Kara Kurszan hornbow from Tc log - twist.. sinew damage?

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 8:26 am

It is finals week now and I hopefully will build tepeliks and brace that horn bow in about a week.

I think I have printed the template correctly. I used inkscape to measure the height and the curve (extensions->visualize path->measure path). I scaled the template to the proper measurements, rotated to fit in letter paper, and printed without scaling.

The boards are about 3.8cm thick, which wouldn't be enough for the width/thickness? I assume that 4.3 cm was meant. Guess I could glue two of those boards together.. it would be a lot of sawing. Hopefully not too hard since it is fir.

I haven't even taken the rasp out of the packaging. It is a shinto saw rasp.

Tc · Post by Tc » Tue Mar 15, 2016 1:15 pm

As you have probably realized already, the width is 4.3 CM and not mm, sorry. BajanBow

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 12:57 am

Thanks, yeah, that's what I thought

It is a lot of time to cut this wood by hand with a small saw, and at first it was very difficult for me to make straight cuts, I end up cutting at angles when I didn't want to. Which means I should work on my sawing technique.

Couldn't really get access to a bandsaw.

Thinking of steaming or just wetting the wood to make it easier to carve, then heating it after they're done to get rid of the moisture.

For now I'm just trying to be patient, seems doable.

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 3:23 am

boiling for 20 mins on each side didn't help. wood is still hard to saw.

Maybe I should buy a coping saw. This saw doesn't seem very good for cutting against the grain. Or just find a bandsaw somewhere.

I doubt that I could find wood boards with the right width. Would 5.1 cm be okay? Maybe I could bevel it some on the bow side with my rasp.

maybe rasping away 0.8 cm isn't that big of a deal.. it'd take a long while

these boards are about 1.5" wide... so it'd be 7.6 cm wide with 2 glued to each other.

2 12"x6"x2" basswood boards would be awesome. That's two board feet.

Ahaha it's ending up being more expensive than just having Tc make me tepeliks for $40..

Hm. I think 3.7-3.8cm might be close enough to 4.3cm. I'll pack up and will hopefully finally see the bow tomorrow.

If it's too thin I could probably find some plywood or something to glue to it.

Tc · Post by Tc » Thu Mar 17, 2016 7:18 am

If it is slightly wider (few mm), no problem. If it is over 5cm then fixing the limbs is not stable (ideally it has the same width as the bow has). The height must be 6,5 cm or more, otherwise it is not possible to string the bow on the floor......
Do not struggle, find someone with a bandsaw.

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 10:39 pm

I don't know anyone, though I could ask. Hope a coping saw is significantly easier to cope with.

...

if not, I will look.

3.8cm seems only a little narrower than the widest part of the bow, I think it'll be fine. And the bow is awesome. Hopefully I'll get to shoot it this weekend.

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Fri Mar 18, 2016 3:12 am

The bow's belly is convex, too, so if the tepelik is flat then the contact area isn't big either way. I think 3.8cm width is fine.
From the video, it looks like the tepelik is concave where the bow goes. It takes forever to remove wood from this with this Shinto rasp.

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Sat Mar 19, 2016 5:38 am

Good enough, or no way?

The surface of the tepelik isn't that even..

Should probably find something thicker and less slippery than paracord.

Tc · Post by Tc » Sat Mar 19, 2016 7:39 am

The surface of the teplik is concave. The upper and lower arcs are close to parallel (again watch the video and pic). The paracord is too thin and slippery, try to get something thicker. It is good to see that Kurszan made it in one piece...

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Sat Mar 19, 2016 9:48 am

Bought some rope, and a new file that I hope will be faster. I seriously doubt that this is fir now, though I think it said it was fir.

By the arcs being parallel, you mean I should also cut it into an arc on the bottom, since it's not an arc yet? Yeah, it's been a lot more work than I expected. So I just tried to hack at the bottom with my knife to try to make it prevent the rope from slipping. Should get a vise tomorrow, so maybe it'll be easier.

Are the tepeliks symmetric, or does one side necessarily have to go to the ear, the other to the grip? They seem almost symmetrical, except for a difference in height in the bottom.

