HOW MANY BOWS DID YOU MAKE ?

[George Tsoukalas]

Badger, I am amazed at the talent the newcomers have. Manny, Ryan, Gordon come to mind as well as several others I can't remember. It is a wonderful thing! Jawge

[stiknstring]

I have made ummmmm lets see....8 kids bows now (with two more half finished since my knife making detour) I have only made four adult sized bows (with Pappy's osage and a bamboo backed ipe bow in various stages now) And another ten tomato stakes that I had completed (or is that takedown bows) early in my carreer (hobby?) I guess that brings my total to about 22 or so attempts with the result being an even dozen shooters with four more in the works and a fifth that I need to get started on for a trade in July.

I only have 78 bows to go I guess to reach that magical number of 100....I will not count broken bows since I feel that if they don't survive a couple hundred arrows/draw cycles then they arent really bows

[backgardenbowyer]

Nine so far - in about 18 months.  One broke on the tiller, one broke during testing and one works great but has chrysalled so I don't shoot it any more.  I shoot three of them regularly all in different classes for field archery.  One is an an ELB, one a primitive and one counts as an American Flat Bow under British rules.

Each time I finish one I'm planning the next!  Maybe its time to start giving some away.

[Badger]

Stik, broken bows count, there all experience getters. Steve

[stiknstring]

LOL...good thing because I just reread my post and BOY was my math screwed up.  A dozen shooters would mean that I need 88 more to hit 100.  Since you said the brokens count Steve, I will hang onto my original 78 more to go figure.  That means that the other ten (88-78) should be SPECTACULAR lol

[Rich Saffold]

I'm around 400 bows, having had to keep track for tax purposes . It's the bows made in the 80's which are still hunting that I'm most proud of.

Rich-its a great way to kill time

[akila]

I started  in August last year...i have made 8 bows...working on my 9 right now.....i broke 2 by now...one broke trying to bend the tips to make a recurve....and on broke on the tillering tree...its just snap....so...i hope to learn a lot, and to make better bows....i also dont think that you dont realy have to do 100 bows to consider your self no longer a novice...it depends on each person skils and talent...

[bonater]

I have not kept good count but somewhere around 2 dozen bows.  My first bow was an oak board bow that I made with help from jawge's and sam harper's websites.  It had terrible set but it threw arrows.  I still have it though I am not sure it is shootable anymore because I tweaked on it too much.  A good many of the bows I make broke on me shortly after finishing them or while tweaking on them and I still have the peices of many of them laying around the garage.  One those broken ones was an osage self bow that I am currently trying to salvage.  I spliced the pieces together and sinewed the heck out of it.  It is not finished but I shot about a dozen arrows through it yesterday. My three best ones are a 60@26" osage selfbow which is my hunter, a 47#@26" elm selfbow and a bamboo backed ipe that is 48#@26".

[recurve shooter]

lol, i made 1 that was worth anything, that was a red cedar self. beutiful till i broke it when the dangleing string got caught under the 4 weeler tire. i have broke about 6 though. as they say, i break 12 and i might start makeing some good ones. im still trying to get the tillering down.

[El Destructo]

Badger, I am amazed at the talent the newcomers have. Manny, Ryan, Gordon come to mind as well as several others I can't remember. It is a wonderful thing! Jawge

I too am in Awe of the Designs that you people come up with...I am not in any way ....in a League with most of the Bowyers on this Site....I am a Humble Bow Builder of the Old Ways....I have never built Laminated....overlays....fancy nocks....glitzy Grips....Hell I couldn't ....I can build Injun Bows ....cause thats what I was taught...and have never had the guts or ambition to do anything different....call me Old Fashion....or just OLD!!!! I am living Proof that an Old Dog just likes to be left Alone!!!

[benjamin]

I've made something around 90. 50 of those were before I had any idea what I was doing and I probably broke 49 of them. : (  Many of the others took horrible set because I wanted a narrow short bow to draw 80lbs or so. My heavyest was a 103lb bamboo pole bow from when I was ... 15? (I've always been kinda strong). My last 15 or so actually shot somewhere around half decent. My last 4 are bows that I'm proud of so,... lets just say that I've made 4. I feel like I still know nothing sinse the stuff in TBB is just finally starting to sink in. I really consider myself a total novice.

[recurve shooter]

thats the way you gotta be. ya get cocky ya screw up. that how it work.

[mullet]

  I've made about 40 Keeper's. Between  Jawge, Marc, Rich, Keenan, Pappy, Pat, Gordon, Manny, Ryan and all the new guy's on here, and broken bows, and the internet, I do not think that Mister Pope or Youngs' estimate would figure in to Modern bowyer society.

[recurve shooter]

i dont get it but im sure its safe to agree!

[radius]

i guess i've made about 30...but i'm definitely still a novice, because i keep trying new ways to make 'em!  i want to post a build along on here, making two osage board bows at once, slightly different from each other, and watch the progress...they are 62 inches long, and just under 1.5 inches wide, and i'm aiming for 65# pull...

but i am not sure how to start a thread/ post a buildalong....anyone help?  thanks