TG BOW SWAP 2011 (pics and post)

[red hill]

I keep lookin' at these "skinned" bows and thinkin'/sayin' I'm gonna do one, too... But to be honest squirmin's snakes send shivers up my spine! I'm just gonna hafta to bite the bullet and come up with some skins.    
Skins seem to make bows come alive. Beautiful work, guys.    
Stan

[Keenan]

Come on Red, face your fears and pet the snake! If you do something enough you eventually get used to it.  

[Inuumarue]

Its on now!
Got her tillered out, just about spot on weight but it needs some tweaking, thinning out the tips and sanding smooth.  I figure I'll loose five lbs or so once its all said and done.  I've got a few inches to play with to pike her back up to weight, but I'm going to shoot her in before then.

Love this bow building bug..

[red hill]

Keenan, I've waded sloughs and creeks crawlin' with moccasins when I was a kid. We would throw rocks to make'em go under water so we could swim. After I grew up THEN I realized... They can bite!
But they definitely make a great looking bow.
Stan

[KellyG]

I hope the lack of post just means every one is just to busy building bows to post. Red hill moccasins skin a bow up nice also.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

I hope so too Kelly. I been working on one but I'm starting another tomorrow. Not Quite satisfied with how it's going so I put her in the corner. It'll make a good bow no doubt but just not good enough for this.

 I probably will be one of the guiys at the post office on the 8th, LOL

 Just a reminder the due date to ship is July the 9th. I threw a little grace period in but I'll have to go back and look at it to see how long. This drug out for several months last year with a few guys and if that happens this year I won't do the swap next year.

 Kelly is putting forth a lot of work to keep track of this, I know and I don't want to put anymore on him than needed. There are a lot of names that signed up that I haven't seen anything from and I'll be honest it kind of worries me a little.

 If you signed up you need to post an update regardless of what it is if you haven't. A little communication goes along way here. I know we all get busy and lose track, I'm guilty myself but lets all keep Kelly posted as to where we are at.

 Stiks

[red hill]

I'm waiting on the fourth coat of tru oil to dry on my trade bow. Just started preping a handle wrap of leather from a pig hide my wife bought me last summer. Trying a lot of "firsts" with this bow. Of course I haven't been making bows very long anyway!
This hickory backed osage has black on red phenolic tip overlays, an arrow rest made from the burl of a young whitetail buck, and the pig hide handle wrap. I should finish up the tru oil by Monday.  I want to shoot it a little more before shipping.
Kelly, I'll try to ship by next Saturday... Key word is "try"!
I'll post pics tonight.
Sure hope ********* likes it.
     
Stan

[KellyG]

Stan you know they are going to love it. Just let me know either way if it ships.

[hova]

im going to get out there tomorrow and get some shaping done. i need to get down one more ring , then mark it and take the plunge...


i didnt think i would be concerned about it , but after so much work already , i cant bring myself to mark up the back at all , let alone try to lay out a profile and  hack away at this beautiful yeller wood...


gotta get to it though , june sho is comin fast...

[Inuumarue]

Well heres some photos.

She's currently a 73" elb(semi-stiff handle) hickory backed canarywood with jatoba core. Pulls right to the requested draw weight at the length, but like I said before, I need to refine the tiller and pike her, so she will probably end up as a 71".

Handle area:
     http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b152/inuumarue/Bows/IMG_0184.jpg?t=1307840305

I glued her up with a mild reflex deflex which turned out nicely. Might be able to see it in the photo.

Unbraced:
  http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b152/inuumarue/Bows/IMG_0183.jpg?t=1307840599

Braced:
  http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b152/inuumarue/Bows/IMG_0187.jpg?t=1307840684

Full draw:
  http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b152/inuumarue/Bows/IMG_0188.jpg?t=1307840735

Like I said, she needs some tweaking on the tiller. Handle is a tad long and bend needs a touch of evening out. Going to shoot her tomorrow and see if everything holds up to use. Then finish, shoot some more and ship.

Adam

[canopyboy]

Originally posted by hova:

gotta get to it though , june sho is comin fast...

Hell, June is here my good man!  It's July that's hauling butt around the corner at ya!

I think mine is about ready to graduate to the short string.  She's getting close, things start going fast now.  And I don't want to accidentally go past ****'s draw length, which is a bit shorter than mine.  (Although I wouldn't mind keeping it for myself.  If only there was more time....)

[canopyboy]

Oh, my 7-year-old says I need to post a picture, so here y'all go...

       

   

   

   

[fish n chicks]

I have some mixed feelings right now, maybe some of you share them, or think i'm crazy.

So far, i've gone through 4 attempts (not to mention over 100 hours in work and a couple 100 dollars in material) trying to make a beautiful, well crafted shooter for my recipient, like many of us have. That's not my issue, I LOVE rasping a handle to shape, and LOVE seeing the progress of a bow coming to life. What my issue is, is that it seems like I'm making a bow for a person who's never here. I searched for them on the site, so I can gain some insight on their shooting style, body size, etc and found they occasionally chime in in the other forums. Never seen em on the bench, and they haven't even posted what they've been up to. Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying any one person HAS TO post things on here to deserve a bow in the trade. They signed up understanding we're on an honor system just like you and I did... It just feels like i'm struggling to fabricate something worthy of any one of you, my friends, peers, and mentors, and it's for someone who just wanted a bow.

