The Men Behind The Bow

[arachnid]

Hi Guys!

Well, I feel a bit bad for the whole "showdown" thing that started in my thread.
I think it went a bit over the line and the atmosphere wasn't`t so good.
So, I thought- Why  not get to know each other a bit better? Know the men behind the bows?
I guess some of you already know each other personally, but thee are few new members in this
great forum (including myself) that don`t know the people here. Not to mention that
some of use are from overseas (including myself).

So, I`ll start-
My name is Dor, I`m 30 years old.Married +3.
I live in Israel and I`m a 9th grade teacher.
I started building bows about a year ago, after having a fun experience shooting a bow for the first
time in my life. I`m still learning the trade but getting pretty good at this. Learned a lot
from this forum. Besides bowyering, I also draw and paint (mainly fantasy themes paintings).

Well, that's me in my little corner of the world....

You are all welcome to share...

[H Rhodes]

Hello Dor and,  if I haven't said so yet, welcome to the site and this addictive bow building forum.  Don't feel bad about your post.  Yours was an innocent question and what followed had nothing to do with you.  Some of these guys have been on here a long time and are very passionate about their views.  I have only been on here a few years, but I think I can attest that disagreements like this one are the exception to the rule.  Don't let it dampen your enthusiasm and please continue to post your questions, as we all learn from the discussions that follow - even ones as spirited as the "showdown"    Oh, and I am Howard, age 49, from Alabama, USA.     

[Slackbunny]

Real name is Jeremy and I'm 25 years old. I'm from Fredericton, New Brunswick in Canada. Been building bows for a few years now. I'm a mechanical engineer and I work for a company that builds custom fire trucks.

Israel eh? What kind of bow wood do you have around there?

[arachnid]

Thanks for the warm welcome Howard 

Israel eh? What kind of bow wood do you have around there?

Nice to meet you Jeremy.
In Israel it`s forbidden by law to cut any tree, so I build my bows from boards only.
As for boards, the commons are- Oak (white/red), Beech, Ipe, Maple.
You can get other stuff too, but it`s not so wide spread... you`ll have to drive for a while...
But we Don`t have any  Osage nor Hickory....

[Knapper]

Dor,
Shalom, and nice to meet you. My name is David, I own an auto repair business. Started building bows several years ago and like you built board bows for some time. Don't visit this thread as often as I should, as the handle implies, I spend most of my time on the flintknapping side of the arrow. Again welcome and enjoy the ride!
Knapper

[NeolithicMan]

FORBIDDEN BY LAW TO CUT TREES!!!!! man my world would end , nothing beats an axe and bow saw in hand as I hunt down the perfect tree. Is that law due to over harvesting or is there another reason. I dtartsd following the showdown thread and its obvious how passionate most of us can be about our craft. even when tempers may flare, its only proof that we have ourselves fully vested in this ancient and magical art.

Anyways, Im John from central NY. I am 24 years old, and have been bitten by the bowyer bug BAD! From the first ash sapling I split and whittled down for the first "attempt" at a bow, to my latest meat hook recurve I am addicted. I work in car parts manufacturing, thats fancy talk for factory man. but I escape the drudgery of work with wood shavings, my fiancé and our two year old son (who also likes to "help" make and shoot bows)

To bad you are so far away arachnid, other wise I would try to send you some staves of wood so you can try your hand at a self bow. also, are you really into spiders? or was that just the coolest screen name you could think of?

[arachnid]

FORBIDDEN BY LAW TO CUT TREES!!!!! man my world would end , nothing beats an axe and bow saw in hand as I hunt down the perfect tree. Is that law due to over harvesting or is there another reason. I dtartsd following the showdown thread and its obvious how passionate most of us can be about our craft. even when tempers may flare, its only proof that we have ourselves fully vested in this ancient and magical art.

Anyways, Im John from central NY. I am 24 years old, and have been bitten by the bowyer bug BAD! From the first ash sapling I split and whittled down for the first "attempt" at a bow, to my latest meat hook recurve I am addicted. I work in car parts manufacturing, thats fancy talk for factory man. but I escape the drudgery of work with wood shavings, my fiancé and our two year old son (who also likes to "help" make and shoot bows)

To bad you are so far away arachnid, other wise I would try to send you some staves of wood so you can try your hand at a self bow. also, are you really into spiders? or was that just the coolest screen name you could think of?

Well, Israel is a small place. If people will go about cutting trees, there will be none left.

About my nickname- I actualy hate spiders!
When I was 14 I watched starship troopers and it was so cool I started calling myself Arachnid in every forum. Has been my nick ever since.

