Korean bamboo bow

Gianrico · Post by **Gianrico** » Wed May 18, 2005 8:06 pm

It seems that today there are only two replicas of this wonderful bow, as showed at page:

www.hornbow.com/mokgoong.html

The craftsman who made them can't work anymore because of health problems.
Is there any bowyer that would like to made one? This could be a kind of tribute to this great tradition, which like many others has its difficulties, as I read in a recent thread on korean horn trade.

Best regards,

Gianrico

greenchicken · Post by **greenchicken** » Wed May 25, 2005 10:01 pm

I would! I am new to the craft of bow making and so far I am loving every moment of it. I have made a few Bamboo Backed Osage Bows (Based on Dean Torges books). I love workign with Bamboo and want to eventually make a Yumi.

I found my way to Atarnet becuase I want to make an asiatic bow. But the horns I am ordering will take about 3 months to receive so I have time to try making one of these.

How shall I proceed?

Thomas Duvernay · Post by **Thomas Duvernay** » Thu May 26, 2005 12:34 am

GC,

The Korean bowyer began by making the siyahs; he used mulberry wood from an antique bow saw (name is from its look, not its use). He then worked on the bamboo core. The bamboo belly strips have to be made and thinned prior to application. I wish I could give you more details, but I was not able to document the steps as the bowyer did them, and now that he is paralyzed, it is not possible.

T

West · Post by **West** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 12:45 pm

Is there any horn on the bow, or is it simply bamboo/sinew?

Thomas Duvernay · Post by **Thomas Duvernay** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 9:17 pm

No horn.

maurice · Post by **maurice** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 1:00 pm

Hi,

It's very sad that Master Geuk-hwan Park is paralyzed.
His bows are a real masterpiece and I'm going to try making a bamboo belly bow.
I have some questions and maybe Thomas be able to answer for them:
The bamboo strips for belly - does Master Geuk-hwan Park used one for all lenght of the core or two strips like in horn bows?
And the strips for belly were sized in thickness from both sides or the sides with nodes was untouched?
In what way the siyahs were attached? V-splice or maybe other way? On one photo I can see a V-splice but the female V-splice is in siyah not in the core.

Thanks for any reply
best regards
maurice

Thomas Duvernay · Post by **Thomas Duvernay** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 10:14 pm

Maurice,

The Korean horn bow uses a single bamboo strip for the core, as did the bamboo belly bow. Only the inside of the bamboo belly strips are thinned; the outer sides are not--that's why all thinning needs to be done before the strips are applied. As for the v-splice, it's been a while since I last saw the bow, so I don't exactly remember.

T

Ray Cover · Post by **Ray Cover** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 1:05 am

I wonder if there is any kind of formula for knowing how much to thin the boo belly and backing strips to get the proper tiller. With sinew that can be adjusted some but I would think it would help to get fairly close to start with.

It would either take some sort of formula or a heck of a lot of trial and error experience to know how much to thin everything prior to glue up.

Ray

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 1:10 pm

One thing that engineers might comment on is that the glue line between the two laminations of bamboo should not coincide with the neutral plane of the bending bow. I would guess this means that either be belly or the back lamination has to be thicker.

Is there a preferred solution?

sbartels · Post by **sbartels** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 2:28 pm

Belly thicker, back thinner, if I am not mistaken...

scp · Post by **scp** » Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:31 am

sbartels wrote:Belly thicker, back thinner, if I am not mistaken...

Thanks. I'm trying to make a similar but much less stressed, bamboo backed and bamboo bellied bow. I wonder whether I can tie the two bamboo strips together and test the strength of the bow before gluing them.

KenH · Post by **KenH** » Fri Jul 29, 2016 11:13 am

It's been 11 years since this thread was started. First time I've seen this thread...

Having worked with bamboo laminate bows, tightly tying them will give a decent approximation of draw weight -- "yep between 40 and 50", etc. Especially if your bow is not as reflexed as the one described.

Reading through the thread, I see the question about the orientation of the V splice. It makes perfect sense for the Male part of the splice to be in the bamboo. Bamboo has a very pronounced straight "grain" which allows it to be easily split lengthwise. Mulberry is not known for its straight grain. If the bamboo has the Female part of the splice, the tendency would be for the stress to split the bamboo. If the Mulberry has the Female side of the splice it will be a much more stable creation.

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:34 pm

but wouldn't the bamboo be thinner than the mulberry siyah part? Maybe too thin for a v splice? ...

Korean bamboo bow

Korean bamboo bow

Bamboo Bow Making

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Thicker - thinner

Re: Thicker - thinner