I am new to this site and have to say I am very impressed. I have spent the last few days checking out the various threads and have already picked up a lot of great ideas. I have been obsessed with making my own bows for the better part of a year now and have made a few one piece board bows. May favorite shooter right now is a 72",55lb, red oak pyramid bow I made last fall. My compound bow had sat collecting dust for a long time as I was just bored with it until my wife decided she wanted to learn archery. Thinking she was interested in compound I went out and did the research ahead of time and had a pretty good idea of what to steer her toward in that regard. To my surprise when I took her out shopping she wouldn't even look at the compounds, she was there for a traditional bow and that was it. After a few visits to the bowshop searching for her just right first bow I was just as interested in making the change as she was. We ended up purchasing a nice little starter longbow for her and I would probably have purchased one myself but funds were a little low and it was after all her birthday and not mine.
I went home and started online searching for a bow for me and of course that led to you tube and you tube led me to DIY videos and as a pretty handy guy with a shop full of tools and always looking for a project I was hooked.
Presently my passion is asian style bows and so far I've built and sawn into firewood half a dozen prototypes in search of something unique. Not sure exactly what category I may fall into on this site but I hope there is a place for me here. The one thing all my research has shown me is that there is no right way to build a bow. Thru the history of man there has been thousands of cultures and everyone has had there own bow built from different materials and put together in different ways. I like to describe it as 75% science and 75% art. The fun is in what you can do with that extra 50%.
So currently I am trying to make a mid sized bow with large siyahs, a fairly modern handle shape, and laminated limbs of alternating wood and fibreglass. The end goal is a is a hi performance, fairly weather proof, hunting bow with a very traditional appeal. Most importantly to make it unique and different from anything else out there.
If you guys/girls are interested in what I'm up to will gladly start a thread and show you what I'm up and share ideas.
