master piece bow challenge

[Badger]

  I have just recently the past couple of years started finishing bows. I have to admit I enjoy the finished product. I never add any frills. I can't afford as many staves as i used to go though so finishing takes up a lot of the time I used to spend making. Not unusual for me to spend all week on a bow  anymore.

[Gordon]

A bow does not need frills added to be beautiful. An excellent recent example of this is simson's centershot osage bow.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,52962.0.html

Simson's bow is a no-frills basic self-bow. It lacks decorations, tip overlays, intricately laced handle, decorative laminations, etc. And yet by any measure it is a masterpiece of a bow. And the reason for this is that it is that the design is so perfectly suited to the wood and skillfully executed that it is intrinsically beautiful to the eye. I appreciate a good skin job, artful handle wrap and other frills as much as anyone, but a perfectly executed bow - that is the truest measure of a master bowyer.

[Del the cat]

Frills are handy for wiping your arrows on
But Tassels are more traditional
Del

[lostarrow]

Sometimes the simplicity is the beauty . Graceful lines. Masterfully executed . When I build a bow , first and foremost ..........................it has to shoot! They're made for performance. I also like to have something in my hand that is completely and without a doubt unique. Does a rifle with a Carpathian walnut stock shoot better than one with a birch stock ? No .  Not necessarily. But it doesn't shoot any worse .   

[mikekeswick]

How cool is that tip!!

[lostarrow]

Hears a few more.

[lebhuntfish]

Now that bow is truly a masterpiece! I think you nailed what sleek is talking about. Patrick

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

Now that's what I'm talkin bout! Those nocks are awesome....

[sleek]

Lost arrow, I have been ininspired by your work for years. Your hummingbird tips are by far a crowing jewel.

Yes, stuff like this is what I mean. But not exclusively.  Otherwise it would be a decorative challenge. I also mean as inthe most gnarly stave, difficult character you got, or can get. Or bow design perfected. I didnt set pparameters because I didnt want to be exclusive. Point was, get out of the ordinary andnmake something wild by your own definition and go beyond your normal scope.

[lostarrow]

the ones that stand out in my mind are some of those graceful beauties That Del makes, gnarly pacific Yew That our west coast friends turn out, Misslemaster's graceful buckthorns, Chuck Loefler's horn bows . Really when you think of it , any stick that gets turned into a good shooting bow is absolute magic!!!!!

[TolkienFan]

I love the idea Sleek!  I am just starting off and definitely are just trying to get the shaping and tillering down first.  I am excited to see what y'all come up with!

[dbb]

A bow does not need frills added to be beautiful. An excellent recent example of this is simson's centershot osage bow.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,52962.0.html

Simson's bow is a no-frills basic self-bow. It lacks decorations, tip overlays, intricately laced handle, decorative laminations, etc. And yet by any measure it is a masterpiece of a bow. And the reason for this is that it is that the design is so perfectly suited to the wood and skillfully executed that it is intrinsically beautiful to the eye. I appreciate a good skin job, artful handle wrap and other frills as much as anyone, but a perfectly executed bow - that is the truest measure of a master bowyer.

I agree Gordon.
But unless simson did it unconsciously (and that is a possibility seeing his work    ) He did everything to make that bow look good,he didnt NEED to angle the sides on the fades that way e.g,that is done to look good.Its not simplicity...it is subtleity .

[bubby]

I think your backwards. Many already make the best bow they can every time, and a few half ass stuff requiring a "challenge" to put any effort forth.


Like pealie said here, simson even on a simple bow has a signature look and wouldn't let a bow go that wasn't right