In the 13th century, the Mongol bow revolutionized military affairs. Due to its fighting qualities, it was significantly superior to similar weapons of European archers. The secret of the Mongolian bow is that, unlike, for example, English small arms, it was composite. Making a real Mongolian bow requires skill and special skills.
It is necessary
- - Birch;
- - ash or larch;
- - horny plates;
- - tendons or fiberglass;
- - nylon cord;
- - fish glue;
- - tools for working with wood;
- - press;
- - knife.
Instructions
Step 1
Prepare the materials for making a compound bow. You will need birch and ash blanks, as well as thin birch bark. Better to take a birch growing in the lowlands; it has a straighter trunk with fewer knots. For a felled tree, use the northern part, which has denser fibers. Ash can replace larch.
Step 2
If you can't get hold of animal tendons, replace them with fiberglass. However, the old masters used the sinew of a horse, cow, or mountain goat. They were separated from the ink and dried until the product became transparent. The tendons on the incus were then split into fibers and cut into strands about a millimeter thick.
Step 3
Make horn plates from the bovine horn. They will serve as accumulative pads that allow you to accumulate and store the energy of the stretched bowstring. Saw the dried horns lengthwise, boil in boiling water and place under a heavy press until completely dry and straightened.
Step 4
Make five pieces of the base of the bow: the middle piece, two shoulders and two tail pieces. The main material for Mongolian onions is birch in combination with other types of wood (larch or ash). In this case, use birch layers for the convex part of the onion, and ash or larch for the concave part. The total length of the bow must be at least 70 cm.
Step 5
Draw each part of the onion from several layers. Place three successive layers of tendons (fiberglass) and horny plates between the layers of wood. Connect the layers of material with fish or skin glue.
Step 6
After gluing the layers of each part of the bow, assemble the product together. Fasten the five parts with glue at four connecting points. For greater strength, carefully wrap the joints with a winding of a thin nylon cord. Outside, protect the joints from moisture with a thin layer of birch bark.
Step 7
All work on gluing the onion components should be carried out without haste, monitoring the quality of the connection. After complete assembly, put the onion to dry in an upright position. Drying times can be anywhere from six months to a year. Now pull the bowstring over the bow; for it, use strands or a strong, non-stretchable thread made of artificial materials.
