Dammit, my Idobao ID75 keyboard's USB-C socket is starting to flake. I may have to push forward my plan to get the BFO-9000 split board sooner rather than later.
The BFO-9000 has more keys — 108, 6×9 on each side. I'll probably stick with the split, but I REALLY don't like any generation of USB small socket.
I have never understood why they don't just use a pattern like the Apple plugs that use embedded old-school-style circuit slot board connectors. Many things, like YubiKeys, have this single-socket pattern — they fit in regular large-type sockets, and these things last decades.
USB-C? Good luck if it still works reliably after two years. Thanks, European fucking Union.
## Complete Materials List
### Structural
| Part | Material | Source |
|------|----------|--------|
| Core / limbs | Mulberry (dud) | Forest / wild trees |
| Siyahs (rigid tips) | Hornbeam (grab) | Forest |
| Belly (compression) | Cattle horn | Local farmer / butcher |
| Back (tension) | Sinew | Deer leg tendons — hunters |
| Adhesive | Hide glue | Rawhide scraps or rabbit skin |
### Finishing
| Part | Material | Source |
|------|----------|--------|
| Sealant | Pine resin + beeswax + charcoal | Pine trees, beekeeper |
| Limb wrap | Birch bark (breza) | Forest — highland areas |
| Grip | Leather (goat or deer) | Local |
| String | Nettle fiber (kopriva) | Your yard |
| Thumb ring | Shed deer antler | Forest floor, Feb–Apr |
---
## Construction by Component
### The Core (Mulberry)
Harvest a straight, knot-free section of trunk or thick limb in winter. Split it — don't saw — to follow the grain.
You want a stave roughly 100–110 cm long (the finished bow will be short). Dry it for 3–6 months, ends sealed with hide glue or wax to prevent cracking.
Shape with a drawknife and hand plane into a flat strip — roughly 3 cm wide, tapering thinner toward the tips, thickest at the handle. The cross-section of the working limb should be wide and thin (rectangular), not square.
The handle section (center ~15 cm) stays thicker and stiff — it doesn't bend.
The recurve and siyah angle are formed by steam bending or dry heat bending (holding over a heat source and bending against a form, then holding in shape while it cools/dries). Mulberry bends well with heat.
You need a wooden form (just a shaped block or set of pegs on a board) to hold the curve while it sets.
### The Siyahs (Hornbeam)
These are the rigid, non-bending recurved tips — roughly 15–20 cm each. They hold the string and create the leverage that gives the Turkish bow its characteristic performance.
Shape two pieces of hornbeam to the desired siyah profile — straight or slightly curved back. Attach to the limb tips with a V-splice or Z-splice: cut matching angled faces on the siyah and limb tip, glue with hot hide glue, then bind tightly with cord while the glue sets.
The sinew wrapping later reinforces this joint. Cut string grooves (nocks) near the tips of each siyah.
### The Horn Belly
Take a cattle horn, saw off the solid tip and the open base, leaving the curved middle section. Soak or boil to soften, then cut lengthwise and press flat between heated boards or clamps.
You end up with flat strips. Shape them to match the belly (front face, toward the target) of each working limb.
Rough up both surfaces (rasp or coarse stone). Glue onto the belly with hot hide glue, clamp or bind tightly.
The horn handles the compression forces that would otherwise crush the wood.
If you skip horn: simply make the mulberry core thicker on the belly side and rely on heavy sinew backing. The bow will be functional but stores less energy.
### The Sinew Back
This is the most labour-intensive step. Take dried leg tendons, pound them on a hard surface with a mallet until they separate into fine individual fibres — like hair or cotton.
This takes time. Don't rush it; lumpy fibres make an uneven back.
Warm your hide glue. Soak bundles of sinew fibres in the warm glue.
Apply them lengthwise along the back of the bow (the face toward you when shooting), starting from the handle and running out toward the siyahs. Press and smooth them down. Overlap the siyah joints — the sinew reinforces them.
Apply in layers — each layer must dry before the next. A Turkish-style short bow needs substantial sinew — perhaps 4–6 layers. Each layer takes a day or more to dry depending on humidity.
After the final layer dries, the sinew will contract as it cures and pull the unstrung bow into a deep reflex (curving toward the belly). This is correct — it means the sinew is pre-loaded in tension.
### Hide Glue
Cut rawhide or skin scraps into small pieces. Soak in water overnight.
Simmer in a pot — never boil (boiling breaks the protein chains and weakens the glue). Stir until dissolved into a syrupy consistency, then strain through cloth.
Use it warm. It gels as it cools, which is actually an advantage — it grips immediately as it cools.
Reheat in a double-boiler (pot inside a pot of water) whenever you need it. It keeps for a few days; after that, make a fresh batch.
All gluing operations (horn, sinew, siyah splices) use hide glue applied warm.
### Sealant
Collect pine resin from bark wounds on pine trees (score the bark lightly and collect the sap that bleeds out over days). Melt it in a pot, strain out bark debris.
Mix roughly:
- 3 parts pine resin
- 1 part beeswax
- A small amount of crushed charcoal (from your fire)
Melt and stir together. Apply warm over the entire bow after tillering is complete.
This seals the hide glue and sinew from moisture. Birch bark strips can be glued over the limbs with hide glue before the pitch sealant for additional protection.
### The String (Nettle Fibre)
Harvest mature nettle stalks in late autumn after they've dried on the stem — the fibres are strongest then, and the sting is gone from dead stalks.
**Retting:** Bundle the stalks and soak in water for 1–2 weeks (or leave out in rain and dew). This rots the soft pith away from the strong outer fibres. You'll smell when it's ready — it's unpleasant.
**Stripping:** Break open the retted stalks and peel the long outer fibres away from the woody core. You get long, strong, silky fibres.
**Twisting into cord:** The technique is reverse twist — take a bundle of fibres, twist one half clockwise while wrapping the two halves around each other counter-clockwise (or vice versa). This is the same technique used for all traditional cordage worldwide. The opposing twists lock each other in place. For a bowstring, you want a tight, two-ply or three-ply cord.
**Forming the string:** Twist a cord slightly longer than your desired string. Form loops at each end by bending the cord back on itself and serving (tightly wrapping) the loop with thinner fibre. The loops sit in the siyah string nocks.
Wax the finished string with beeswax for moisture resistance and friction reduction.
### Thumb Ring (Antler)
Find a shed antler with a section thick enough to slice a cross-sectional ring that fits your thumb. Cut a disc roughly 2 cm wide with a saw, then hollow out and shape the inner hole to fit snugly.
The ring should have a lip or ridge on the inner (palm) side that catches the string. Smooth and polish with progressively fine stones or sand.
---
## Assembly Order
1. Shape the mulberry core and bend the recurves
2. Splice on the hornbeam siyahs (hide glue + binding)
3. Glue horn strips to the belly (if using horn)
4. Apply sinew layers to the back — several days of layering and drying
5. Let the bow rest and cure for at least 2–3 weeks
6. Rough tiller — carefully, on a tillering tree
7. Seal with pine pitch / beeswax
8. Wrap with birch bark if desired
9. Fit grip leather
10. String and final tiller
Total timeline from dried wood to shooting: roughly a month of active work spread over the sinew curing period.