Building a Selfbow..anyone in the Wisconsin area?

[Gottabow]

Hello..I am looking for someone in the Wisconsin area that would take the time to show me the ropes and help me through the build..

[Eric Krewson]

I recommend you do some ground work before you start.

I have invited anyone who wants to come to my shop for a day, week or any other amount of time to learn selfbow building.

I get two kinds of students. The first has bought the books, amassed some tools, collected bow wood and made an attempt to make a bow on their own before they came to my shop. These guys learn the finer points of bow making and continue forward on their own making bows.

The second type of student I see hasn't bought a book, has no tools or bow wood and is completely in the dark about bow making but want to make one. These guys work hard but rely on me to direct them every step of the way and never really "catch" the bow building bug.

After we(more like I) finish their first bow they never make another bow.

I am going to stick to the first type of student in the future. My first question for future students will be "do you have any tools or a place to work"? If not, they will never catch the bow making bug and are wasting my time.

My recommendation is get together some tools, wood and reference material and jump in with an attempt at bow making. We(the guys on this site) will help you through the process.

[Gottabow]

Actually I have the Books and tools and have made a Hickory bow that turned out well..I'm just not sure about the Osage deal with the growth rings and maybe Sinewing the back..things like that.

[red hill]

Gottabow, Eric's right. The guys on this website will help with your building. Just learn to post pics and ask for advice.
Stan

[Eric Krewson]

Chasing rings is not that hard. You do need a draw knife and a few scrapers.

Sinew is OK but you don't gain much from it if your bow is over 60" because it weighs so much.

I apply sinew with Knox gelatin which is highly refined hide glue.

[John Scifres]

I'd love to have you over to the shop but I'm several hours south of you.  Most saturdays I'm there though  

Here's my   Osage Bow Roughout Page  It includes some info on chasing a ring.  It's the best I can do remotely.

Sinewing is really simple; not easy, but simple (especially if you use Titebond 3).  A kindergartner knows how to paste  

[Gottabow]

Thanks for the advice..I'll stick to the Forum here and will keep ya updated as I go..

[formerbutcher]

Mike, I'm down south of Fond du lac about 20 miles. If you ever want to make the drive down let me know. I haven't been building many bows lately with archery season opening, but come winter time i'm in the shop alot !

Send me an e-mail if you like. [email protected]

John

[DEATHMASTER]

The WTA has a long weekend bow build in the spring of the year.
Many helpful people to learn from.
Almost anything to do with bows and arrows.
You NEED to come and check it out.

Tim