wood, metal, horn, bone and antler project..

[tghsmith]

as the builder of strange things, I've started work on a 1470's crossbow replica.. getting the main works together, European hormbeam stock, antler parts for the release nut, the trigger(tickler) on this one was more complex than my mapp gas and vise forging set up could handle,, decided to farm this out (kind of like the medieval guild system) I emailed drawings to several blacksmith forges and got varied responses, to help the process a wood model was made.. Reaver Forge in North Raleigh (you can find him on facebook) was given the task.. for a fair price he outdid my expectations!!! all drawn from one piece, no forge welds, very very nice work..
last photo is the crossbow being replicated, the European hornbeam is close to metal working..

 

[sawman101]

Awesome!

 

[Hmerkle]

That IS amazing!
Is this for you or a museum reproduction or ???

 

[cpaul]

Beautiful work.

 

[tghsmith]

this is for me, besides R/C model ships I build stuff (either stops me from going crazy or keeps me that way.) I built this crossbow a few years back, the steel bow was purchased,, a few years back my wife wanted a hammer dulcimer, bought a set of plans with the strings and tuning pins and went from there (the hammers pictured were purchased, I've made some since)

 

[tghsmith]

a little more work getting done,, completed the release mech. and fitted to the stock.. stock has been shaped.. getting ready to start the recesses for the inlay panels,, going to use an artificial ivory product.. made a depth control fitting for my dremel handpiece and purchased one the fits on the main drive.. found that bone doesn't play well with power tools,, had to work slowly with hand tools to get the thin flat stock needed for the top surface inlays..

 

[Oka]

Awesome indeed

 

[JNCarr]

Outstanding work!

 

[tghsmith]

a little more work.. this bow tiller(stock) had a set of inset antler lugs/ears for the spanning crank (most had a cross pin/bolt.. Sawed, rasped, filed and sanded some antler, (antler is much better to work than bone) the dremel router bases worked great to rough out the recesses,, clamps and epoxy do the rest..

 

[tghsmith]

using depth control holes to help in the wood removal for the inlay panel sections,, lots of small chisel and carving tool work ahead in very hard wood!!

 

[Craptastic]

Very very nice!

 

[mlzettl]

Outstanding!

 

[tghsmith]

this months purchases arrived,, a cheaper set of carving tools (with a little tweaking should make a nice usable set) some more alt ivory and some other inlay material I bought as "a look see" and some sturgeon air bladder to make the form of glue (high end hide glue!!) when it's time to start on the composite bow..

 

[creasman]

This is a cool project. Thanks for posting your progress.

 

[dsiddens]

Years ago, I worked with antler to make some buttons for a seamstress. Interesting material, pretty tough.

 

[tghsmith]

antler works much easier than bone, rasp that cut antler skip off of bone!!! update on the cheaper carving tools,,used some oil soaked fine steel wool and removed the shipping gunk that protected the blades,, factory edges may have been usable.. set to work with some diamond hones, small fine round hones (dremel bits) and stropping material.. the steel seems to very good and took fine edges well.. all there is now is to see how well they keep the edges,, the hornbeam will be very good if not extreme test.. at around $2 a tool its a fairly inexpensive experiment..

 

[BML]

When I read the title I wondered if it would an Asian horse bow…not far off. Neat project!

 

[tghsmith]

thanks all, I don't think it matters how much I would have spent on carving tools, my few "name brand" and my "cheapers" all worked about the same with the hornbeam, Tough and slow... but did manage to get the main inlay area cleared,, the depth holes worked well,, a little more clean-up and it will be time to start making patterns.. thinking tag board or foil+ duct tape