I saw a bunch of really cool bows on PA over the long weekend. Some were "Works of Art", others were "Work Horses", beauty in their functionality and simplicity. Many were "Works in Progress", with the makers looking for a helping hand. One post in particular struck a chord with me. A new bow maker was looking for advice on a pretty advanced build. Different people chimed in with various nuggets of wisdom. The best advise given came from Badly Bent (Greg) in my opinion. He suggested that maybe the guy/gal should try something a little less ambitious for starters (very good advice for most new bowyers) and he posted pictures of one of his early bows. Very cool bow, long, wide, flat and durable. I think it would be interesting and informative to see some of the early bows from all you guys (and gals). So, I'll start it off. And for those in our viewing audience you can play along from home.
I made my first one in 1994 I think. Tipi Stuff (Curt) had the knowledge and the staves, I brought a whole lotta "want to". Off I went, and I'm still not sure how deep the rabbit hole goes. Haven't picked my wheel bows up since. Now this bow is far from perfect. The tiller's a mess. Not enough happening in-board. The tips are nearly 1 inch wide. It's got some hand shock! But... it's made from the king of bow woods, it was a fairly clean stave with few knots or problems. It's wide at 2 inches near the fades, and though not a great tiller, it was tillered properly, slow and steady. 58 inches long, straight taper to 7/8 inch nocks. 57lbs at 27 inches. Shoot off the hand. It's shot a thousand arrows, killed several deer and hunted with me all over Texas, as well as trips to Montana, Wyoming and Utah. I've touched up the tiller on it once, but decided to just leave it as it is. Looking forward to seeing some others!
