I might add to amplify your amibitions of your opening post.
Making a poor mans’ type war bow works great for hunting.Many may not know this but pound for pound on an even playing field shooting 10 to 13 grain arrows they perform just as good and sometimes better than short horn bows or FG bows of like poundage.
I’ve done the testing countless times to confirm it.
You are correct about your reasons why.It’s what got me to do what I’ve been doing now.
From killing many whitetails now here with my style of horn bows and self bows the devastation the broadhead does internally far surpasses what a bullet will do from a gun.Resulting in a quick clean kill.
It’s not easy though and one has to practice,practice,practice with the bow.In many different positions.
Many other things happen out there from the adversary prior to the shot.
For your use, such longer bows work nicely since they store more energy.
Short turkish bows are efficient at lower arrow mass but not that fast with 10gpp. Crimean tatar would be faster at 10gpp. And those are 46-56" long with really recurved tips.
There is a bow for each need!
That’s the beauty of archery.Personally I’m not a fan of reflex right out of the fades,but each to their own I say.
A mongol bow would be more to my liking.
Thanks guys. I really appreciate all the input. What is the “gpp” in 10gpp?
A 50# bow would shoot a 500 grain arrow.60# bow would shoot a 600 grain arrow.etc.
It puts each bow on the same level shooting field comparing them to each other.All at the same draw length also.
Finally got my hands on some hard maple. Will post some pics of the cuts in the next week.
Sorry guys, got really busy with work. Finally got into this maple. Used combo of hand saws and table saw to cut into laths. Will post pics when I’m able to steam and bend.
You should bend in the opposite direction to a wooden bow, i.e., the bark is on the belly side. Thickness is important. If you’re bending without metal strips I think 14mm is the minimum.
Yes, I cut the laths 18mm thick x 35mm wide. When you say opposite of a wooden bow, you mean bark side towards me when I’m holding the string bow or bark side away from me?
Bark in your direction , then the wood holds the bend better, probably because of that, but it would be better to ask someone more experienced, why it bends in that direction
Steam box worked just fine but I’m guessing either I didn’t steam long enough, I soaked too long before steaming, or my angles are too sharp. Soaked for 9 days. Steamed for roughly 45 minutes at 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
Any advice? What am I doing wrong?
Ouch. You would need a metal strap to take the tension.
Best would be to bend thin wood and then just add extra overlays on nocks. I couldn’t bend 12mm+ maple like that either without veritas strap.
So nothing to do with how long it soaked or steamed?
And can I salvage this piece?
9 days of soak and 45min of steam sounds plenty! You could increase the steaming to 60 minutes but i don’t know how much it would help… I would thin the pieces down a little and have a new try. If you are making a short bow and under 80#, you don’t need much thickness. You can always add a nock overlay. Even Adam Karpowicz does it like this sometimes!
Another point is that the form you have there seems to be somewhat excessive. If you want to make a flight bow, just have even curved bend. Like just a circle with some extra bend at the tip.
Now your kasan bend is too much.
You could understand it like this: you want reflex, but not all reflex needs to be in the outer extremeties of the bow.
Also one thing…I don’t know about your experience, but for a beginner, less reflex is more safe.
Ok thanks, this is helpful. I’m as inexperienced as they come so the more advice the better.
How many degrees would you recommend making the bends?
I think I’ll change my forms to make more of the “boat” shape of the ottoman war bow pattern. From what I was reading in Adam’s book, seems like that may be more suited to the continuous use and extended amount of time strung in the field for hunting.