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Korean Traditional Archery → Bows → Arrow pass replacement/repair
Things have gotten awfully quiet around here. Just wanted to throw out a couple images from our recent blog post where we repaired the worn-out arrow pass on one of our Korean bows.
The complete explanation on how we did it can be found, along with more images, can be found here:
https://www.customthumbrings.com/blog/2 … ass-repair
It looks beautiful! And that is some clean wrapping on those feathers. Thank you for creating a repair post for your bow and documenting it. My KTB is starting to wear out pretty bad.
I saw on your blog you have the JZW Manchu bow, how do you guys like the Manchu bow compared to the Korean bow?
It looks beautiful! And that is some clean wrapping on those feathers. Thank you for creating a repair post for your bow and documenting it. My KTB is starting to wear out pretty bad.
I saw on your blog you have the JZW Manchu bow, how do you guys like the Manchu bow compared to the Korean bow?
You're very welcome.
As for the Manchu vs. Korean..... my two birch bark backed Korean bows are still my favorites with the JZW coming in third, but the reasons why are more complicated. For one thing, I like faster arrows with flatter trajectories. On occasion I shoot at 200 yards even. You just don't do that with a Manchu bow. I love the compact size. They're easy to transport, easy to shoot from a variety of positions, easy to move around your house without bumping into things, and easy to shoot indoors without worrying about clipping a light or similar. And finally, backed in real birch bark and with a black radiused belly, they're about as close to a real hornbow as you can get without the maintenance headache. I certainly like the JZW Manchu more than any of my other Korean bows though.
At the end of the day, it is important to understand though that they're not really "competing" because they don't really do the same thing. Shooting a 1200 grain arrow at 150fps isn't in even the same league as a 500 grain arrow at 220FPS. They're the two opposite extremes on the spectrum, so you just get different giggles from each.
What I want to do now is get my hands on a Mughal style bow. There is a lot of big talk coming from the Manchu corner about highest early draw weight, highest energy stored, best at launching heavy arrows, etc. Strikes me though that the Mughal crab bows have comparably sized siyahs and even more extreme reflex, but do the work with shorter bending limbs..... and historically they also fought fairly wealthy and heavily armored enemies. I've also never seen a real test of such a bow. So I'd like to take one through its paces and just see. I suspect shorter draw length will mean it, ultimately, can't store as much energy but even still.
wayfarer wrote:It looks beautiful! And that is some clean wrapping on those feathers. Thank you for creating a repair post for your bow and documenting it. My KTB is starting to wear out pretty bad.
I saw on your blog you have the JZW Manchu bow, how do you guys like the Manchu bow compared to the Korean bow?
You're very welcome.
As for the Manchu vs. Korean..... my two birch bark backed Korean bows are still my favorites with the JZW coming in third, but the reasons why are more complicated. For one thing, I like faster arrows with flatter trajectories. On occasion I shoot at 200 yards even. You just don't do that with a Manchu bow. I love the compact size. They're easy to transport, easy to shoot from a variety of positions, easy to move around your house without bumping into things, and easy to shoot indoors without worrying about clipping a light or similar. And finally, backed in real birch bark and with a black radiused belly, they're about as close to a real hornbow as you can get without the maintenance headache. I certainly like the JZW Manchu more than any of my other Korean bows though.
At the end of the day, it is important to understand though that they're not really "competing" because they don't really do the same thing. Shooting a 1200 grain arrow at 150fps isn't in even the same league as a 500 grain arrow at 220FPS. They're the two opposite extremes on the spectrum, so you just get different giggles from each.
What I want to do now is get my hands on a Mughal style bow. There is a lot of big talk coming from the Manchu corner about highest early draw weight, highest energy stored, best at launching heavy arrows, etc. Strikes me though that the Mughal crab bows have comparably sized siyahs and even more extreme reflex, but do the work with shorter bending limbs..... and historically they also fought fairly wealthy and heavily armored enemies. I've also never seen a real test of such a bow. So I'd like to take one through its paces and just see. I suspect shorter draw length will mean it, ultimately, can't store as much energy but even still.
I see thank you for the in depth reply. I know the two bows are designed with different goals in mind and would like to see what type of damage a real Manchu arrow could do (the thought of such heavy arrows is interesting). I would also like to see a Hwarang or similar bow at 80# or more shot with a short arrow to record fps and how far it has a flat trajectory.
I think your points in favor for the Korean style bow are what initially drew me to them and I personally can't wait to someday get another one wrapped in birch bark after my KTB wears out or I want to bump up passed 55#. The small size and just how it the bows look drawn are beautiful.
The Mughal bows look interesting! I have seen the crab bow before online but didn't know they where that well at shooting heavy arrows, although it makes sense due to the size of the siyahs. I wonder how long the draw length was on those bows.
Traditionally, stingray hide is used as sandpaper. You're not concerned about abrasion on your arrows or that nice thread wrapping ?
I ask because I tried polished rayskin once & found it too aggressive in the long run.
Maybe I should have sanded it down further than the supplier did ?
Traditionally, stingray hide is used as sandpaper. You're not concerned about abrasion on your arrows or that nice thread wrapping ?
I ask because I tried polished rayskin once & found it too aggressive in the long run.
Maybe I should have sanded it down further than the supplier did ?
I can't speak to your experiences, all I can say is I'm not having an issue. We're far from unique in using ray skin on bows, several historical designs have it. Generally commercial ray skin leather has been polished quite smooth, to the point where it wouldn't be a very effective abrasive, at least in my experience.
The wraps do however get a wipe of finish though for use. It improves longevity significantly. At the end of the day, arrows see a lot of abuse.
@wayfarer
Can't speak to a short light arrow, but a heavy arrow blew though my backstop and stuck in a concrete wall with my 106# Hwarang. YMMV. Pictures of it are up on the blog, among other things.
I can't speak to your experiences, all I can say is I'm not having an issue. We're far from unique in using ray skin on bows, several historical designs have it. Generally commercial ray skin leather has been polished quite smooth, to the point where it wouldn't be a very effective abrasive, at least in my experience.
I'll play around with it some more. From your pics yours looks much smoother than what I used .
Korean Traditional Archery → Bows → Arrow pass replacement/repair
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