BOWS

Most of the bows introduced below have been used in the Carpathian basin (Hungary) . They mostly were traditional eastern bows, the so-called rigid tipped compound reflex bows. Certain types of bows were named after the people who had used them.

Most of the types I make are made in the following finishes: Basic, Extra I., Extra II., and Extra III. (composite bow). To recognize the difference between different sorts of finish, you have to know, that rigid-tipped compound reflexbows consist of five main parts: handle (1 piece), flexible arms (2 pieces), rigid tips (2 pieces).

Basic finish: /base/ Combination of glass fiber, wood and leather. The color of the leather can be different, on demand.



Extra I. finish: There are two variations of Extra I. On both kinds, the flexible arms are covered (decorated) with fishskin, snakeskin, or leather. One variation is horn-plated at the handle and the tips, and on the other kind the plating is made of colored, layered wood.


Extra II. finish: It has horn-plating on the inside of the flexible arms. The handle and the tips are completely covered with horn. Still, on bows with this finish, glass fiber is utilised instead of tendon strings, and the flexible arms are covered with leather on the outside.


Extra III. (composite or horn bow) finish: This is the kind that is the exact copy of the original, made with the same method as a thousand years ago, and consists of only natural components. The core of the bow is joined together of assorted kinds of wood. The inside (that is on the archer's side) is made of horn plating. The outside is made of tendon strings and fishbladder-glue, layered and shrunk onto the bow. These layers are sensitive to moisture, so it is covered with birch-bark, which we decorate with original painted motives, on demand. The handle and tips are stiffened with horn or bone, and strengthened at the joinings with tying. The horn plating is made of the horn of Hungarian grey steer or water buffalo horn, and it's an expensive material, because there's not too much of it left in Hungary. The fishbladder-glue can only be cooked from the airbladder of the sturgeon, a living fossil, that is also scarce these days. Actually, it isn't cooked, but we extract the glue from it with a "cold" process, soaking it in different kinds of materials; lime-milk or lactic acid for example. This way the quantity of the glue is small , but for that the quality is excellent. There is three basic reasons for using sturgeonbladder-glue for bowmaking: 1/ very strong gluing capability 2/ it won't get brittle or lose it's elasticity even after decades 3/ it doesn't have a gel consistency like other glues, it will stay liquid for a long time. This makes the layering of tendons onto the bow easy and good, because you can press out the excessive glue from between the layers, making a very solid and good quality tendon-string layer. Of course you can liquidize other types of glues (I myself could even do it with different kinds of leather-glues), with the use of certain chemicals, but they don't have the good elasticity and durability. That makes it clear that the sturgeonbladder-glue is the best in the whole world for bowmaking. Sturgeons could have been found in all the areas where nomads had been, but excepting places like Korea, China and India. The horn-bow, the great invention of the Scythians, as well as the saddle, and later the Avar's stirrups. The rest of the eastern cultures took the knowledge of bowmaking from the nomads.
The making of a bow this way can take up to 10-12 months, drying of the wood not included.
An average composite bow has got the draw weight of 65 lbs, but we have orders on 45 lbs and 90 lbs bows either.