I hope that I'll be able to shoot Kurszan this Sunday.

Thank you!

Tc · Post by Tc » Sat Mar 19, 2016 1:12 pm

If there is no arc on the bottom it is not possible to tie the limbs when the tepliks are on the floor......
Yes this teplik is almost symmetrical.

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Sun Mar 20, 2016 7:02 pm

Strung. I did not apply the tepeliks perfectly. They tended to slip away from the grip. A few minutes later, I strung it and it was very unbalanced. So I tried to balance it, probably at least 20 minutes. And now it seems balanced, been letting it rest, will go see if it unbalanced itself again. It seems like pretty hot, dry weather too. Seems like just around 20-23c, but I'm sweating from having strung it.

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Sun Mar 20, 2016 7:31 pm

http://imgur.com/a/Mgy4F

Gonna go shoot now... ...

Tc · Post by Tc » Sun Mar 20, 2016 9:16 pm

Ok. But it is dangerous for the bow.
A few things for the teplik:
Attach the rope to the teplik (Drill wholes on both ends)
Cover the surface of the teplik with leather or rubber and they are not slippery any more..
Kurszan needs two minutes balancing if you use the tepliks correctly so get some practice with them.

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Sun Mar 20, 2016 11:51 pm

Thanks, will do. Did notice the holes with the rope attached.. but not the leather, it looked like bone or something in the teplik concave part. I made it a bit concave by filing. Basic woodworking 101, having a vise and a stable surface is extremely important.. finally was able to remove plenty of wood with that japanese rasp. Though I still had to stay up until 4am finishing up the tepliks, it was so much better than before.

After a while the lower limb's inner limb near the handle wasn't bending as much so it looked like it had some setback handle, just a little. Should've had the teplik near the handle tied tighter, and not put the pivot so far from the handle when balancing if the inner limb was what wasn't bending enough. Or. Well. It looked pretty similar to the pictures on the etsy page, now that I look back. But a bit more unbalanced, with the handle going forward. The top one looked fine though. Bended more overall, too. (what I picked as top limb is left one in the 1st picture on the link above. Funny how the id starts with "Mgy", almost like "Magyar").

Kurszan survived. Ended up being pretty balanced. Shot, unstrung now. Didn't have time to make stiff bamboo arrows, shot mostly heavy, stiff aluminum ones. Pretty heavy in the hand, ears seem pretty heavy, similar weight to a pvc bow of the same length but no painful handshock at all with heavy or medium/light arrows (my 25lbs PVC and 30lbs/72" hickory bows have a lot more handshock, yet they are noodles to draw), speed is decent. Probably not flightbow class, but I'm happy. Rather fast with lighter arrows. Will hopefully test more with more appropriate arrows later.
High initial string tension, string makes a nice rather high pitch sound when plucked, more than any of my other bows. Punches hard and feels nice to shoot. Anchoring at the cheekbone with the index knuckle, it seemed very accurate when I did everything right. I think it is perfect as a reasonably strong bow at this draw weight. Shooting a 60# reflex bow is not the same as drawing 70# with rubber bands. The former is way harder, and I have to put a lot into it to make it feel right. Though rubber bands still help build strength. Shooting a heavier bow than usual is not a piece of cake like shooting a lighter bow just because I can pull more with rubber bands. I found it necessary to concentrate and ensure I have proper form. Pulling with aggression, but not carelessly, seemed to go easier. Same with medium weight bows, but I felt the effects more. It seems like it takes a lot of willpower to shoot well.. really builds character? :p

Can finally cross out "brace, balance and shoot a horn bow" off my list of things to do before I die, though this is only the beginning. Hope I can manage to take good care of Kurszan. Thank you for making these beautiful bows so affordable.

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Maybe I picked the wrong limb for the top limb, and shot it upside down. Or not. Here the top limb bends more, no? So it's a very exaggerated version of what would be okay?

Are these bows upside down?

Just making sure...

Also, arrows left some slight marks on the sinew on top of the handle. Probably from them hitting the bow as with weak spine but not necessarily because of that. Could be my technique. Yay.