A couple of years ago when I was at twin oaks I met an older gentleman who was recovering from a stroke. His name is James, he wanted to learn how to make a bow and I ended up spending the whole 3 days hanging out with him making bows. He had a little trouble with his speech but was sharp mentaly and caught on quickly. We stayed in touch and every few months talk on the telephone.
He had me laughing today, his speech has gotten a lot better. I think he has made about 200 bows since he left twin oaks and has about half the men in his town making bows now. I never fail to be impressed with the innovations he comes up with. He was telling me today he keeps his hot box cranked up to 150 degrees and can get his hickory and white woods down to 6% in 3 weeks. I woudn't be surprised if he didn't start his own version of twin oaks in Arkansas before too long. Really hard to say how much and how many people Pappy and Twin oaks have helped over the years. His wife tells me that bow making gave james a whole new life.
