About building bows!

[Badger]

       One thing I enjoy most about this hobby is watching new guys develop as bowyers. Something I see over and over again is relatively new bowyers putting out bows that rival the quality of the most experienced bowyers on here. This can only mean one thing to me and that is we are constantly handing down the information we have picked up. free sharing of information gives th new guys a jump start and they will often have time to take things even a step further than the generation before them because of the jump start they got. I am a firm believer in constructive criticism and no pussy footing around or patronizing. I like to think when I pay someone a compliment on their bow they know I really mean it and am not just trying to encourage them. I also believe that getting to soft in critiquing bows does nothing but serve to lower the over all quaility of what we should expect from ourselves. Bows do not have to have handshock. Primitive bows can be expected to perform at relatively high levels. Primitive bows do not have to have excessive string follow and should not be considered good if they do. Perfect tillers can only be judged if you know the front view of a bow. A picture of a bow tells us nothing about that bows shooting characteristics. Striving for high performance levels does not make one overly competitive or does not demean others work in any way. Taking pride in the finish on a bow and showcasing your craftsmanshp has to be a good thing in my eyes. I think most importantly we should take the hobby at our own pace and just enjoy it for what it is worth to us at what ever level we choose to enjoy it, and not be too hard on ourselves for not starting off building like guys who have been at it for awhile. Steve

[Pat B]

Thanks Steve. Nicely said.       Pat

[Hillbilly]

Amen. Good thoughts, Steve.

[Ryano]

Thanks Steve. 

[mullet]

   I'm in total agreement Steve, well said.

[Little John]

Yep, you are exzactly right.   Kenneth

[wytetale]

I totally agree with you, steve. I have a passion for building bow, its a hobby that i really enjoy and am willing to share everythink that i know to help out the guys that want to learn. I only get a chance to build bows on my days off. I was just informed that i could no longer post pictures of my bows on another site unless I become a sponsor because i sell a few bows to pay for my materials. I have never advertised my bows on any forums, I have a job. Anyway this is a really great site that the guys have going here and the amount of information is endless, Some time this summer i want to start learing how to build selfbows and I know i can get all the help I need here.                                                   Wytetale

[David Long]

Well, thanks to guys like you Steve leading the way we all have opportunity to learn. Something I think you might be getting at in your post: Are there better ways people can post the performance of their bows? I mean, I see all these absolutely lovely bows and most times I am left wondering how well they perform. I don't doubt that many are great. I know everyone doesn't have a chrono or other gadgetry, but I wish we had more simple benchmarks that could be posted. Imagine if, for example, BOTM in addition to visuals used performance benchmarks as criteria for evaluation. We would all learn a lot from this.
Dave

[Badger]

David, I think that their finaly might be an answer to your question. This is a general bow building forum. performance results can vary so widely from shooter to shooter and how they are tested that they are almost useless to post unless you know the guy taking the readings has some experience testing bows. There have are a couple of forums that have cropped up that are more performance oriented and they discuss testing procedures as well as actual performance numbers. It's not a bad thing to have several forums on your list of places you visit each day. I knew a guy once that was posting horrible numbers, but after putting a normal string on the bow and drawing it back to 28" and giving it a clean release the bow actually was pretty fast. Likewise bows that are not really all that exceptional can be tested with tiny fast flight strings and given a fast flightshooters type release and come off as a fast bow. I do think that if the bowyers wanted to post a view of their bow from all sides as well as a force draw curve it would be appreciated by many. That would give you a pretty good idea of how that bow was actually shooting without even shooting it. Bow makers are also holding an annual contest called "walk the talk" where bow makers can send in their bows for a public testing under controlled conditions on an equal playing field. The entrees are both modern and primitive. Many of the bowyers sending in their bows are not looking to be the fastest but just verify that they are building a good bow. I am always in favor of taking things that extra step further but can also appreciate those that really just enjoy the process of building a bow. After 10 years of building bows I will still grab any stick that looks like it has a bow in it and give it a whirl. I guess I am addicted to the "bend" honeymoon is still going strong. Steve

[Kegan]

Couldn't agree more. As a beginner, I like crititicism from those of you who know about this stuff. Helps me learn- alot. I know no one means it in a bad way, the people here are too nice for that .

My favorite bow has alot of string follow and it shoots fine though. But it is 80#. That still counts, right ?

[David Long]

Badger, by performance I do not mean just speed, although I know that is your forte, so to speak . It's nice to hear a lot about a bowyers goals at the outset, then how well the bow met those goals once all is said and done. You frequently allude to this type of thing in your posts, and I find it very helpful and interesting.
Dave

[Pappy]

Well said Steve,Thanks I think we needed that.
   Pappy

[Skeaterbait]

I too agree but will have to be the odd man out on part of it. I have seen critisism that was done very respectfully and constructively but I have also seen some comments that as I read them I felt bad for the person recieving it. Yes, give the constuction and teaching of pointing out flaws, mistakes and the like but remember that the people learn differently and unless you know that person personally you don't know if they can take a comment like "bad tiller" with nothing added after it.

[Justin Snyder]

Steve, I know I have benefited from guys like you who are willing to share their knowledge. I remember the first selfbow I posted.  Marc StLouis told me that it was a little stiff at midlimb.  Someone told him he was being to critical on a new guy.  I fixed the problem and the bow is still one of my favorites to shoot.  I truly appreciate the criticism because it was a limb layout I had never worked with before.  It really helped me evaluate that bow and other new styles that I have tried.  Sometimes it is difficult to accept criticism. But everyone needs to remember not to take offense when none was meant.  Justin

[Phillip K]

I sure Have learned a lot from all of You,I'm an  over the Hill Beginner.