I know lots of folks offer bow making classes (I do, but I'm out on the west coast, quite a ways from Kansas haha), and that is definetely a good way to go if you don't have any wood working experience. Kenny M and Bingham's offer plans, and both designs are great and are extremely well tested. Many folks start there and then alter the riser and limbs to better suit their tastes/needs.
For a bandsaw, I recommend either look for one used, or just going with the grizzly g0555. Great bandsaw, decent price. Also save room in your budget for a nice blade (timberwolf is a good one). What I did is kept the blade it comes with for doing fiberglass cuts, and use a nice one when only working with wood or phenolic. Most of the bandsaws in this price range are going to be very similar, and each has it's own area where the company decided to make quality cuts to save $$. The grizzly's fence is horrible, but it is very easy to make your own. Jet and performax usually also get decent reviews in the ~500$ range.
Topic: Future bowyer (Read 323 times)
