First of all, let me say that I'm not trying to break any rules here. If my post doesn't belong in this section, or any others, I apologize.
I am extremely "green" as you might say. My father is a true bowyer and built several sinew-backed osage and hickory bows for himself and family in the 90s. I recently fell back in love with archery and bow making and have asked him to show me the way. He was all too happy to agree.
Soon we will be harvesting a hickory tree from his property and I will be building a real shooter. But I just can't wait. I'm too excited. I've been reading up on this forum and studying The Bent Stick for a month and decided to try some things on my own.
What follows is something that, like I say, may not belong on this forum...but I had such a fantastic time doing it that I had to share my joy with a group who might actually appreciate it as much as I have. If I am mistaken, I apologize and will not post again until I have something primitive in nature to share.
That's a 5 1/2" bamboo skewer selfbow with flame hardened arrows whittled down from that same skewer. I made the target from the bottom of a styrofoam cup.
My first attempts were with toothpicks which almost worked...but I never could get one strung...the tip would always break off. So after about a dozen attempts, I began looking for other materials, and the bamboo skewer jumped out at me.
I couldn't be happier. Now, all I need to do is genetically engineer a 6" human to take it hunting!
Hope you enjoyed. I'll be back soon with pics, questions, and stories about my first
real bow making experience.
-i7718
