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Author Topic: Do you finish every bow you make?  (Read 5003 times)

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Offline DC

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Do you finish every bow you make?
« on: January 11, 2016, 04:37:39 pm »
Assuming of course that you get it to the shooting stage. Put another way, how many working bows do you have standing in the corner with temp nocks and no finish? Do you only finish the really nice ones?
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Offline wizardgoat

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2016, 04:45:24 pm »
My corner of shame is pretty big...they're not all necessarily lost causes, I throw a lot of nearly done bows in the corner just because I get goin on something else. I never force myself to work on a bow,
even if it's nearly done.
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Offline Eric Krewson

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2016, 04:50:10 pm »
I throw a bow in the failure pile if I am making one for someone and it doesn't meet my lofty standards. The other day I took three bows out of the failure pile and reworked, retillered, heat treated and patched the flaws on them and made some really nice bows to give away. Two are gone and the third is waiting on a guy to pick-up, but he never showed up.
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Offline bubby

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2016, 04:53:44 pm »
Eventually i guess, i build when i want not cause i have too
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Offline paulsemp

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2016, 04:59:17 pm »
Does a wood burning stove count as finished...  Only finish what deserves it, and that is certainly not all of em
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2016, 04:59:35 pm »
zero for me. If they are bows they get finished. I have plenty of projects laying around unfinished.
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Offline Rob W.

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2016, 05:12:46 pm »
I went for a number of years starting building selfbows as a winter project and if anything went wrong I would put if off until the next year. I guess after all these years I was ready to get serious and stick with it. I have been building bows and a finishing some of my past attempts.

I really don't  plan on letting any sit half finished. When I get too many (is that possible?) I will give them away and start another.
 
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Offline Del the cat

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    • Derek Hutchison Native Wood Self Bows
Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2016, 05:17:47 pm »
I pretty much finish all the survivors ;D
Occasionally I'll do an experimental bow that may get shelved in a shootable state, but then finally tarted up if it is to get serious use.
I recently tidied up a waggly old stick bow for field shooting as it was a few pounds lighter than my usual and I had a sore shoulder so wanted a lighter bow.
I have one that will take a full 32" draw that has been waiting about 3 years for a grip, but I only use it once or twice a year.
Depends on how you define finished ::).
Took me 40 years to put horn nocks on my first ever Yew ELB  >:D
Del
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Offline Dances with squirrels

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2016, 05:41:48 pm »
I see them through to the end and make each and every one as complete and nice as I can get them... like it's the last bow I'll ever make and I'm going to hand it to a Master bowyer for critique. Seriously.

I have several in the works at any given time, but nothing around I gave up on. If it didn't work out, I don't keep it, it gets burned. If one fails, I keep it long enough to understand why, then it gets burned the next time the scrap pile goes out. I've also moved 3 times since I began making bows and tend to really clean house before I move, so that helps ;)
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Straight wood may make a better bow, but crooked wood makes a better bowyer

Offline Pat B

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #9 on: January 11, 2016, 06:11:39 pm »
Every bow I finish I finish!  ;)
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline TimPotter

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2016, 06:23:53 pm »
Over 50 at one time or another are in the garage in corners, up in the rafters, ect, ect unfinished. Sometimes someone will ask me if they can have one and I'll doctor it up before I hand it over. One thing though, I can't stand pure white wood to not get some sort of color added to it. It drives me nuts.
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Offline sleek

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2016, 06:31:31 pm »
Only finish the ones not for me. Mine, they can always get a finish later. Later hasnt come yet. Im more of a how it performs than how it looks guy, when it comes to my stuff. If you ever saw my truck you would know!
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riverrat

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #12 on: January 11, 2016, 06:52:23 pm »
like PatB said, every bow i finish, i finish.lol Tony
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Offline DanD

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #13 on: January 11, 2016, 07:10:24 pm »
I have made only 4 bows and 1 broke durring tillering and the other broke when shooting after about 150 arrows. All but the 1 tiller brake got finished. I figure a bow is not done till it has a handle wrap and a protective finish on it, if it brakes after that so be it and try to determine why it broke and learn from it. Dan
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Some things in life change but my love for archery never changes

Offline DC

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Re: Do you finish every bow you make?
« Reply #14 on: January 11, 2016, 07:22:44 pm »
Thanks for the replies. I'm on about my 30th bow. I've finished all of them mainly to practice my finishing. I got to this one, shot it a bunch and thought that it was nothing special, why finish it but then I had an idea for a finish so now I'm sanding. I think I was a bit full of myself when I thought that my finishing was good enough. I just have to look around here a bit :)
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