank you for posting Jack, great work !

regarding the "repairs" or "assembly" of a bow, IMHO this is not a no-go but the inherent advantage of the composite design; if done properly in the end it's robust and working. your work is a proof.

Kviljo · Post by **Kviljo** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 10:27 am

Both stunning bows! One can appreciate the full sinew wrapping for such a design

I think I like the shape of your first one better, but I wonder if the shape of your second would be more stable?

By the way, is that pseudosasa japonica in the background?

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 1:00 pm

Uli; There is nothing like a view of an original. One of the Yanghai bows has a wood splint shoring up a horn belly and in the Miran bows it can be plainly seen that lateral sinew has been added over two diagonal layers. So the inspiration also comes from antiquity.

Ivar; this is Bambusa multiplex, Weavers bamboo. Much larger than P. ja.

Orda Khan · Post by **Orda Khan** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 6:02 pm

Thanks for posting your first again Jack. I love that bow!

lukasznawalny · Post by **lukasznawalny** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 7:05 am

Very intresting bow. I admire your patience and craftsman talent.

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 8:17 pm

Now i see that I have been working on this bow for a year and a half. Today, I shot the repaired version a hundred times at different distances and all seems well. The de-lamination of the horn core on the upper recurve necessitated the following repair; The spiral wrapping was removed in the repair area. The area was heated and thin glue worked into the cracks. the sinew was not damaged. The recurve was worked back and forth and the glue oozed in and out of the cracks. This was wrapped in tube strips and dried. The edges were flattened and two more horn strips were added to the edges, bound and dried. The belly was scraped to approximate correct tiller.

Very tiny holes were drilled in the width of the affected area and music wire was hammered into these holes, in 6 or 7 places. The entirety was spiral wrapped in both directions. The lower limb had lateral sinew added over the diagonal spiral sinew for tiller. It was left to fry for about 6 weeks.

Unfortunately the bow now draws less than before but it is shooting.

One must remember with Scythian bows that the reflex areas must be flatter, wider, than the deflex areas, for stability.

Uli · Post by **Uli** » Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:27 pm

is that a scythian sunglass Jack

very interesting bow & thanks for posting

paku · Post by **paku** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 7:59 am

It is good you could repair it. Would not have been it better to tiller the lower limb to a similar shape as the upper? To remove some strain from the most bending section.

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 4:41 am

Paku; The bends are built into the bow, just like the originals. The bends are not so stressed as one would think. The unstrung bow does not have a great reflex. The stress seems very even as the sinew has changed to an even pale color.

Uli; These are not authentic Scythian sun glasses. There was a pair in the Silk Road exhibit, in the catalog.

paku · Post by **paku** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:08 am

I know that the bends are built in, but the original curvature of the upper limb is different from the repaired (the curvature is bigger). Now it is strange that the lower limb bends so sharply.

jack farrell · Post by **jack farrell** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 4:09 am

Paku; I think you are comparing my all horn version with the picture I posted of my earlier Subeixi reproduction with the bamboo in the background.

Here is a pic of my prototype which was displayed in the Silk Road Museum in Seoul. It must have been put in the grave strung and is frozen in the strung position. So I reflexed the design for my current all horn version.

The current version may still get some more sinew to the upper limb.