WS, as a former architect myself, and after building a dozen board bows and am now completing my first stave bow, I have to say, for me, it's has been more satisfying making this stave bow. Originating from a tree cut down in my yard, hand splitting it into staves, taking one stave and shaping it with hand tools into bow form, etc., patiently drying it, and now doing final tillering....it's been a wonderful experience so far. In the beginning, board bows were exciting, but after a while, the challenge lessened there. I kinda figured out the formula with the limited kinds of wood that were available to me. Staves are more challenging and definitely more satisfying. It's like Mies van der Rohe vs. Antoni Gaudi in architecture, I suppose. Balance in modernism vs. the implied freedom that free form provides. Both styles work, but one is more, like I would say of stave bows, more challenging.
