Well....needless to say I had a pretty good couple of weeks. A couple months ago I was pickin at Half Eye about his and Howard's "private" trade. He said he'd be glad to do a trade with me and since I had finished my trade bow, I agreed. One word of warning...when you trade with Rich, you'd better be ready. Before I could even make up my mind on what kind I was going to make him, I got a real nice bendy handle ash-backed elm. It has a leather handle with floppy rest and is about 50# at my draw length. Here is a pic of the handle and tip. The string is mine (I frayed the artificial sinew string that came on it) so I replaced it with one from one of my recurves that fit perfect.
Full Draw...
After receiving this bow, I also got some staves in the mail from Rich. (hard maple and elm)
Well...in addition to this swap we had going on, Half Eye agreed to take over for my trade bow partner and in stead of making me wait on him to make one, he sent a temporary bow till he could get a new one done. You are probably familiar with this one. An elm, stiff handle short bow with antler rest and rattler skin.
Then, I got the latest one. A slightly longer rat skin backed elm self bow with stiff handle and cool lams at the handle fades.
Some things are just worth waiting for. Thanks so much, Rich, for great bows, staves, and all the great advice.
