korean hornbow tillering

[ginni]

Hi everybody!

Who know how is tillered a kkorean hornbow?

I wonder if this hornbow is built with lower limb stiffer than the upper limb (with thicker horn or with more sinew), like the laminated hwarang bow, or is built with symmetrical limbs and is tillered when stringing.

Another question if that the korean hornbow is tillered assymetrical in vertical plane, with the stringh slighlty on the left side for a right handed archer, to shoot more like a centered bow.

I understood that the hwarang laminated bows used by korean archers are tillered in that manner.

[jack farrell]

Eugen; Korean Bowbuilders use heat, a workbench, and their whole bodies to tiller a bow in a fearful wrestling-like set of manuvers. Korean bows are noticably assymetric. But where the string lays or what is the relative thickness of the limbs is I do not know. Secrets of hornbowmaking. -j-

[redhawk]

If you have a closer look to traditonal bows, asymmetriclal tillering is very common.
At the University of North Dakota a research on the asymmetrical plain- bows of the Hidatsa- Indians was done in the 80ies(?). The result was, that due to the asymmetrical tiller the trajectory of the arrow was more flat, so it becomes easier to hit your mark.

Asymmetrical tiller can be easily done by building the bow?s grip more or less beside the real middle of the bow, so usually the upper limb is longer and is bending more. Or you make the lower limb thicker, again the upper limb bends more. They are some other, very refined ways to provoque an asymmetrical tiller.

The asymmetrical tillering in the vertical plane makes much sense, but is very delicious to do. Only a fractional amount of a cm is decisive.

If you had been succesful in doing it, humidity and other environmental conditions could disturb your job.

Michael