Wood bow logic and common sense and words of wisdom

[Badger]

  Arvin, about 4 years ago or so I was experimenting around with extra wide bows, kind of the way you did with that bow. The strange thing was that I didn't gain any mass, they were coming in physically very light because they were so thin. Not all of them but a lot of them. Kind of contradicts my own mass theory to some extent. One of them I built was about 66" long and finished up at only 1/4" thickness, I think it weighed about 18 oz.

[Pappy]

Never fall in Love with a piece of wood,it is just that, a piece of wood, it can break your heart and spirit, especially for a beginner.
 Pappy

[Badger]

Never fall in Love with a piece of wood,it is just that, a piece of wood, it can break your heart and spirit, especially for a beginner.
 Pappy

   Pappy, I see that pretty often. A new guy will start a bow and just work on it for weeks, in a moment of impatience or just a bad eye for tillering the bow will take a bad hinge or break and they just have a melt down. I will seldom tell someone where to take wood off because I don't want to get blamed if they screw something up. If I do I always do it with a disclaimer such as. I would do it this way but it is your bow and you decide yourself.

[upstatenybowyer]

I completely agree with what Clint wrote earlier... if you haven't made well-tillered bow with a simple and conservative design, why go for a sinew-backed 5 curve or a composite horn bow?

I see this all the time with the 5th graders I teach, they want to achieve the ultimate level of skill right away without starting from the beginning and paying their dues.

I tried and failed with a simple D bow design many, many times before I made my first shooter. For me, there has never been any substitute for trial and error.

[Stick Bender]

I think one of the best improvements I have made is not over thinking things or asking so many questions but just going to the shop and making bows of different designs and figuring things out on my own , its easy for me to over complicate processes by reading or thinking or asking others advice to much , but the best lessons that I have learned are by failing,  Trial & error !

[DC]

Trial and error is how our ancestors did it. But it took them 5000 years I'll go with asking questions. I think though, that just looking at the bows on here is a good substitute. You learn what a bow should look like and that's a real start. I've never built a bow with hand shock. Could be luck, could be that I don't know what hand shock is but I think it's because all the bows built by the experienced bowyers on here have skinnyish tips. I copied that.

[BowEd]

Yes I think we all can attest to failure making bows.Just the way it is.The way I had to get satisfied was to make at least a dozen of any type design with a certain wood.Then move on to different woods with the same procedures.That can take some time & bows but usually most settle in with a certain design that they prefer for themselves,and along with it certain types of woods too.
It can feel like groping in the dark if a person jumps too far ahead of themselves with a more difficult stressful design.Not a common sense type way,but there are some very talented bowyers on here.

[Selfbowman]

  Arvin, about 4 years ago or so I was experimenting around with extra wide bows, kind of the way you did with that bow. The strange thing was that I didn't gain any mass, they were coming in physically very light because they were so thin. Not all of them but a lot of them. Kind of contradicts my own mass theory to some extent. One of them I built was about 66" long and finished up at only 1/4" thickness, I think it weighed about 18 oz.

So am  I safe  to say no matter where the mass is as long as it is deminishing evenly??? I understand from the BB that the density affects width. Is that not true or am I just not understanding. White woods have to be wider yes or no? Scratching my head. Also if they get to wide the boat paddle effect comes into play .    Arvin

[Badger]

  Arvin, if you know the wood you are working with and you are satisfied with the design and the amount of set they are taking you don't need to worry about it. I like to estimate my mass ahead of time because I am always working on something different with a lot of different woods. As far as where to put the mass. The front profile should agree with the braced and drawn profile. Someone might say that is vague but I really don't think it is. Your bows always seem to accomplish this pretty well.

[JW_Halverson]

Master the bend-through-the-handle bow before starting on any other design.  The arc is easily checked by comparing it against any circular object. 

No fooling around with trying to make a stiff handle, fade outs, recurves, decurves, etc etc.  Just a simple arc.  Any flat spot is obvious, any hinge is equally obvious.

It's an arc.  Arc-hery.  Get it?

[MWirwicki]

Know when to stop or when to say, "Close enough". 

The technobabical, engineering, analytical sliderule, calculator minds we are conditioned with cause us to over-analyze or in other words - make the perfect bow.  This is primitive archery.  Learn to accept some flaws or at least know when the flaws aren't critical to expelling an arrow from a stick and a string.  Too many "Kids Bows" could have been avoided if we stopped making adjustments.  If still not satisfied, learn from it and make a better bow the next time.

[MWirwicki]

The wood speaks.  You have to learn to listen with your eyes.

Study the stave.  Get intimate with the humps, the bumps, the knots, the curves, the checks, the splits, the dips, etc.  Plan your bow around them or utilizing them.  Stay aware of those characteristics while making the bow and before taking the next steps.  Then study it again.  It speaks while strung or unstrung; while still and while bending.

[Badger]

The wood speaks.  You have to learn to listen with your eyes.

Study the stave.  Get intimate with the humps, the bumps, the knots, the curves, the checks, the splits, the dips, etc.  Plan your bow around them or utilizing them.  Stay aware of those characteristics while making the bow and before taking the next steps.  Then study it again.  It speaks while strung or unstrung; while still and while bending.

  I agree with you Matt, that's why I quit using my bandsaws and doing everything with my draw knife. By the time I get into tillering I know that stave pretty well.

[Badger]

   The front view should agree with the braced and drawn profiles.

[bjrogg]

Use your senses.
Listen to what the stave is saying it wants to be.
Look at every inch of the limbs as they bend.
Use your fingers to feel the thickness of limbs and spots that may be thicker or thinner. I many times will close my eyes lightly pinch my limbs and slide them along feeling for uneven thickness. When I feel one I'll stop open my eyes and mark the spot. Then I'll watch that spot bend and see if my eyes are telling me the same thing my fingers are. Most times my fingers are right.
I'm still pretty new at this and agree with start simple. I still build pretty conservative bows and I'm just starting to challenge my comfort zone.
Like Pappy said it's just a piece of wood. There are many more. Don't be afraid to enjoy it and shoot it when it's done that's the really fun part.
Bjrogg