HOW MANY BOWS DID YOU MAKE ?

[koan]

7 or 8 so far, 1 broke.....but it was cuz mullet set me up! ....Brian

[Dustybaer]

5 hickory board bows, 1 black locust character bow (that a compound shooter was kind enough to break for me by proving that bows tillerd to 25" don't handle a 31" draw too well) and one osage stave bow.  have two more osage, one boo-backed elm and one hickory in the works plus a black locust, an elm, a boo-backed elm and 3 more hickory waiting their turn.   now that's what i call a novice   

[Gordon]

Working on number 26 now. I got a long ways to go before I hit the 100 mark

[Badger]

     I have built a lot of bows but I would have to say that a lot of them were quickie board bows that I used for running experiments. I normaly do about 1 stave bow a week sometimes 2. And will usually do a couple boo or hickory backed bows a week. I rarely do any finish work as building bows is basicaly my morning entertainment when i drink my coffee. I am addicted to the bend and the rush i kind of get in that last few inches of tiller. I never have been a perfectioneist either or I couldnt have built so many bows. This last few months I have slowed down considerably and have actually been spraying finishes on a good share of my bows. I don't feel much need for experimenting anymore for the moment at least but still enjoy the process of building bows very much. This year I plan to just do stave bows once I finish getting my flight bows together for the once a year flight shoot. I think since the first of the year I have probably built less than 20. Steve

[bambule]

Hi there,

been up to about 50 - building bows for 4 years now. But only a hand full are good ones - a lot of are testobjects to learn tillering or just "low weight ones" which are still in a corner of my shop - waiting to get ready or to end up in the fire. These days I've learned such a lot about heat treating and tillering to the end and finishing a bow. I think I will build only some bows this year but good ones with a good tiller and a finish. I've learned that every bow you build is a new one and with some staves or some specials I'm still a novice.

Greetz

Cord

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

welcome bambule.

Gordon, 26 ?....I've would have guessed 260

[Pappy]

I was thinking the same thing Northshore,I have seen a bunch of you guys bows
and only wished some of my early ones looked and shot like that.I gave up on trying
to keep up with them several years ago,I use to# each one but I would say 150-200
and been pretty deeply involved in many many more.
   Pappy

[Marc St Louis]

I haven't bothered to even try to remember in many years. Several hundred but certainly not in the thousands

[Far East Archer]

Hmm I have made about 50 bows, +/- 10. Out of that, I still have 5, while the others I gave away, pushed to the limits after I made it or was broken by someone else...you probably can guess the reason if it has happened to you before.

-Alex

[DanaM]

The one I finished last night makes 34 since I started in Nov of 2006, 20 or so board bows, several that broke,
lots that took a ton of set, some that were down right fugly. But I have to say even the fugly one and the ones that took set would
still be capable of hunting with. Beauty and performance ain't every thing.

[Woodland Roamer]

I've not counted but I guess only about 12 or so for me so far. But three out of the first four were junk. 

Alan

[GregB]

I'm not sure, probably between 50 to 75 I would guess. But like Pappy, I've been involved with a lot more while helping others.

Greg

[DCM]

I'd guess around 75.  But like a lot of folks I would not call the first 25 bows really.  They shot an arrow but had lots of issues.  The last 25 I'd say were good enough I would not have any regrets or make any excuses for.  Some folks take to it much more quickly than others and I put myself in the slow learner group.  But I did take a non-typical approach, perferring to experiment on my own versus following verbatim the dogma, or challenging it in my projects.  Also in the sense I didn't make the same bow over and over, preferring a variety of materials and designs.  I've never really had as a goal to make a perfect bow, only to have fun at it and to try to improve in both my understanding and crafting with each new project, focusing more on process than product.  I've been at it long enough to have changed my opinion on a number of critical aspects though, the lesson being I'm not sure one ever really learns it all.  More like chasing your tail around the mulberry tree enough times that you begin to recognize the scenery, then you have the insight to begin looking for what seems out of place.  LOL

[jeduffey]

I'm "sort of" at 7 or 10.
By sort of, I mean that 4 of them are micro bows, 1/6th scale. But a bow is a bow, no matter how small. Or is that a person? You have to ask Horton. I have 5 more waiting to be finished. Then there are 3 kids bows. 2 of them exploded dramatically. Those will wind up as atlatls. 1 needs decorative finishing. 1 is waiting to be spliced. Of the 4 full sized bows, three are unfinished. One, the first one, was by far my favorite and my best work. But, alas, I popped a splinter on the back, and instead of glue and sinew, I didn't know any better at the time, I cut it up. IT was a fine shooting bow for one night. Perhaps I'll find pictures of it some time. Then I've helped a buddy of mine make another half dozen.

So 2 shootable full size, 1 shootable kid size, 4 shootable micro size, 3 broken, 7 unfinished.


100 huh?   I heard this weekend that an expert is some one who has learned and practiced at his craft for 10,000 hours. That is roughly 5 years of full time work. But I guess that only counts if you also have a brief case and you are from out of town.

[snedeker]

I'm probably in the 60 to 75 range in the past 6 years.  30-40 pretty ok ones maybe.

Dave