Solo A work in progress..

[Haplo]

Fall 55 513AV


The table top had been cleared, mostly. All the supplies, tools and scrap wood had been pushed to the edges allowing a large space in the middle where he could work. Reaching forward he took the wood core from the shelf on the wall where many blanks were sitting, waiting for the application of the final materials. The composite bows he most frequently made had been put on hold recently, in favor of the self bows, which took far less materials and time to make. Unfortunately they were longer and more cumbersome than the smaller more compact composite bow. Now that he had a large stockpile of the self bows he decided on a composite bow for today. The cores were already curved from the hours of forming they had undergone in extreme moist heat and pressure.

Holding the core of solid wood in his hands he turned it over slowly, checking it’s surface, for splits, depressions or weak points. Reaching into the drawer on his left beneath the counter top, he pulled out several pieces of paper. These were not for writing, they were of differing thicknesses, some even coarse or covered in a thin layer of what appeared to be sand. He used each on the core in its turn, slowly working the paper from tip to center over and over. Then turning the bow and continuing on the other side, from tip to center. When he was finished the wood was smooth to the touch. Once could run a finger from tip to tip and not catch the smallest splinter.

Reaching back into the same drawer he pulled out a rough stone. He turned the bow so he was looking at belly. Taking the stone he applied it to the wood, rolling the stone up the bow, creating small indention in the wood. These indention would allow glue a greater hold on the wood when the horn was applied. Taking the stone away he checked the wood for the marks he was looking to create. They were there in most places and where they were not he applied the stone again with short softer rolls. Placing the stone on the table he looked the bow over carefully, scrutinizing every length of the core before finally placing it on the table.

He stood and removed a long strip of horn from the shelf to his left. It had been sliced and thinned to the desired shape and thickness needed for a bow this size. He placed it against the bow, lining it up so each side was as close to fitting as possible. He applied a soft clamp in several places to hold it while he trimmed the sides of the horn strip to fit the wood perfectly. Once done he removed the clamps and stood the horn on the table. He grabbed a metal roller from the back of the table, it was heavy and had small spikes all over the surface for puncturing the tough horn. He started at the bottom of the strip and rolled it up the surface while applying hard pressure. Even with his weight and that of the roller, the spikes only made shallow holes in the horn.

Once this was done he set the horn aside and pulled out tend different clamps. Readying them he laid them out in a C shape on the table, with some soft wood shafts and leather strips. He slid a small bowl over to the clamps, which was full of fish bladder glue, and took a thick brush from drawer. Once everything was readied, he took the brush and applied generous amounts of the glue to the inside of the horn strip and then coated the wood along the belly of the bow. He placed the horn against the bow and aligned one side then paced the first clamp, using a piece of the wood against the horn, leather against the wood, and then the clamp to hold it all together. He repeated the process until there were clamps every few inches up the whole bow. He checked every setting to make sure the bow was aligned perfectly, every edge even with the wood of the bow. Sitting back he looked over his work, satisfied he moved the bow to a side table to set and dry.

[Haplo]

58th of Winter 513 AV

Putting aside the self bow he had just finished, he pulled down the composite bow he had been working on a few days earlier. It had been three days and the glue holding the horn to the belly of the bow should be dry enough to allow him to work on the Sinew. He removed the clamps and laid all of the materials aside. He turned the bow to work on the face and set the bow on the table top. Reaching under the table he grabbed a bucket and pulled it out and set it on the worktop. He looked at thick wax seal around the lid and cringed a bit before reaching up with a knife to cut through the seal. Inside the bucket was the fish bladder glue used on the sinew he was placing on the bow. It was horrible smelling stuff but luckily the smell faded as it dried.

Opening a drawer he pulled out the strips of sinew, long and white, looking like shredded strips of cloth. The sinew had incredible spring when stretched and glued in place, it would give the bow much of it’s power. He was going to be layering on seven layers of sinew which meant it was going to take half the day. He pulled out the thickest two strips and laid them out before the bow, trimming off the edges and thin threads. Taking the strips he placed them in the bucket of glue and using a set of tongs he pushed them under the surface, stirring them around, making sure they were completely covered in glue. Pulling them out he set them on a thin board, using a flat piece of wood he ran it down the sinew, pulling off the excess glue.

He placed the sinew on the face of the bow. Using his fingers at this point to position the sinew, he placed it in the center of the bow, rubbing it out till the fibers flattened on the surface of the wood. He worked the sinew from the center out to one tip. Returning to the center, he pulled more sinew out and worked it into the face of the wood up to the opposite end. Moving over the surface of the bow he made sure all the strands were well flattened with no bubbled areas. He pulled out a thick brush and covered the surface with more glue. Grabbing more sinew, he repeated the process, only this time placing the strands in between the small valleys made by the prior sinew. Covering the new batch with another layer of glue, he put the bow aside to set.

He returned awhile later and did two more layers. Followed by another two some time after that. When this was done he checked the surface of the sinew. After the sixth layer, the natural valleys had been filled in and the surface was fairly smooth. However he would do a small amount of smoothing of the top layers when it dried. For now he set the bow on shelf for a few days of drying.