Goldenwood Bows...

[TimmyDeNorCal]

...by Forrest Shattuck!!

Has anyone seen this fellow’s work? It is incredible. I do not think he posts on this site - at least I have not seen him or his work, and I have scoured through close to 1 thousand pages of posts on PA.com!!

What stands out to me is his tillering. First off, it looks impeccable...but, more interestingly, he begins his bends closer to the fades than most any other bowyer. Yes, Marc St. Louis’ bows bend out of the fades...but that is primarily, if not entirely, due to the induced deflex of his bows’ profiles, of course.

Mr. Shattuck’s bows - even his non R-Ds - appear to be bending right outside the handle. If I could post pictures I would...but, alas, I somehow still have not been able to clear that hurdle (and yes, I am ashamed of myself because my tech & computing skills are usually above average).

I have always thought that the graceful bend of a bow that starts closer to the handle is so dang attractive...but I have read so many opinions that warn against that tiller (likely to induce hand shock, excessive limb vibration/distortion, etc.). And being somewhat of a self bow speed-chaser myself, I have shied away from that tiller shape.

But after seeing Forrest Shattucks amazing work I am leaning toward giving it a go myself. Hell, I have enough staves built up in my inventory to play around now, I guess.

Anyway...was just wondering if anyone else was familiar with Mr. Shattuck’s work and then if so what their thoughts on his bows might be. Searching for “goldenwood bows” will quickly find his website if anyone is interested (and no, I am in no way related to him and I do not mean for this to be any type of advertisement...I just am a fan of his work and had yet to ever hear anything else about him anywhere on this great site!).

[bownarra]

I had a quick look and not to be a party pooper....but the bows aren't all that. The nocks on the few I looked at weren't cut in properly on the belly, the fading out of the overlays not great. Tiller also not great and his prices are phenomenal for the quality of work....
Better bowyers on here and those prices!Phew!

[Eric Krewson]

I have known Forest for a very long time thorough archery tournaments, we shot a tournament or two together way back in the 90s. I have found his bow quality has improved in leaps and bounds over the last few years, some of his latest that the posts on the Facebook selfbow group are quite stunning and I am a tough critic.

[TimmyDeNorCal]

Well, bownarra, I completely agree with you that there are some amazing bowyers here in this site.

I guess I was more impressed than you with Forrest's tillering than you. I was most intrigued with how quickly he started his bends, of course. But maybe I just don't see it as often because everyone else has decided against created that long of a working limb. Even so, adverse handling effects aside, I still find those long, sweeping bends gorgeous as all hell.

[simk]

Well, I occasionally encountered Forrests bows on facebook and I must say his bows are not perfect but definitly upper class. In fact, perfect bows do not exist. The prices are ok as long as somebody is willing to pay. Putting the bend close to the fades imho is a great thing, not many can do. Forrest can 👍 his tillering shows true love for the craft, imho.

[RyanY]

I won’t comment on Forrest’s work specifically but there can be a huge difference between a bow that looks good and well tillered and one that actually is. Unless you’ve shot one and chrono’d it you don’t know for sure. I’ve shot some absolutely beautiful bows that looked perfectly tillered and they had a ton of hand shock or were totally average.

[Eric Krewson]

He uses a tillering gizmo, I can't remember if I sent him one or not, I think I did but after sending out over 300 my memory is a little hazy about who got them.

I don't get this slamming a guys bows that none of you have ever shot, what's up with that?

[Jim Davis]

I think all my bows start bending right out of the fades. I've seen lots of them here that do.

[Eric Krewson]

Mine do as well, when I am tillering I put a board across the back of the bow on the tillering tree to watch the movement out of the fade and be sure I get some.

[George Tsoukalas]

Made many a bend in the handle bow. Bows that bend in the handle do not necessarily shock. It is all about the tiller and the limbs returning in unison. That's what produces  a good bow.

Also keep in mind that perfectly looking tillers are not the best tiller for that bow. Here is just a short example because I know no one listens.  Bows with knots ...the knotted areas should appear slightly stiffer than the rest of the limb.

Jawge

[bownarra]

He uses a tillering gizmo, I can't remember if I sent him one or not, I think I did but after sending out over 300 my memory is a little hazy about who got them.

I don't get this slamming a guys bows that none of you have ever shot, what's up with that?

Slamming a guys bows??? Who is doing that? Why exaggerate? I've made enough of these bendy sticks that I can tell how a bow is going to shoot by the limb profile and tiller - from many hundreds of bows experience.
When somebody asks their customers top dollar for their work it had better be pretty special. Simple as that. I would expect no flaws....I see flaws, that to be honest simply shouldn't be there.
Saying that all bows should bend out of the fades....doesn't really mean much either. However without pictures that show the differences we are comparing apples to oranges....and peoples feelings are going to get hurt haha. There are plenty of overly sensitive folks out there....
Remember 'one sword sharpens another'. Without healthy debate what is the point of these forums. Should we all just say oh what a wonderful bows and disregard what we can see?

[Eric Krewson]

I have made more than a few bows myself in the last 26 years, I can't really judge a bow unless I shoot it or see it shoot, even the prettiest bow can be a dog in the performance department. I have made bows that looked like works of art but just didn't have it, for me it is all about the wood you use, no way you can judge that from just a glance.

We have a lot of osage where I live but not enough to pick and choose, it is pretty much cut what you can find. I probably had close to 300 osage staves at one time, I called them the good, the bad and the ugly. Over time I came to realize what wood type would make a great bow and what would make a so-so bow. Only my best wood went out in bows that I sold, I gave the so-so bows away to people just starting out and not really committed to selfbows.  I made most of my bows in an era before heat treating came on the scene, this has definitely been a game changer for bow performance in my later bows.

I should add that I bamboo backed a lot of the so so wood, glued in a reflex it transformed average wood into really high performing bows, I made between 50 and 60 of these bows. When selfbow tournament classes allowed these bows a lot of my serious tournament shooters preferred the bamboo backed bows. I found very little performance difference in these bows and a fiberglass laminated bow.

[Marc St Louis]

Never heard of the guy.  Had a look and they are reasonably well tillered but the one I looked at was actually bending too much out of the fades and not enough mid-limb.  Bows tillered like that will invariably take set in the inner limbs over time which will affect performance. 

Jim's bow is well tillered

[JW_Halverson]

I see his stuff online here and there. They are attractive enough. I do think that some of his tillering is not top shelf and some is. I think that puts him in the same category as me...inconsistent. Apparently, some people have decided his work is worth the price, because he sells a few.

[meanewood]

Hey George, I'm listening and agree.
Perfect tiller should only look perfect if the stave was straight and had no imperfections such as knots.
If the stave has areas of reflex and deflex and or knots and imperfections then the tiller should reflect that otherwise its not perfect, it just looks that way.
I seldom steam or dry heat a stave to get it straight, instead tillering the stave to reflect the shape.