CRAFTING WOODEN BOWS,......WHAT A PRIVILEDGE !!

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

Apart for 4 hours this morning that I whent for a little hunt, I spent the last 2 days working on 4 different bows,(not that I whent very far )...yeah It doesn't seem like I accompliced much, but that is because I go ever so slow, I know that with a bandsaw I could cut my times down 10 fold, but than I would lose the chance to see the wood change ever so sligthly under my rasps/scraper, finishing a bow is great by I enjoy immensly being out there just working with wood, love to look at the grain just change under my tools, the day is gone and I didn't even notice.

Yeas it's a priviledge being able to enjoy this craft,.... to the newcomers, don't rush it, brethe it in , the jurney is wonderfull.

..Well now I gotta go play some beach volleyball and than hunt some of that female kind 

[Coo-wah-chobee]

Hahahahahaha ! Ya sure got a way with words Manny. ;DYup aint wood somethin' ?.........bob                                                                              Ya know was thinkin' about this post the last few minutes. Yes it is sure a priviledge and a journey without end .

[Pat B]

Manny, just like hunting, the climax is over before you know it. It is the journey that is special. I am guilty of resorting to power tools and know I don't need them but I guess that is human nature. Working with hand tools does allow you to get enthralled in the process.  I also feel privileged to be a part of our craft.      Pat

[nathan elliot]

Yep definitely with you on this. I have a band saw but don’t use it. It scares the hell out of me. I love hand tools, my rasp and hatchet are my most prized possessions. To make a bow from a tree that you cut yourself is incredibly satisfying. Wish I could hunt with mine.

[medicinewheel]

well spoken, manny!

[DanaM]

Well stated Manny, Happy Hunting eh

[Eric Krewson]

After too many years of tree cutting, splitting staves removing the bark, sapwood and ring chasing countless osage staves(hundreds) I now have carpel tunnel that swells my hands and wrists with every bow I make. I still do most of my work with hand tools but the bandsaw is a necessity for roughing out.

At 60 I have to pace myself now when working osage.

[horseapple]

Mannys words bring back memories of the early days of my bowmaking, hatchet, drawknife and those damn horse farrier rasp:) I'll never forget when I used my nicholson 49 and 50 for the first time.  Over the yrs you learn how to do somethings the easy way just to help with your body and to be able to get up the next day:)  Power tools are in my arsenal but like anything, you have to learn when to stop using them, being impatient with wood is the problem I see in most learning bowyers.

JD

[D. Tiller]

Hey Ya Manny! Yep, total agreement there. Finally figured out how to follow the longitudinal grain on a stave of wood and how to bend wood with heat. I will be starting on that peice of Strawberry guava ya sent me a year ago. I'm ready for it!

Anyone ever tried using a hand saw to cut down to near the outside demension of the bow in 1 to 2 inch increments then using a chisel to knock off the mass of wood between the cuts? Really speeds up wood removal and lessons mistakes when taking down a stave of wood to the bows dimensions. I just love hand tools! They are less expensive than power tools and if you know how to use them right almost as fast!

Ya changed your handle Manny!

David T

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

No matter if you use power tools or not, the next stages are the same for everyone,
when it comes the time for the rasp, scraper and sand paper, the peacefullness, almost meditating feeling of working close to the wood, ....when Iget to this stage I find miself with my face barely inches from the bow, almost penetrating into the wood with my mind.
Than refining the wood into not just a beautyfull shape, but most of all a functional peace of art.
Do you understand what a tiny percentage of the world population is so blessed ?

I feel priviledged to be part of such a minority !!

[Dane]

D. Tiller, I love using hand saws and chisels. I use Japanses pull saws, love them, and they give you so much more control than push saws.

Horseapple, I also love my farrier's rasp. One of the great tools in my collection, and not just for bow building.

Manny, this art and craft is one of the oldest ones still being practiced today, and we are in a very tiny minority. I suspect bowyers were always a small minority around the world. I find myself gravitating toward old skills. One is being a qualified trolley car motorman for an 1896 Wason combine.

[1/2primitive]

I hear you....And being a part of the guys here on PA has been almost as much of a pleasure as working the wood itself.  
    Sean

[Dano]

Working with wood is great, almost as good as hunting "the female kind" as I recall 

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

Ain't that right Dano ?

[jamie]

amen brother thats why i like working with the stones. its like a meditation