Any Central Pa Bowyers?

[PrimitiveVsns76]

I know this is a long shot but I was interested to see if there are any Bowyers in or around Central Pa., if so are there any willing to give a few pointers?

[skarhand]

How central, lol? I live in northern tier PA (Bradford County).

Not that I could provide a lot of pointers, but at least we could compare broken bows. HA.

[PrimitiveVsns76]

I'm from Marysville, about 15-20 mins North West of Harrisburg.

[blackhawk]

There used to be a couple guys close to Harrisburg on here,but i dont see them around or post much recently...trapper rob might be semi close to ya...I'm in west pa...as is Roy...rps3(Bob) is out near Latrobe...hickorybill is up in clarion and has family near Harrisburg n goes down there from time to time...

What ya need help with? You can find all the answers here online if you do your homework....also attend trad shoots within a reasonable distance n find the self bow guys n introduce yourself....there more than several trad shoots here in pa with always some self bow guys that attend

[PrimitiveVsns76]

I've read up on it a lot, watched plenty of videos as well. Basically wanted to meet one or a few guys that are into making self bows and watch them and have them watch me. I bought an Osage stave about two years ago and tried getting it down to one growth ring but ended up going past so tried going to the next and went through that one. If I can't get that down how can I move on to actually finishing a bow? Not giving up just a little frustrated.

[chessieboy]

I'm in New Bloomfield.  Pm me and I'll give you my number. Bill

[PrimitiveVsns76]

Rather than ruin this Osage stave on my first attempt at making a self bow are there any indigenous woods I can practice with? I have a lot of Maple, Oak, Walnut, and some Locust on my property, are these suitable?

[blackhawk]

Yup...all those will work n make sure the maple is sugar maple...all but the locust you can remove the bark and that's the back of your bow,and the locust is best to chase a heartwood ring....you should have hickory and elm too,and eastern hophornbeam as well...make sure the bark runs straight up the tree and doesn't have any twist like a barber pole,and is clean n free of any major knots,cat faces,or blemishes....don't get stuck on one of those species,and just try to find the best one without those defects I mentioned ....if you were closer I'd let ya have some wood for free n help ya out chasing a ring on that osage...

[rps3]

If you want to travel  just south of Ebensgurg, I can definetly help you out chasing a ring. I also have plenty of seasoned hickory or ash and would give you a couple staves to get started. Let me know.