[wizardgoat]

Hey! It's illegal to cut trees in many areas, but there's ways around it. A branch isn't technically a tree!
My names Ryan, Im 30, I live in Vancouver BC and work as an air conditioning and refrigeration mechanic.
Started target shooting a couple years ago, but have only been building bows for about 5 months.
Being bit by the big is an understatement, I've finished 5 bows, have 3 others with sinew curing, and am working on number 6. Not to mention my shed is full of seasoning vine maple, yew, hazelnut and pacific dogwood.  I love tree indentifying, (and cutting)
I get huge satisfaction from making shavings, it's very meditative to me, and I'm sure all of you. Really teaches you patience, and to sloooow down.
A couple years ago I experienced a huge loss in losing my brother very suddenly.
I can't even begin to explain how important archery and making bows has been to my mindset. I lose myself in a piece of wood, and I love it.
Welcome aboard!

[Bogaman]

Steve White here. Been building bows since 92'. Older than dirt. Come and go in the cyber world. To damn many irons in the fire:^(
Forced into retirement  because of health issues. Seems like I'm always busy tho. Too much type A in my genes.
On occasion can poke a little fun at the fact that we primitive archers use a lot of 'power tools'. And I don't mean hatchets.
At first I was amused at the bantering on the mentioned thread, but some of the comments made were out of line. For whatever reason, they were uncalled for.
Here is a picture of my 2nd bow made in 92/93. It appears to have a hinge in the top limb. The log had a serious dogleg at one end. I left it and tried to tiller accordingly;^)

[Blaflair2]

My name is Bruce, I live in central NY. I work with john(neolithicman) I have a busy life. I have a house of 6 kids and a wonderful soon to be wife. John and I were bitten around the same time and just fed each other's fire. I've been building for a little over a year. I have quite a few bows in process. Couple put down till I gain further knowledge. Those are special. I don't wanna ruin em. The bond u can get from making a shooting Bow is amazing. U and a log make almost a relationship. Sometimes u yell at it, sometimes u talk sweet to it. Some times it does u right, some times it let's go. But I always want more.

I don't believe ur at fault at all, just some grown folk problems. All of which could have been hatched out privately. What if new members read this, or guests?

[JonW]

Welcome Dor, glad to have you. This is a good site in general and like anything else you have to sort it out for yourself. My name is Jonathan and I started making bows after learning flint knapping. Got a few under my belt and for me it's the making process that I like. Once I get one shooting I'm on to the next. Be very carefull my friend, this hobby will make a hoarder out of you before you've even realized it's happen. Have fun and be sure to post your work.

[arachnid]

Welcome Dor, glad to have you. This is a good site in general and like anything else you have to sort it out for yourself. My name is Jonathan and I started making bows after learning flint knapping. Got a few under my belt and for me it's the making process that I like. Once I get one shooting I'm on to the next. Be very carefull my friend, this hobby will make a hoarder out of you before you've even realized it's happen. Have fun and be sure to post your work.

Ohh I'm in to bow building badly! Very addictive stuff! My wife doesn't understand why I need more then one bow. It's something you can't explain. I have one friend in Israel that makes bows. He's the only one that gets me...

[mullet]

When I was in Beersheba in December I had a hard time keeping myself away from those old, Olive trees. They just looked like they wanted to be a bow. If I lived there I'd probably spend most of my time knapping. I've never seen so much good rock in my life.

[arachnid]

When I was in Beersheba in December I had a hard time keeping myself away from those old, Olive trees. They just looked like they wanted to be a bow. If I lived there I'd probably spend most of my time knapping. I've never seen so much good rock in my life.

So I guess it's normal to look at every tree as a bow to be?  Good, now I know I'm not nuts....

[paoliguy]

Hello Dor, I am a 51 year old relative new comer here myself. I'm from a small town in southern Indiana (Paoli - thus the handle). I grew up with recurve bows and  went the compound route for a while. Eventually I became so disillusioned with the compound I just gave up on archery. I ran across my old recurve a couple of years back and the spark rekindled. I introduced my kids to archery and it's became a fun family activity at our house.

I got interested in bow building a couple of years back and do it for fun. Board bows mostly but I have a couple of hickory stave bows under my belt. I simply love relaxing and carving away on a bow. I will never be as "serious" as some folks but I will always have fun doing my thing. If it ever stops being fun, I will take up something else. Can't imagine how it could ever stop being fun though!

Mark - the guy from Paoli - Bruner