Hi! For my first ever hornbow build, I have chosen to make a Han Khotan/Hunnish inspired non-contact siyah bow. I am planning to make the bone plates for the siyahs using cow rib bones. Is that possible, or were the ancients using other bones/materials? If so, how would you bend the rib pieces?
Slices of bone can be bent onto a wooden ‘jig’ by boiling the bone slices until they are soft enough to bend…
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do you know how much time it would take to bend a ~3mm thick piece? maybe 5-7 mins?
No real idea, Cato. Sounds like time for some “experimental anthropology”. 
Cut some extra slices to experiment with>
You can make bone VERY soft by soaking it in vinegar for anywhere from a few hours to a week or more. However, I’m not sure how strong the final bone will be – the vinegar dissolves out the calcium which make the bone stiff and strong. There’s another experiment for you. Be sure to report your results, with photos, here…
The posts I found on the Old Atarn website suggests that 3mm bone will be too thick to bend easily, and recommends 1.5mm to 2mm thickness. There was no mention of how long to boil…
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