I am new to this site and to Asiatic archery in general, so if these bows are not really Turkish please excuse the error. I have been building western style recurve bows for about ten years, but recently tried my hand at making these bows since I have always favored short bows.
Both of these bows measure about 48” NTN unbraced following the contour of the bow’s back and both are 1 1/8” wide at the riser fades. The bow with lighter riser is 32# @ 28” and the one with darker riser is 38# @ 28”. Laminates are 0.03” fiberglass back and belly with two parallel bamboo core lams 0.07 and some stabilkore in the middle. I like to shoot these bows very much, but want to hear some thoughts from those who have more experience building Asiatic bows regarding the likely longevity of such a design, considering the contemporary materials. The unstrung reflex still amazes me.
Nice reflex. Stresses in laminated turkish bows are nearly double, compare to longbows and recurves. They are really close to what fiberglass can take (in compression). Did you measure speed with 10gpp arrow ?
Thank you for your thoughts. I admire the craft and skill in your work, as well as the in the work of others posting here.
I shoot the one bow almost daily, and so I will become aware of how it holds up to regular use! Other bowyers who build only western style bows have said these Turkish bows made with fiberglass and wood are “time bombs”. But they have not made and shot any such bows, so they are expressing opinion only. I know the reflex of these short bows blows their minds!
I have not tested the speed of these bows, but plan to do it soon, using arrows as close to 10 gpp as possible w/ 3” feathers. When I have some numbers I will post them. For the time being, I will say that this bow can hold its own compared to the speed of the recurves I have been making for the last ten years. It may not be the fastest, but it surely is not the slowest. More later …
Marek - Here are the specifics dre the bow with the darker handle. Bow DW 38.6# @ 28” bow string material Dyneema. Arrow 500 spine carbon, weight 388 grains with 3” fletching.
Dusted off the chronograph this morning. All test shots done with a thumb ring and drawn to 28”. Did 8 test shots using the same arrow - low end was 185 fps and high end was 189 fps with an average 186.6 fps.
