Are we not seeing enough beginners bows?

[stuckinthemud]

Or, is this site slowing down?  All the bows I have seen posted here for a while now have been stunning.  Way past anything I have made.  Now, this is fantastic on one level, gives us something to aspire to, maybe.  It might just be me, but I wonder if it is also bad for the site.  When I started out there were plenty of us novices posting indifferent bows, and getting really kind feedback.  I wonder if novices aren’t posting so much any more?  I still post pretty much everything I make, but as I only make a couple a year, I don’t really post that often. I would say I am pretty much still a novice, although I’ve been building since maybe 2016 and am still happy to ask for help  Weirdly, I’m asking for people to just post stuff here, not just their best stuff. I only belong to a few forums and several have died as people stopped posting stuff.  They just slowed down and quietly slipped away

[Gordon]

Food for thought...

[Hamish]

The quality of beginners bows seem much higher in quality than they did in the past. I guess this is due to how much information there is on this and other sites, that help them avoid most of the pitfalls that we went through.
Also newer bowyers may not be posting their learning experience bows, that broke, or had excessive stringfollow. They could be just posting the first bow they feel confident with.

[stuckinthemud]

I think that’s kinda my point.  For a forum to die all it takes is people who are too lacking in confidence to post.  If you don’t think this site is starting to fail, check how many posts have been made in each section and compare that to last year.  Warbow, horn bows, arrows, pretty much no new posts in the last several months.  It was only a short while ago the bow page filled every day with new topics.  How many new topics have been posted today? Insecure novices are not asking questions or asking for help and the rest of us are keeping way too quiet.

[Selfbowman]

I think the interest has been lost among younger folks unfortunately. The movies gave archery interest but that has faded  and then came covid . How do a bunch old guys bring back the passions? I don’t know. It’s happened to all hunting and fishing sports.  Im listening though. Also this time of year folks have a lot going on . Good topic .

[Bob Barnes]

MoJam 25 will be in July.  I hope to get the work out and see a large group of new, as well as old, people interested in learning to make bows.  We had a great crowd for MoJam 20 and it was awesome to see old friends there.   Maybe they are just busy with the holidays right now...

[superdav95]

I think that’s kinda my point.  For a forum to die all it takes is people who are too lacking in confidence to post.  If you don’t think this site is starting to fail, check how many posts have been made in each section and compare that to last year.  Warbow, horn bows, arrows, pretty much no new posts in the last several months.  It was only a short while ago the bow page filled every day with new topics.  How many new topics have been posted today? Insecure novices are not asking questions or asking for help and the rest of us are keeping way too quiet.

I agree with you stuck… I still consider myself a novice in many ways.  That being said there has been a slow down that has been noticeable.  Not just here but other sites too.  I don’t know what the answer is entirely but I think we need to post more build along bows perhaps.   I found these were helpful for me and I learned a lot from these.  I also like books too that have a wealth of info that can be referred  to again and again.  I plan to post more build alongs I think.  What you think about this. 

[RyanY]

I see growing activity on other sites including Reddit and Facebook. I know I have seen some people ask in general if there are any moderators on PA to approve joining the forum so it seems like there might be a bottle neck in the process. There may also be a slowing of using this type of forum versus other social media platforms.

[Digital Caveman]

I've kind of felt what stuckinthemud is talking about as well. 

Personally, I haven't posted any in a long time because I don't manage more than one of two a year, and because I'm not eligible for Bow of the Month anymore.  It's also impossible to load good-quality images on this site.  I do have a new one I might throw up here later.

[Badger]

 I lost count of all the primitive sights on facebook. I think this is where they are going now. One decent or good bowyer can either get a group started or join a new group and get 30 or 40 guys going building bows. New groups springing up daily. PA might have just run its course. I refer guys here all the time but I never see them show up.

[Del the cat]

It's a shame because they don't know what they are missing. The in depth knowledge and explanations you get on here are so much better than the few lines you get on Facebook, which can be a bit confrontational, with no shortage of trolls and 'armchair experts'.
If I have a question, this is where I come.
Del

[superdav95]

It's a shame because they don't know what they are missing. The in depth knowledge and explanations you get on here are so much better than the few lines you get on Facebook, which can be a bit confrontational, with no shortage of trolls and 'armchair experts'.
If I have a question, this is where I come.
Del

Good point del. 

[Eric Krewson]

I post less than I once did, I call it question answering burn-out, I have been helping people with their questions since 96. There are a few old timers left here that sill answer questions so If I see the question has been answered by one of them, I keep quiet.

I am the same way on the Facebook sites, if there are already 35 comments about a guy's question, I don't bother to read any of them because what I would say has probably already been said. The problem with Facebook sites is you have a bunch of people that don't know squat about bowmaking putting out some really bad advice about how to do this and that. 75% of the advice on the various Facebook bow building sites is bogus.

Another thing I have run into is a flood of questions sent to me by PM on the M/L sites. I have taken pictures of everything I do in my shop, be it making bows or building flintlock rifles. When I post and answer on the M/L sites it is in depth with pictures to illustrate what to do or not do.

For the last 4 or 5 years people have been skipping the search feature and forums and asking me directly how to do stuff by PM. I cater to beginner questions and there is no shortage of guys with little or no experience that wasn't a private tutor.

My normal day would be to start answering questions at 7:00 while eating breakfast and not finishing up until 10:30 or 11:00. It wasn't unusual for a person to send me a PM with 5 or more in depth gunsmithing questions in the same PM.

I finally threw my hands up and posted "enough is enough" on the PM questions, they slowed down but I still got a few. I don't give the in-depth answers anymore and give them a link to where they can find what they are looking for.

I figured out everything in bow and flintlock building by trial and error, lots of errors but I am a crafty guy who likes a challenge.

Aparently others want all the answers handed to them and I am burned out as the answer man.

[Zugul]

I'm very slowly making progress on my new little bow, so in the next few days I'll post something 

[Muskyman]

I’ve been trying to learn how to flintknap and it’s getting into my bow making time. I thought it was going to be quick enough to learn but, it turns out it’s very difficult to do. I do plan on making another bow this winter. I’ve made a few that never got posted, I think. I have noticed that it seemed a little slower but, I just figured it had to do with the time of year. Lots of experience on here and I’d hate to see it be gone.