Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: sleek on July 16, 2020, 10:46:17 am

Title: UK bowyers
Post by: sleek on July 16, 2020, 10:46:17 am
Who all are our long bow guys across the pond?
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: PatM on July 16, 2020, 11:36:27 am
Pip Bickerstaffe subdued them all.

 
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: stuckinthemud on July 16, 2020, 11:54:24 am
I've built a few longbows and I live over by here not over by there, does that count?
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: WhistlingBadger on July 16, 2020, 02:15:46 pm
Pip Bickerstaffe subdued them all.
ha ha ha ha ha   (lol)
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: willie on July 16, 2020, 02:42:07 pm
Pip Bickerstaffe subdued them all.

The Englishman that disses local wood and uses American hickory reminds me of those other Englishmen that wanted to keep the American oak and shipbuilding to themselves in 1776.
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: sleek on July 16, 2020, 02:43:45 pm
I dont understand,  what happened? Whats being talked about, im completely  lost
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: Tommy D on July 16, 2020, 03:37:03 pm
Does the English fellow in question at least make a nice bow with that American Hickory?
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: PatM on July 16, 2020, 09:39:39 pm
Not a self bow.
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: bownarra on July 16, 2020, 11:37:28 pm
Bickerstaffe no longer makes bows for sale....he has a couple of guys working for him.
The quality of the bows is somewhat lacking now....if you fellas saw what they are selling as a pyramid flatbow you may well be amused! 70+ long and about 2" wide at the fades....hickory backed osage....more hand shock than you could shake a stick at.....
The longbows are also a joke to be brutally honest. Massively overbuilt. A lot of people I know are bitching about the more recent bows, his reputation has taken a swallow dive off a cliff.
the pressures of having to make money eh!

Why do you ask Sleek?
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: sleek on July 17, 2020, 01:14:11 am
Well I was asking because I was contacted by some UK folks looking to have some bows made, and I'm trying to find some reputable bowyers to send them to.
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: Marc St Louis on July 17, 2020, 06:49:09 am
You could steer them towards Dell
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: Del the cat on July 17, 2020, 07:51:01 am
There are quite a lot of good amateurs and smaller scale professional bowyers.
One of the problems is that there is a proliferation of misinformation, nonsense , monetized Youtube idiots, LARP and suchlike diluting the good info out there.
That's tended to make the "old guard" keep themselves to themselves.

... I've let sleek know that if he gives me a few more details, I'll spread the word amongst those who are know what they are doing. :)
Del
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: Selfbowman on July 17, 2020, 08:28:09 am
 WOW!well said. From what if seen most all the American flat bows, English longbows that hit the salt flats being shot by European shooters come from California.😁😁😁😁 that doesn’t mean there are not some good ones over there though. Simon and others. Arvin
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: Hamish on July 17, 2020, 03:15:36 pm
There are plenty of really good UK Bowyers, on here like Dell, WillS.
I have personally bought a couple of Aidy Hayes elb. They are well made, shoot well, and are reasonably priced, though the price has increased since I bought them, but they are still reasonable. The longbow Shop usually has a good range, but is pretty bare now, I guess due to Covid related issues.

There was another really good English bowyer, Mike Roberts, of Eclipse longbows. I'm not sure if he's making them anymore as his website is down. He went down the fibreglass path, made some sweet bows of that type, but before that he was an all wood bowyer of great talent.
He had a real flair for using combinations of exotic wood.
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: PatM on July 17, 2020, 05:28:38 pm

There was another really good English bowyer, Mike Roberts, of Eclipse longbows. I'm not sure if he's making them anymore as his website is down. He went down the fibreglass path, made some sweet bows of that type, but before that he was an all wood bowyer of great talent.
He had a real flair for using combinations of exotic wood.

  You might be surprised how close he still is. ;)
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: Hamish on July 17, 2020, 08:21:35 pm
Good news if he's still on here Pat.  So many really talented bowyers seem to give up out of frustration, when trying to make a living out of it.
Its a hard slog to be successful, despite already producing awesome bows of great quality, at a reasonable price.
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: PatM on July 17, 2020, 10:00:01 pm
He's on this thread.  Not sure why he stopped building.  Those were fine looking bows, even though I'm not a glass guy at all.
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: bownarra on July 17, 2020, 11:56:22 pm
Hi :)
I only started making glass bows because that is unfortunately what sells.
I'm not trying to make a living at it anymore, just make the odd one for some pocket money and fun :)
I've gone in an entirely different direction now. One that makes a whole lot more sense when it comes to the bottom line!
Sleek let me know what these people are after I may be able to help out.
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: Hamish on July 18, 2020, 03:40:41 am
 Hey Mike, I always thought bowanarra gave excellent advice. Makes sense now that I know its you.

What's  the different different direction that you have taken, is it still something creative?
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: bownarra on July 19, 2020, 03:21:32 am
You could say that, check out the 'soil food web' :)
I still have the desire to make composites for flight shooting but making bows for sale.....nope!
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: Marc St Louis on July 19, 2020, 06:22:54 am
making bows for sale.....nope!

Know exactly what you mean
Title: Re: UK bowyers
Post by: bownarra on July 20, 2020, 12:19:28 am
Yes making stuff for yourself is, or at least can be fun...but making stuff (especially a bow and getting paid for it)  for somebody else is a whole different ball game.
I hear you Marc!