Resources for beginners

[Jake Scott]

Hey guys,
I'm interested learning how to build bows, I have ordered the traditional bowyers bible, and read a lot on this forum.  What other resources are available for a raw beginner?  

Thanks in advance,

Jake

[Pat B]

Jake, I assume you are wanting to build wood bows. There are plenty of how to books available, the TBB series are some of the best. I usually have a primitive skills weekend this time of year but because I'm so busy this year I won't be having it. I live just across the mountains from you.
 In the spring(April-May) each year Twin Oaks Bowhunters holds the Tennessee Classic. One of their big draws, besides a great shoot, is the wood bow building. They are set up to handle lots of folks wanting to build a bow with lots of experienced wood bow builders to help. The Tenn Classic is about 35 miles north of Nashville, Tenn on a 600 acre farm with free camping and it has become a week long event.
 In the mean time there are lots of experienced wood bowyers here and on the Primitive Archer site. Feel free to contact me if I can be of help.

[Jake Scott]

Thanks a lot, Pat.  I am primarily interested in laminate wood bows, but that may be overly ambitious.  I am familiar with twin oaks, and have attended the Tennessee Classic in the past.  I have a hunting lease in nearby Indian Mound.  I have seen many of your posts and never noticed that we were so close to each other.

Jake

[mwosborn]

There are several build-a-longs on this site as well as some other primitive archery sites.  You can do a quick search for them and find one you like.  Here is one that helped me a few years ago.

 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=125;t=013158;p=1

[monterey]

There's also a hole left in your definition "laminate wood bows" since it could be wood/glass or wood only lams.

There are folks here who are knowedgeable on each method.  If you present a specific project they will come out of the woodwork.

[Jake Scott]

Monterey,
I suppose I am showing my ignorance.  Thanks for the reply.  I am primarily interested in glass/wood takedown recurves.  I am currently in the information gathering stage of this process.  I appreciate the response.

Jake

[monterey]

Showing ignorance here is not a bad thing.  Everyone here has been there and more than happy to help you.

A good source of information on performance and design principles is Baker in the TBB series.  He discusses wood bows but design principles mostly cross over.

A good approach might be to build a Bingham kit and think through the design principles as you do the build.

There's a lot of OJT in this bow building pursuit.