i think a backing of horn would fail catastrophically in tension.

What an awesome thread/turtorial...Thanks so much for sharing this with us.

My, my, my, what an interesting thread and I'll bet it makes a beautiful bow.

Outstanding pictoral, thanks for taking the time to document the process and share it with us.

JBS your shop looks just as I imagined it would.

Nice job on the tute. Doubt I'll be making any of these soon, but it's neat to see how they are done and I can't think of a person more knowledgable to show the process. Thanks.

I need to be asking you some questions on another subject  one of tese days. Would you email me so that I can get your email addy?

huntinsticks@fuse.net

beautiful job I like the look of the ridges on the gemsbok horns it would be a nice backing. I do most of my own work but havent tried bow making yet so again hats of to ya .. matt

Beautiful, gracias!!

Nice job John!!

you have better luck with the flattening then I do.  Probably more patience.

I finally got some water buff horn to try.  I'll let you know how it works out.

Mike

Neat.  Thanks.  I always wondered about that.

How well would watusi horn work?

John - et al,
I bought some 1/4" thick rubber of the appropriate hardness/softness from McMaster Carr to pad the bamboo during glue-up and for a pressure strip, I rip 1/8" to 3/16" thick strips of wood from 2X4's. It's easy to get a full length pressure strip, they're flexible enough and you just dispose of them when done or cut them up and use as clamp pads for something else. They seem stout enough to transfer clamping pressure and the wood gives in to the clamp pad a little. I've had no failures or problems with this set-up and it's cheap!

Wow! Nice pics and clear explainations. Thanks a bunch John.

Why is horn only used for a  belly backing and not on the front?

Thinking about tackling a bnow build and I was just curious.

Thanks guys, hope someone can use this someday.  

To answer a few ?'s.

Jim, the bow is re-tillered from the belly.   Since the blank is tillered before the horn is applied, it's not too difficult.

ClintV., I'm not sure if you could run the material thru a planner.   I'd be leery of it.   I'm sure a drum sander would probably work, but I prefer to do it by hand.

Mike, very interested in how the buff horn works out.   Particularly if it appears to be better quality.   Do you think you get more then one bow per horn?

Tom; good idea on the clamp pads.   I've started using thick harness leather.    Used rubber for a while but the stuff I had did not hold up in the hot box.   You probably have some better quality rubber.

Mr. Sturtevant,
I just bought some horn last week for a different type of bow. But now after seeing this I guess I'm gonna have to get some more. In this, I'm am also sure my wife wont be too happy about my venture (with all the horn I may go through). And you did such a good job with this. Do you think you could give me tips on how to deal with her?  Seriously....great job.

Thanks for answering my question John,I was worried that it had gotten buried.This was a great tutorial,you are a master craftsman....Jim.

John,

So far I bought the pre cut horn slats.  They are 1 3/4 " wide and 23" long.

Also very thick.  Almost wish I could rip em and get two per slat.

Mike

Mike, can't you resaw them them on your band saw?

John,
How wide have you gotten pieces out of gemsbok horns?  They look almost 4" wide at the base.
How thick are they right after the ridges are sanded off, before you grind them to your need.

Hwarang, The base can be 3"+ at the base after flattening the split.   Quickly tapers to about 1" to 1 1/4" mid horn.
They are fairly thin at the base, 1/8" or so without the ridges.  The thickness increases towards the tip to 3/8" - 1/2".  

Mike, I've split baleen that was 3/16 to 1/4".  It's a little nerve racking, but possible.  How thick is the buff horn?   Had no idea you could buy strips.   Do they come any longer then 23"?

Where does a feller get Watusi horns?   Are they similar to a buffalo, or a longhorn?