How many times have we all wished we could have a second chance, a do-over, one more time? Another shot at that elk we passed up on opening day because…well it was opening day and surely we'll get another. Another chance to ask that cute girl you had your eye on all year to the senior prom. An opportunity to take back something you said that you wish you hadn’t.
About a year ago I made a vine maple bow for friend who had long dreamed of owning his own. Rick had no expectation that I would make him one and so when I presented it to him he was ecstatic. From that moment on I don’t think he ever used another bow. He babied that bow like it was his most prized possession. It made me feel pretty good.
One evening I got a call from Rick. He was beside himself and practically in tears. It seems he had placed his bow on the roof of his car and then drove off. When he realized what had happened he frantically drove back but it was too late. Someone had run the bow over and it was badly mangled. By the time Rick was done detailing the damage I told him it didn’t sound like it could be repaired.
A few months passed and I met up with Rick at a meeting of local bowyers. He brought the bow with him and showed it to me. It was pretty bad with multiple limb factures, a partially broken tip, and heavy gouges on the back and belly. I brought the bow home with me and laid it on my work bench. Over the next couple of weeks I kept coming back to it and holding it. Even though it was badly damaged it still felt like a bow – it possessed a certain spirit. I decided that I would try to bring it back to life.
First I had to do something about the fractures. I mated the splinters and aligned the edges of the cracks. I then shot superglue into the works and using clamps, squeezed the cracks tight. The gouges on the back were too deep to take out so I backed the bow with rawhide. I also wrapped one of the limbs with serving thread at the point where a crack ran against the grain and off the edge. I put a similar wrap on the other limb to make things symetrical. I sanded the damage off the belly and retillered the bow. I was pleased to only lose about 5 lbs in the process. The damaged tip overlays were replaced, the rawhide covered with snake skins and the bow refinished. The specs are as follows: 62” ntn, 1 5/8” wide tapering to 3/8”, cocobolo tips, elk-hide handle with Strunk style wrap, 50# @ 27”.
I named the bow “2nd Chance”.
