I'm enjoying reading this. I appreciate Jawge's point. I was just thinking the other day about how great it is to have the internet to learn about things so quickly! I thought how hard it would be to learn to make bows if I couldn't just go over to my computer and read Gordon's build alongs or all the many other very well put together build alongs or just click over to Jawge's site or others....It's so awesome!
I consider myself lucky. I am lucky that so many cool people gather in one place and are willing to share!
I think making bows is the most difficult simple thing I've ever done.
It's amazing to think that bending a stick, putting a string on it and launching another stick can be such a complicated yet simple process. It's simple in concept and very often difficult in execution. I think most would agree that there have been bows that just seemed like the most agonizing frustrating and satisfying to build and others just seem to happen with out much effort...strange.
The idea seems so straight forward then add to it all the variations and combinations and variety of woods and glues and tools and other materials not to mention the seemingly infinite kinds of designs and styles and variations of all the above....something about it is so appealling. The simple complexity is gripping and has a way of captivating your imagination, your mind heart and spirit all at the same time! AWESOME!
I started making bows because the boy scouts wanted to do it for an activity and I needed to learn how to do it so I could teach them! So after I made two bows I started teaching them....I had no choice.
We had some crappy ones some broken ones and some really nice ones but nothing can replace the smile you see and the light in their eyes when you see them shoot a bow that THEY made for the first time! I've since taught some other scout leaders how to make bows and they are teaching their boys.
They came over one Saturday morning and were expecting me to teach them to make a bow in an hour! Can you imagine that? I took them through the process, explained how we did it, showed them bows at varying stages of the process, showed them a tillering tree, explained the tillering process, told them to read TBB Vol 1 and gave them this site as references, told them it was probably a good idea to "use hickory because you have a better chance of making a bow that works even if your tillering is not great.." then sent them off thinking they would be calling me for help. I didn't hear anything for a while. Two months later I saw one of those guys and asked them how it was going. He smiled and said "we're almost done." I'm not sure if they call themselves bowyers or even if they have heard of that term but I know they are having a lot of fun. Just like we did and still are. Now all the younger boys can't wait to move up to our group so THEY can make a bow! ....what have I started....
Anyway. Some of my thoughts on this. I have made bows and taught others but I still feel very much like a beginner. It seems like the more I learn the more I learn there is more to learn...
Am I a bowyer. Yep! Probably level 2 or 3.
I look forward to the next level!