Maybe some will share my feelings, and i'm sure more will say i'm being a jerk. I just think it's a little tough to put as much effort, time, and money in something when you get the feeling your person doesn't really care to do the same.

I'm going on attempt 5 tonight (i've been really struggling with tillering lately. my heart skips beats every time I start to now) and while I promise to give them my whole hearted effort, and try to produce something I would love someone to have in their arsenal, I hope it's not in vain.

Sorry for the ramblings, I just wanted to see if I was the only one that has felt like this.

[Osagetree]

I get'cha Fish.... But, if you post your efforts here then there is no way it is in vain. We'll all appreciate your efforts!!

[Keenan]

Fish, Not knowing the person or anything about them makes it tough for sure, I have run into that a time or two when building a bow that someone wanted to give as a gift.  One thing that may help is to keep the mindset that this may be the bow that really inspires them.  Just make the best bow you can as if you were building your dream bow, except it may not be your draw or weight.
Gal. 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.    Persevere Brother, you can make it!

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I ran into a few problems, but hopefully all issues resolved now. I'm tillering today and it seems to be going well so far. The bow I started out with sort of morphed into something totally different and I hope my recipient doesn't mind. It's still a sharp looking bow, no problems on that end but not exactly the wood they said they wanted or design they wanted.

I hope that it's alright to make judgement calls along the way with good intentions of building the best possible bow you can put out there, even if it's not exactly what the recipient asked for?

If all goes well right on through to the final tillering this will be my best bow build yet. I hope that's at least encouraging after what I described above.

Fish- I don't think your a jerk, those are real concerns for everybody I would think in that situation. It's gotta make you wonder at the very least. I'm also trying to make the very best possible bow that I am humanly capable of with my skills and not just throwing something together hoping to get a good one in return.

I haven't seen a package yet either by the way for those wondering where theirs is. To my recipient........It won't be long now barring any major catastrophes.  

[Ranger44]

I guess Fish could be talking about me or several others like me.  Here's where I am.  I'm new to bow building.  I don't post often but read every day.  I try not to give advice where I don't have sufficient knowledge.  

I built my first bow just over a year ago and had success with a red oak board bow.  This was my first venture into trad since early college(mid 70's).  I've always dabbled in woodworking and have loved archery since I was a kid so I thought bow building should be worth a try.  When I moved  about six years ago I lost my shop and my tools are gathering dust in storage.  I've found I can get around the lack of a good shop when bow building and have made several runs to the cold barn this winter to use a power tool for a short time and have done the gluing, rasping, scraping and tillering in the house.

I've built a couple more bows mostly as practice and not sure how much better I am getting.  I'm not good at asking questions or posting pictures.  I'm hoping to build something acceptable since the people that talked me into joining the trade said just give it your best.  I got more intimidated when I received my recipient's name as ******** has many bow builds under his belt and is quite good at it.

I have decided I'm not a fan of the red oak board any more and have been working with hickory, maple and cherry.  I love the look of cherry and the hickory seems to be a good choice for backing too!.  I hope to have some time this week to get close to done with my trade bow.

When it comes to what I receive I'm not picky.  Anything someone is willing to trade is fine.  If it happens to be from a newbie or something beautiful from the more experienced builders I've been seeing here it's truly the spirit of the trade that counts. My biggest fear is building a bow, shooting it in, sending it and it breaks.  I had a second oak board do that after a good hundred shots.  I'm pretty sure the guy that was drawing it back pulled it way to far but that's how it goes.

Sorry that was kind of long winded but I wanted to say I'm trying.

[DVSHUNTER]

I'm nervous too. Lotsa people I've never seen before or since.

[Inuumarue]

With luck everything will work out.  And at this point I'm just hoping that's what happens.  Like Fish I've gone through at least 100 dollars of materials in at least four or five bows that have failed in different stages.  My current bow has turned out quite nice but I'm keeping my eye on it.  I want to give my bowyer my best, and in honesty every bow I've made (even the ones that broke) have been and are better than any before them and I hope that my recipient appreciates the one he receives as much as I do.

Like Ranger I am a new "bowyer", one of the not-often-seen. I find I have more to learn before I have much to offer. I myself am a year round engineering student and work for my professors for research.  I read this forum everyday and occasionally post, but this (and others) forum serve as my archery fix when I don't have the time.

All in all I want to hold up my end of this swap and make sure that in the end, all is settled up and right with everyone.

[Keenan]

"When it comes to what I receive I'm not picky. Anything someone is willing to trade is fine. If it happens to be from a newbie or something beautiful from the more experienced builders I've been seeing here it's truly the spirit of the trade that counts."

Ranger, That is what it's all about.  We often fear that our work won't be good enough for who we are sending it to. Even for experienced bowyers that presure is real strong. Sometimes it is even more so because they often feel they have to live up to expectations and anything less then perfect will be critiqued. Then there is always the fear of what if it blows.  
 All we can do is do our very best and always tiller at least an inch over the intended draw length.
 I have two trade bows going on two sites and both are a new challenge. Almost finished but still fretting over the "what if's"
 As far as the possibility that some won't come through with their end of the deal.....well I didn't get into this for what I would recieve. So if I end up empty handed, it's on thier concience only. I'm not going to set myself up to be disapointed.

If for some reason the bows I'm building don't work out,,,,, well it might be my favorite hunting bow that gets shipped,  LOL