Really low grade bows sold to beginners

[Johan van Niekerk]

Yesterday I visited a friend who makes bows professionally. He had a hickory selfbow standing in the shop that was simply horrible. So I asked about it. He told me that one the local guys who wanted to take up archery ordered it from a bowyer in the US. This guy brought it to him to add a centre wrap etc.
Now, I'm not a huge self bow expert but the following "jumped" out at me.
1. The bow had almost 5 inches of set/string follow.
2. The handle was far to thin and narrow. Closer inspection showed a clear fault line in the handle which will guaranteed break somewhere in the future. NEAR future in my opinion
3. The string grooves were not symmetrical and already the one limb was starting to twist due to this uneven pull

Apparently this unsuspecting newbie paid $40 for the bow + a crapload for shipping it to SA. Personally I think this is a surefire way to kill a new guy's enthusiasm for our sport. Worst part is the bowyer claimed he's made "hundreds" of hickory self bows.

[Bowjunkie]

First off, I would never buy a new selfbow sold for $40. That's the going rate for a decent hickory stave. I would think it would have to be crappy. I've even seen many with price tags on them of $200-300 that weren't good enough... for me. Any of the selfbows that I would even consider owning had price tags on them of several hundreds of dollars... which is too rich for my blood... which is one reason I make my own  

I believe he's made hundreds. There's a guy near me that's made hundreds in a short amount of time and they're very rough. In bomaking, quantity doesn't inherently bring quality.

However, a new bowyer with a few basic, previous woodworking skills, extreme attention to detail, a strong desire to make each one better than the last, with a goal to reach a level of refinement with his bows that few possess... can turn out VERY nice selfbows in very short order.

For some folks however, those sort of things just aren't important, and as long as their bows 'survive' for a couple dozen shots, they're ok with it.

There's really no excuse for uneven string grooves, excessive set, an uncomfortable handle, poor finish, etc. after hundreds of bows made... ESPECIALLY when selling them... for ANY price.

As Dean Torges wrote in his book 'Hunting The Osage Bow'... "Just because it's primitive, doesn't mean it has to be crude."

[razorback]

A local sporting goods store used to sell hbh board bows that sound like what your friend got. The bowyer would take a board, glue on a thin backing, cut it to final shape and then glue on a handle. Tiller was hit or miss it seemed and the final sanding was marginal. My friend used it for a little while and the handle started to pop off. Seemed like a good intro bow at first but on closer inspection it was just fancy firewood and not that fancy. Hard to believe people would call themselves professional and produce such stuff.

[PEARL DRUMS]

There are people like that ALL over the internet. Even this site. They are the same folks that like to argue about heat tempering, recurving, wood species and mass placement all the while calling what you desrcibed their bows.

[Jomohr84]

Just before I decided to make my first bow, I was looking to buy a selfbow for my wife, and saw what you described on a famous auction site. Glad I didn't waste my money. I see now that even my first bow is better than those, and even cost me less. I have also seen new bowyers, bassbow for example, whose first bow has a very nice tiller, which just goes to show if you put in the effort a good bow can be the result. Sounds like the cheap bows are made quickly and without care, so in that case you really do get what you pay for, which is surely very little work on a piece of firewood.  I'm sure he uses hickory in hopes that a crappy tiller job will hold together.

[red hill]

A friend at work was gifted a HBH from an internet source. When he brought the bow to me it had about 7" of set. The builder had told the son, who had bought the bow for his dad, that it could be left strung because it had a backing!

Like Pearl said they're everywhere.

Buyer, beware.

[jsweka]

Even a newbie needs to do a little homework before diving into this hobby.  Just comparing the prices of bows among bowyers on the internet would be educational.  When one bowyer offers a bow that is an order of magnitude cheaper than what another bowyer offers, I'd hope that would raise some eyebrows.  You get what you pay for.