D bows & BOM

[HoBow]

For me, the finish work is a completely separate  process than making a bow. I enjoy both sides of it.  Our ancestors, to some extent, would have decorated their war weapons. I'm sure this was also done with hunting weapons too

[Dane]

Josh, regarding really great photos, it is VERY hard to take good photos of bows, at least for me. Gordon is one of the best about that, and takes amazing shots. I wish he would do a photo-along. Of course, the greatest shot of a bow won't win you the prize alone. 

I recall an oceanspray longbow that won, and other long bows that have won over the years, including a yew warbow by the same guy (Josh, I believe his name was, he is long-gone from the site). The snakes skins do well, but all kinds of bows have won, such as a fairly recent asiatic composite bow by a bowyer in Wales.

Rich, I am waiting for you to post a turd. Hasn't happened yet.

Dane

[Parnell]

That is interesting, Gordon's '08 winner was in fact a D bow.  That was right when I started out with all this business.  Never realized that was a D and at the time didn't much know the difference anyhow.

On a side note, I once saw a monkey polishing a turd at the zoo.  I do believe he was a fixin to chuck it at me so I didn't stick around to find out!!!

[Josh]

What I said about "cant polish a turd"  might have been misconstrued...  All I meant by that is no one is going to put two weeks worth of finish work into a bow that is less than well-constructed and  is going to break in a week.....   not that every bow without the detail work is a crappy bow... If anyone took it that way I apologise from the bottom of my heart and I am really sorry to offend.   

[Hillbilly]

I have seen many, many simple D-bows win BOM over the years. The one I voted for this month was a D-bow, for that matter. And I've seen completely stone-tool made primitive string bows win, also.

[medicinewheel]

I personally believe a simple D-bow can be as beautiful as a fully decorated recurve, a character crab apple or osage can be as beautifull as a slim R/D boo-backed Ipê, may the finish be a simple waxing or many coats of shellack. As long as whatever bow has a great arc and a nice appearance overall it'll have a fair chance to be a front-runner.
Good clear Photos will help.
JMO.

[Justin Snyder]

I have a few thoughts. First, I think D bows might not fare as well because we all have different ideas of propper tiller. Some like more bend in the handle and some don't. I vote for D bows on occasion, but the tiller has to be right before any bow gets my vote.

As for photo shoots.... I think a bow needs to be shown properly. All the gussied up photos in the world wont mean anything if you cant see the tiller. I like a shot with a background that allows you to see the bow clearly so you can see the tiller. It can be the prettiest stick in the world, but without good tiller it is just a bent stick.

I wont vote for a snake backed bow unless the snake skin compliments the bow style.

As for Osage recurves winning, I think if you count the well made recurves you will find that a higher percentage are Osage simply because Osage bends so well. If there are more Osage bows there will likely be more Osage winners. 

[Gordon]

I think that well made Osage recurve bows often take BOM because it is hard to resist the combination of sexy curves and yellow wood. And if you add a nice skin job, handle wrap and tips, it's darn right impossible to ignore. But that's okay because BOM is basically about what appeals to you at a visceral level.

Regarding pictures. A good photo cannot not make your bow look better than it really is. But a bad photo can certainly make your bow look worse. You put your heart and soul into a bow so why not give it the justice it deserves with a decent photo.

[mullet]

 One of my first primitive bows was a real short D Bow made by Marvin Gerrish. He gave it to me after it wom BOM.

[okiecountryboy]

One last question.
Do turd bows require R or R/D?
Would steaming be required?
And lastly, is the stance important?

Sorry guys, I couldn't resist.

I was laughing sooo hard in parts of this thread that I believe I just made my first T-BOW

Ron

[ricktrojanowski]

Personally, I like the D bow style best.  I like the simple clean look of a properly tillered D bow that bends in the handle, especially if they are short.  I rarely vote for stiff handled bows.   As for BOM, make what you like and if it wins great, and if it doesn't you have a great bow that you like.

[Dane]

One last question.
Do turd bows require R or R/D?
Would steaming be required?
And lastly, is the stance important?

Sorry guys, I couldn't resist.

I was laughing sooo hard in parts of this thread that I believe I just made my first T-BOW

Ron

I like decorating my T-bows with a corn motif. I hate when the bows run away, though. And I might as well say, when you take one out hunting on a cold morning, they steam so bad, they scare away the game.

Dane

[hedgeapple]

As for BOM, make what you like and if it wins great, and if it doesn't you have a great bow that you like.

VERY WELL SAID, Rick.  Truly words to tiller by. 

[AncientArcher76]

Lets not forget just because a D bow is simple as it can get  this is supposed to be about primitive archery.  I feel as long as the builder of the bow puts his heart into regardless of how it looks, should get recognized for his work.  In my opinion a lot of bows ..(including my own)-- tend to look more modern than primitive.  I would like to see a page set up for primitives (made with Aboriginal tools and materials, that includes hand cutting with a stone and splitting) a Neo primitive --mostly primitive but used some modern... Maybe thats too much and we could do it all on one page.  But I do think having an all ABO Bow page would be kinda cool.  I think it would spark a whole new movement here on PA and it will be fun  for all of us to see each persons progression.  Well dont know how I got this from talking about Dbows but this is only my opinion and thought.  Thank you!

Russ

[medicinewheel]

...
Regarding pictures. A good photo cannot not make your bow look better than it really is. But a bad photo can certainly make your bow look worse. You put your heart and soul into a bow so why not give it the justice it deserves with a decent photo.

Absolutely.