I have the bug. I have made 2 bows, (one failed and another ended up being a kids bow that is too heavy for kids to draw)
It took me forever as a I plodded through those two, but I learned a lot and now I have one in the works almost at floor tiller, and two more in the wings.
I have made my tillering gizmo, tillering stick, and plan to build a shave horse this weekend so the shavings can really start to fly.
I am looking for resources. I live in central Texas.
Staves
- We don't have a lot of osage in Central Texas. Seems to me it used to be much more common than it is today... We have some property in the hill country and I have scoured it. Lots of oak, persimmon, cedar elm, hackberry and ubiquitous cedar but alas no osage. Are there any local sources of Osage staves in central Texas?
I have bought two staves off of eBay. They would probably be considered good staves, but it would be nice to be able to inspect one in person before buying. One stave I bought appeared to be perfect candidate to be my hunting bow, but once I chased it down to a suitable ring, it was too narrow. So it will be another* kid's bow.
-Rawhide
I have a kids bow that I want to back with rawhide. Its easy to find on-line, but its not totally clear that its suitable for bows.
Do you guys have a trusted source? Is there anywhere locally you can buy the kind of rawhide we need?
thanks for your help