Building a bow with a Khukuri!

[gurkha berserka]

I am glad to see this thread is still alive. Thanks for the pictures, this subject is a very interesting to a lot of members.

 

[cul4u01]

I am glad to see this thread is still alive. Thanks for the pictures, this subject is a very interesting to a lot of members.

Yes, really interesting, not to mention way cool.

 

[Shavru]

I would panic at that first *CRACK* Looks really awesome, I too am glad you came back to keep us up to date. Is the Pull weight based on the thickness of the bow or just an attribute of the wood? or a combo of both of those? I imagine it is dependent on the wood, then how thick you keep it. But curious to know for real

 

[mtngunr]

Mr Weston, i do not care if you build a crate with the knife, it is simply a pleasure seeing a woodworker show what a khukuri can do in skilled hands .....which may be common in other areas of the world, but in short supply in this quarter of the globe....

Personally, any other projects outside being a bowyer would be avidly viewed, even a two-legged stool.

 

[T. C. Weston]

Thanks mtngunr, I will be certain to post other projects as the come along!

Shavru, you've pretty much got it figured out. Some woods allow you to use thinner and more narrow limbs because of greater compression strength and elasticity (yew, osage). White wood bows tend to have wider and or longer limbs because of the properties of the wood.

 

[ndoghouse]

Im still watching! Thanks again for the update. All my Cedar is too checked up so Im looking for some other possibilities. I got my eyeballs on some hackberry:thumbup: I gotta try this. In the meantime im trying to learn flint knapping. Wife not liking chert chips all over the living room. I keep telling her its cheaper than Khukri collecting

 

[Shavru]

Nice to have my guess confirmed. I imagine it takes a lot of staves before you get a feel for how thick a bow must be based on the wood to get a specific weight.

Once you start, tillering? I think you called it? Basically once you get the bending part done can you "adjust" the pull weight by thinning it out if you are way off? or is it better to change your mind about the weight you wanted at that point

 

[T. C. Weston]

At this point, I'm floor tillering, which means I'm putting the tip of the limb against the floor and putting pressure on the handle section until it bends a bit. I keep doing that, marking out any flat spots, until I have a graceful bend from handle to tip. For zeroing in on the final draw weight, once I put a long string on it I will only draw the bow to the draw weight desired. Then I will remove some more wood from the limb, exercise it, and then draw it to draw weight again. As wood is removed, the weight should be the same as the draw length increases until you get to the desired draw length. I'll be working on it some more tonight, so I may have some more pics up tonight.

 

[T. C. Weston]

Ok, I had a chance to get back to it tonight. This is floor tillering; the first step in getting the wood to bend. The bark is completely off at this point. I flex the stave 20 or 30 times everytime I take wood off the limb.

Now, I'm ready to make some notches so I can get to work with a tillering string. Anyone who tells you that you can't do fine work with a Khukuri flat doesn't know what they're talking about!

This is a Bowyers' Knot. Very easy to adjust as we will be shortening the string as we go.

Now it's on the tillering stick (just made that tonight!) and this is where it's time to be careful. The grill of my truck makes a pretty good gauge for checking the tiller! You will see that as I draw the string down the stick, I adjust the string making it shorter every time. Once I get to roughly brace height, I'll make a bow string for it, and continue to fine tune the tiller.

 

[Bawanna]

That a pickup or a scout? In an earlier life I was into Internationals and Studebakers!

See your a fellow Washingtonian too.

 

[T. C. Weston]

Yes, it's a pickup, 1972. It's served me well, but seems to need a lot of attention these days.

 

[mtngunr]

As a gauge it does very well, and easily leveled with inflation/deflation....much easier than adjusting the wood....

The bow belongs with one of the serious khukuri collectors here....probably very first khukuri-made bow outside of Nepal.....or it needs to be in the HI Museum, as soon as we start and build one....

 

[B-Nasti]

This is excellent work, I'd love to be able to accomplish something like this Thanks for sharing!

