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

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Mon Mar 21, 2016 1:14 am

merged with previous post, cant delete

Tc · Post by Tc » Mon Mar 21, 2016 5:49 am

Well I have seen Kurszan better balanced but for the first time it is not bad. The upper limb is slightly weaker, but it is really difficult to tell which one by seeing your pics. Again, pls follow the stringing video. Once the bow is strung, check the bending of the limbs but still leave the tepliks on for about 10 minutes (it might be necessary to tighten the tepliks). After removing the tepliks balance the bow. Check the bending when drawn (mirrow) and designate the upper and lower limbs. Shoot the bow and enjoy. Do not leave the bow strung when you finish shooting. And that’s all. BajanBow

A.Haydar · Post by **A.Haydar** » Mon Mar 21, 2016 1:24 pm

what is all about with the tepelik, hasn't the bow been tillered and ready to strung?

sorry if I ask something stupid, never bought a composite bow before..

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Mon Mar 21, 2016 10:06 pm

A.Haydar wrote:what is all about with the tepelik, hasn't the bow been tillered and ready to strung?

sorry if I ask something stupid, never bought a composite bow before..

I think it's something with the tiller of this particular bow needing to be introduced before shooting each time during the stringing, to introduce the proper bending/tiller during stringing by stringing it with tepeliks on and letting it rest. Other bows might end up tillered without needing to use tepeliks to stress the material the right way? It also has a decent amount of reflex.

A.Haydar · Post by **A.Haydar** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 1:18 am

pcoutin wrote:
A.Haydar wrote:what is all about with the tepelik, hasn't the bow been tillered and ready to strung?

sorry if I ask something stupid, never bought a composite bow before..
I think it's something with the tiller of this particular bow needing to be introduced before shooting each time during the stringing, to introduce the proper bending/tiller during stringing by stringing it with tepeliks on and letting it rest. Other bows might end up tillered without needing to use tepeliks to stress the material the right way? It also has a decent amount of reflex.

ah, I see.. because I thought tepelik is just a bowyer thing..

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 10:07 pm

todo:

Drill holes [done]

Make somewhat thinner rope from the thicker agave rope. Perhaps longer, it's about 1.4m? I think it's fine. Braided. Flatter rope may be easier to get under the tepeliks. But I think it'd slip easier when hitched at the end. It'd stay together better, though..

Stabilize the lower part of the tepeliks so it rests nicely on the floor since it is uneven. Maybe find some rubber somewhere and glue it to the bottom. It was okay but it can be better. Will probably use cork from a wine bottle.

Continue rasping the top concave part so it's even, and so that it fits nicely with the convex belly of the bow, maximizing contact surface area.

Glue some rubber from a bike tire tube or something on the top. I don't have any... probably ran out of scrape suede leather as well. Maybe I should go hunting

Sand and finish them with tung oil.

Make some arrows! Got some tonkin bamboo to heat straighten.
Planning to make them 30" long, while drawing to 28".

I realized I had a lot of unintended khatra when shooting on Sunday.. probably from trying not to collapse my hand

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Sat Mar 26, 2016 6:47 am

Used rubber from balloons to increase friction. Worked quite well... but I still didn't do a good enough job with the tepeliks. I'm getting better, I guess. Pictures soon.

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Sat Mar 26, 2016 8:36 am

https://static.pcout.in/hornbow-03-25-2016/

I'm sorry. Hopefully I'll do a better job later today.

- Be more careful with putting on tepeliks, make sure they don't slip away from the handle which is harder now because of rubber from balloons
- Try to put on the tepeliks more evenly
- String right after putting tepeliks on
- Balance and tighten after putting on string?
- After balancing after taking out tepeliks, let it rest for maybe half an hour at first, before trying to draw. So it doesn't lose the balance. ??

Tc · Post by Tc » Sat Mar 26, 2016 2:48 pm

- Try to put on the tepeliks more evenly - Yes, very important...
- String right after putting tepeliks on - Yes
- Balance and tighten after putting on string? - I normally wait about 10 minutes with both the tepliks and string on, then remove the tepeliks and start balancing
- After balancing after taking out tepeliks, let it rest for maybe half an hour at first, before trying to draw. So it doesn't lose the balance. ?? - No, if it is cold wait 10 minutes, in normal temperature wait 5 minutes and start shooting.
You can also keep the bow strung for a longer period (12 hrs) once balancing is ok, just for better "remembering" of right shape later on...

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Sun Mar 27, 2016 12:30 am

I think I did a significantly better job balancing today.

Sadly, I won't be able to shoot Kurszan for 2 to 3 months, thanks to university..

Tc · Post by Tc » Sun Mar 27, 2016 7:18 am

At least string and balance the bow on a weekly base. The death of a horn bow is neglect.

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 9:17 am

Took it with me. Wrapped sinew around the notches just in case.

This one string always made a noise at the notch when drawing. Left the other string back home, don't know if it does the same. I think it didn't.

Would a D-10 (like fast flight) flemish loop twisted string (without separate loops) really cause any problems with this bow due to the non-contact big siyahs?

I know from Adam Karpowicz's book that flemish splices were apparently used in Crimean Tatar ramie strings, but I don't know if just for the smaller loops that separate loops were tied onto.

Thinking of making rawhide and silk strings one day as well..

Managed to heat straighten a bamboo shaft a little, but it's still got a long way to go. All I used was an electric stove, a bunch of wet paper towels in a ball, a towel and my hand.

Will hopefully shoot Sunday..

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Mon Apr 04, 2016 2:12 am

Worst first... ... what looks like a crack in the horn. But it didn't get worse as I kept shooting ...

Strung and shot Kurszan today. Wasn't as balanced as I wish. Next time I'll try putting the tepelik on the limb that bent less this time, first.

Used a pretty short (29"?) bamboo shaft with no head or fletchings. It was really stiff and thick, yet it seemed to act like it was weak spined at full draw... also with tail going up much of the time, even if I tried to nock parallel to my hand. Hm. Need to do a lot more bare shaft tuning. And working on my release.

Heat straightening bamboo is hard...

The noise from the loops when drawing is gone after filing, but I still feel the loops moving on the notches as I draw.

This is about an hour after unstringing.

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Mon Apr 04, 2016 3:54 am

How would I fix twists on the limbs or handle?

pcoutin · Post by **pcoutin** » Mon Apr 04, 2016 7:52 am

Just strung and balanced the bow again, and unstrung it. It went much better than earlier today. I should continue putting the tepelik on that stronger limb first.

Based on advice from ATARN facebook group (and originally Adam Karpowicz?), I will put superglue or some cyanoacrylate glue on the crack and then wrap it with sinew. There is no apparent problem with the core.

Not sure if duco cement would work better than superglue (cyanoacrylate) or not... ... since all I have is duco cement.

Flash was very good at showing the crack...

Uploading pictures.