How??

[Llamma1]

I have really taken a liking to making my own gear. I like making all wood bows so much I am thinking of changing my career from mill worker to bowyer. How dose one get started in the field.

[Grey Taylor]

Cut your living expenses as much as possible, build up a really good nest egg, and keep your options open for a part time job with a regular paycheck.

Guy

[jsweka]

I would love to build bows for a living too, but I also have to be realistic financially.  

If I cranked out a bow a week and charged $1000 for each one, that's $52K per year gross.  Now, subtract the 11% federal excise tax, assume each bow cost $150 in materials, assume I have all the power tools but allow $1000 per year in tool maintenance.  I'm now down to $37,480.  Since I'd have to pay for my own health insurance at roughly $1200 per month and assume 15% of my income goes to the government in income taxes, I'm now down to $23,080.  I'd better get some liability insurance in case one of my bows blows up and hurts someone.  If I want to sell any bows, I'll also need to do some advertizing and maintain a web site (no idea what liability insurance and advertising cost).  And I'm sure there are some other expenses I'm missing........So I'll keep my day job.

If you're going to specialize in all wood bows, it might be even tougher to make a living at it since that is a very limited market.  Just look at Dryad - they specialized in bows of all natural materials, but have now expanded into fiberglass laminated and ILF bows.  I'll bet $$ was a big reason for shifting gears.

I know this sounds pretty discouraging, and I hate to belittle your dreams, but I really think the market is pretty saturated these days with custom bowyers and would now be a tough market to break into.  I honestly don't know how custom bowyers make a living at it unless they also have a spouse with a good job or they are retired with a good pension and this is a second career.  If you do choose this new career path, I wish you the best of luck.

[mwosborn]

John not necessarily discouraging.  Just reality.  Llama...make em for fun and give em to friends and family.  Maybe someday you will be so good people will be wanting you to make them...never know!

[rmorris]

Noel, I wish I could make a living of bow making but I don't think it would be practical for myself at this point in my life, but bow making has just started to pay for itself and provide some extra funds for all my outdoor activities such as backpacking, 3D shoots and hunting. I don't ever expect making bows to be a source of income but I do make a little extra cash to feed my hobbies. Good luck on whatever you do!

[Llamma1]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I am not the soul provider in my home. I will start slow and keep my job at the mill. But I would prefer to work for myself. I hate listening to management's ideas of how we should live. I would almost rather garden and hunt in the woods to make my own way. Just like my ancestors did before this continent became so-called civilized.

[Dimondback]

I am no expert in the bowyer arena but something to also consider...I have made 6 laminated bows and 1 board bow...total...all have turned out to be great shooters and have become the topic of conversation at our local range. I have made all of these as gifts for family or for myself which I have found to be very satisfying. Recently one of the archery instructors there asked me to build him one (for money). Although I am more than flattered and happy to do so, the level of perfection and "pressure" to turn out a perfect product changes the bowbuilding experience for me. It may be self-imposed, I am a "perfectionist" and do the best I can within my new abilities but I can get over small issues in finish or a leather grip with a small scratch from my fingernail when the bow is for me...I can't do so when it is for someone else that is paying and takes some of the enjoyment out of something that I do for fun. When I was in college I led kayaking trips on the coast of SC. Kayaking was a lot of fun prior to having to deal with the many unseen issues and liabilities of doing it for work...probably the same for fishing guides etc....Just my two cents...Good luck! Hope things work out for you.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

My sentiments exactly Dimondback. I've only made 1 bow for money, but quite a few for myself, my older brother, and his 2 boys. Out of all the bows I've made so far, the one that I didn't enjoy building was the one that I sold. I didn't like the pressure and still worry about it to this day if it should ever develop an issue. It would be a cool job to have, but it would surely give me more grey hair and stomach ulcers within the first year I'm sure.

I completely understand where your coming from Llamma and wish you the best of luck with it. Maybe some guys just have a temperment for it and others don't? But for me it just kinda took all the fun out of it when I made a bow for money.

[Osagetree]

Backed up orders, time lines, mistakes, exact measurements, missed specs, interuptions, complaints, no orders, unkept promisses or payments & etc.

Just takes the fun out of it,,,, I would think!

Don't want my play turned into work.........

[PEARL DRUMS]

How many quality stave bows have you completed? Keep your competition in mind.

[Roy Steele]

KEEP YOUR DAY JOB
  You'd soon find out your hoppies are not so fun anymore.
 When I first started building self bows. Just by word of mouth. This was 21 years ago no internet no advising along before the traditional craze. In the first 5 years I was building up to 20 bows a year. Alot totally by hand I've never used any power tools in makeing bows.
  I did'nt want to be a bowyer I was a hunter and did'nt have $500.00 from a custom long bow so I got 3 BL fence posts off a farmer I hunted on.
  I buck hunted 90 plus days a year and gobbler hunt 30 and fly fished all I could through the summer. Not to speak of my family.
  It not only cut into my hunting time but every thing else. I sure could'nt have lived off bow makeing even it I made 50 bows a year. I was getting $400.00 for osage and $ 300.00 to $ 350.00 for white wood. $ 50.00 more for adding snake skins.
  What I'm saying is my hobbie wasn't a hobbie any more. And I wasn't building enough bows to come close to liveing off them. Not at all the reason I started building bows. I stoped I still build a few bows a year but on my time.
 What what you wish for it can happen even if your not looking for it.