Getting started

[TaterHill Archer]

I was fortunate enough to have someone give me two staves (one white oak, and one Osage). I have never built a bow, so I was thinking of getting a started bow from someplace like pine hollow.  I'm hoping finishing one or two up will help me lavern a few things before I go from start to finish.  Does this sound feasible?

[SportHunter]

With the knowledge you can pick up here on the bench you can. I would recommend going through as many build alongs as you can then get started. Pine hollow has some nice starter kits, good luck with your builds.

[TaterHill Archer]

Thanks.  My dad gave me my grandfather's draw knife to get started.  I'll have to read the posts on how to make a Gizmo too.

[scars]

I completely understand your reasoning. I sat on a osage stave for 9 months before I chased a ring on it. At the moment the tips have been heat reflexed as is the handle and last weekend I glued on some ipe as a substitute horn belly. But I made a lot of board bows in the last year just to gain more knowledge about the physics of how bows work and what I am capable of doing. Learning on a few starter kits will get you the hands on knowledge of tillering and that draw knife will give you the experience needed in wood removal and the technics needed to chase a ring. John Scrifes has some good youtubes on stave bows PatB is another one to keep and eye on. Black mocking bird is another. There are a lot of great people here with a lot of knowledge. Good Luck and happy bowyering

[Pat B]

The only difference between a starter bow and a stave is the starter bow has had its profile cut out and its thickness thinned. You can easily do those tasks yourself.

[LittleBen]

I'm with Pat on this. The hard part is the tillering, not whacking off large amounts of wood to rough out the bow.