Horn Bow!

 Back in February (it seemed further back than that) I bought a box of stuff from a bowyer who was moving on to other interest and projects. The main items were a part finished composite "horn bow"* , a pair of horns, some horn tips, sinew and Adam Karpowicz book "Ottoman and Turkish Bows manufacture and design" (the definitive work on the subject, and very hard to find in hard copy).
The bow comprises the horn, wood and sinew structure, but it had never been strung so I approached it with some trepidation...which is maybe why it's been sitting since February! Mind I had been studying the book.

I've now started work tentatively flexing it, tidying up the sinew and evaluating it. I may do some glue and sinew work before cutting in nocks and stringing it, but it's a matter of making haste slowly. I have done some sinew work before, but very little, I do know it needs weeks if not months or years to fully cure (depending on thickness of glue, sinew etc. Hopefully the little I'll be doing will cure in a month or two.

There is no rush, and I recognise I'm a long way from my comfort zone. It bears no real resemblance to tillering a wooden bow as apparently most of the adjustment is done by flexing and some gentle heat.

The blogger site has forced me to use the new version which abjectly refuses to allow me to move pictures or wrap around text in any useful or consistent manner... maybe it's so it works better on phones. Anyhow, it is what it is and I'm tending to post more on Youtube now. The advantage of the blogger is that it gives better quality still pics which are good for reference... the disadvantage is, it's bad for my blood pressure!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8muNDAm0qUM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuJtTpaDu6M

It's something that I'd had as a long standing ambition and the sort of thing I read about as a kid with almost total incomprehension... bows that can shoot 800yards? So for me it's a privilege to get to work on the bow without having had to do some of the very slow, messy preparation and sinew work.
I'm doing short video showing the progress, but bear in mind it's a long term project with no real idea of the potential draw weight or the chance of success... but that what bow interests me... I don't make bows to end up with a bow! I make bows to learn and to enhance my skills.

*That's not to be confused with the many cheap Chinese "horse bows" on the market which are fibre glass (or glass/wood laminate) . These are often leather covered and I've seen people shooting them as "primitive" at NFAS field shoots and winning... I couldn't be bothered to challenge it, I only shoot for fun, and if people want to cheat I'd rather not get wound up by it. Experience over the years has shown me that cheats often claim total innocence, get "upset" and say things like "oh, well if you want to be like that about it"... and you end up as villain of the piece... 
I don't really want any more plastic medals anyway!