buckeye i started with two ben pearson and one shakespere recurve when i was ten or twelve graduated to a bear whitetail 2 , then got started shooting 3d competitions when i was in the corps with a PSE , when i came home i dug out the old recurves and found out why i used to like shooting. from that point on i backed into wood bows, two years of making and breaking without reading the instructions .finally i found some articles by Murray Gaskins on the net, and not long after found this place and bought the tbb series.as far as im concerned i will never reinvent the wheels , i enjoy tweaking the designs and building bows based on NA designs but i will not go back to man made materials . just wouldnt be as fun. this bow was finished about my one year anniversary for successful bow building. it makes 43 and i have two more cut out and two glued up , and ten more twirling in my head . im having enough" fun for all" . ken75