 

[Bawanna]

Yes, it's a pickup, 1972. It's served me well, but seems to need a lot of attention these days.

They needed a lot of attention when they were new. Always a hodge podge of other peoples parts, that was the challenge and I always kept a notebook when I figured out what and who's part fit mine.

Studebaker were'nt much better.

And excellent job on the bow. I hunted archery in an earlier life, took a Mountain Goat up on Whitehorse Mtn near Derrington, but I couldn't begin to think of making my own bow.

Me bonnets off to ya sir.

 

[T. C. Weston]

Taking a mountain goat is tough, no matter what you use! That is a major accomplishment.

I'm down to fine tillering now. I jumped into it a little too early before, but at this point, all I want to do is take off paper thin shavings. I'm doing about 15 passes with the Khukuri, and then flexing the limb 15 times.

I'm now just about ready to make the bow string. I'll shorten the tillering string a bit first, and try to eliminate some of the flat spots in the limbs. So far, so good.

 

[Bawanna]

At this point are you relatively assured success or can something pop up to abort the project. I suppose it could always happen but looks like pretty smooth going from here.

Looking better and better too.

 

[T. C. Weston]

I've got a pretty good feeling about this one. The stave has looked really good all the way and although this is the first time I've worked hackberry it seems to be a very flexible bow wood. I've exercised the limbs hundreds of times at this point, and the stave is holding almost all of it's original reflex. Something weird and unseen can always go wrong but as long as I'm careful this should turn out fine. Right now I have to make sure I don't develop any hinges, and that I don't over stress the limbs at any point and avoid compression fractures on the belly. That, and I also have to make sure that the string centers through the handle. That's why I've left the handle section and tips a bit thick. As I dial in the tiller, they will become much smaller.

 

[Shavru]

Really love the thin curls. Patience seems to be a major key to success in this skill as with so many others. You talk about flat spots on the limbs. is that because if they are flat instead of matching the curves around them they pick up more of the stress when the bow is flexed? so in a sense even though they are thicker they would be the weak point in the arch?

That is going to be a gorgeous bow. Hopefully the new owner will keep the pictures coming after he acquires it too. Looks like it is getting close to the finish work now...or am I too impatient and it has a while to go yet? LoL.

 

[00Turok]

Taking a mountain goat is tough, no matter what you use! That is a major accomplishment.

I'm down to fine tillering now. I jumped into it a little too early before, but at this point, all I want to do is take off paper thin shavings. I'm doing about 15 passes with the Khukuri, and then flexing the limb 15 times.

I'm now just about ready to make the bow string. I'll shorten the tillering string a bit first, and try to eliminate some of the flat spots in the limbs. So far, so good.

Who says you can't bush craft with a BIG knife? & yet, T.C. makes a bow with a khukuri. :thumbup:
Oh & look at those fine wood shavings. Tinder anyone?

EAT IT youtube bush crafters!

 

[T. C. Weston]

Really love the thin curls. Patience seems to be a major key to success in this skill as with so many others. You talk about flat spots on the limbs. is that because if they are flat instead of matching the curves around them they pick up more of the stress when the bow is flexed? so in a sense even though they are thicker they would be the weak point in the arch?

That is going to be a gorgeous bow. Hopefully the new owner will keep the pictures coming after he acquires it too. Looks like it is getting close to the finish work now...or am I too impatient and it has a while to go yet? LoL.

The flat spots I mentioned are areas where the limb is too stiff, and more wood needs to be removed from that area. If you remove too much then you end up with a hinge, which means that part of the limb is too weak. Hinges are bad, particularly if you end up with one near the handle. It's going well, but not close to finished. I'd say at this point it's halfway towards having it ready to shoot. After that there will be some time spent finishing it up. That said, I did set the stave aside for a couple months. In terms of time put in, I'd say I've got about 6 to 8 hours into it so far.