New member intoduction

[Kirkll]

Howdy folks,

This is my first post over here. So i thought i'd introduce myself with a little back ground. My name is Kirk. i'm an old carpenter by trade that leans more towards craftsmanship than the modern day title implies.

In the last 3 years of my self imposed bowyers apprenticeship, i have devoted myself to mastering this trade in all it's various forms. a lot of guys tell me i've been going about this  backwards by getting into glass and carbon backed, high performance stuff right out of the chute like i have. a lot of bowyers have told  me in the past that  self bows, or board bows are a good place to start out. Well that may vary well be true for some, but not for this old carpenter. i knew darn well what i was doing here. there is nothing very romantic about grinding lamination's, and  fiberglass.  And carbon is even nastier stuff yet to work with, but using composite materials has given insight to the unbelievable dynamics involved in building a bow.

 i was always afraid to get into the fine art of building self bows to early, because i was afraid i wouldn't want to go back into building with composites again.....that still may hold true....

So now i've come to the root of the bowyers trade, and i think i'm ready to start this adventure. i look forward to getting to know some of you folks over here, and hopefully get some guidance in the art of manipulating wood under tension.

Sincerely,    Kirk
 

[knightd]

You can still build all wood lam bows along with self bows.. good to have you..

[Pat B]

Welcome aboard, Kirk. This is THE place to come to learn wood bow building.
  I disagree with your critics. Building wood bows(especially selfbows) and glass lam bows are two entirely different processes to a similar end. Lam bows are engineered, as you know by adding components to make up a bow. With selfbows you take away everything away that doesn't look like a bow.  I tried to build one glass lam bow(Bingham Projects) but it failed before I ever strung it. After years of being a marine mechanic for years I had enough fiberglass work to last a lifetime. The warmth and personality of selfbows is what keeps me coming back to make more after 25 years of it. Each one is individual and everyone has it's own challenges.
  Ask any questions you may have and post lots of pics for us to look at. We love pics!!!

[Dano]

Long time no see Kirk!! Welcome. Some how I knew you'd be building selfbows one day.

[Kirkll]

thanks guys!

oh i've still got a bunch of different bow building projects going, and probably will for some time. but i just recieced this beautiful piece of wood from DCM.     it's an osage stave that's going to look kinda silly leaning in a corner somewhere. So i figured i better get my buns over here and figure out what i should do with this thing.


My first question right out of the chute would be what is a "Lolly Pop Stave".... my common sense says it's a sweet looking one, but honestly i don't think i'd know one from another quite yet.    David said this was NOT a lolly pop though, and had it's challenging spots. i must admidt, i see some rather interesting wood manipulation in my future to get it straight enough to hold a string.


here we go ... i'll try inserting a photo here of this stave....