I laid out the perfect bow last night...

[John Scifres]

...and it's all I can think about.  The bow was bursting out of the stave.  It was just meant to be.  Everything went perfectly from selecting the stave, to chasing the ring, to laying it out, to cutting it, to floor tiller, to heatgunning it.  I smiled all the way from stave to caul.  I talked about it with my wife when she came out to the shop.  She even asked about it later as we watched TV (The Mentalist, I love that guy).  "How's your bow?" she asked.  

I went to bed thinking about it.  I believe I dreamt of it all night long.  I slept like a baby.  I woke up thinking about it.  I talked about it with my daughter the whole way to school.  I just can't get it out of my mind.

60" total length, 1-1/16" wide, gonna be 60-65% at 29", bend just into the handle, sinew backed, 3/32" rings with a 2:1 latewood:early wood ratio, smallish recurved tips, just one pin cluster to add character and a slight wiggle in one limb just to prove it's really wood.  MMMhMMMMM.  I think I'm in love.

No pics except in my mind.  Maybe a video tonight if I feel you are worthy for such a beautiful sight.  If you must have a picture right now, close your eyes and think of the following in order:  butterscotch pudding, peanut butter, bacon, Halle Berry, warm summer rain.  Now you might have a picture of the joy in my heart  

[matts2]

So it sounds like you are excited about this bow?

Looking forward to seeing it.

[drewsbow]

Cmon now you can't just leave us hanging like that    
 Now wait a minute , Halle Berry out in the warm summer rain eating butterscotch pudding with peanut butter covered bacon ? HHHmmmm is she pregnant ?

[Pat B]

...almost sounds like a COLD shower is in order before you go any further!  d;^)
 This is gonna be good!

[John Scifres]

Now I didn't mean to tease or mislead at all.  Sometimes we just can't keep it in.  This thing we do, making selfbows from osage, is oftentimes frustrating, sometimes rewarding.  Always revealing.

I have found a bunch of bows in yellow wood.  So many that I rarely finish one for myself anymore.  I have come to crave the act of discovery.  Of revealing the bow in the wood.  I don't make bows, God does.  I just reveal them.

Sometimes it's an arduous task, like some of those navel oranges that just won't peel right.  You start out with visions of perfectly formed orange segments at the end of your task but end up with mush.  It still tastes good, it's just not what you envisioned.   I made a blank for a someone last week like that.  This stave confounded me at every turn.  I knew that the bow was in there but knots, and checks, and swirly grain forced adjustments that gave me something I didn't see at the beginning.  It was still sweet, just different.

Then at times, like last night, I had a vision in my head of the exact bow that fell from the stave.  This stave was on top of the stash of probably 50 staves under my bench from the past 13 years of cutting wood.  I think I remember this piece specifically as one I liked for some reason yet never used.  I grabbed it and it spoke to me.  And instead of a stubborn orange I got a willing banana that needed little more than to be peeled into the perfectly sweet, perfectly textured thing I dreamt of.

I have done my part.  The bow has been revealed.  Now it is up to its new owner to finish it.  I hope he reports back on my new loves ultimate end...or beginning.

Ahhh, Zen and the Art of Bowyery  

[b.glass]

It must be love that causes a man to wax poetic!

[John Cooper]

I don't make bows, God does. I just reveal them.

That's perfect!  I'm definitely stealing that quote.  I can't wait to see this new bow.  Please hurry up and finish it?        (at least take some pics as you work on it)

~John

[David Flanrey]

John, if it looks and shoots anything like the trade bow you made for me last year it will be a good one.  I carried it hunting several times this past deer season but didn't get to pull the string on any deer.  I did scare a couple squirrels however.  
Can't wait to see the pics.

[b.glass]

John C., it sounded to me like he is shipping it off to SOMEONE ELSE to finish. I can't believe it!

[snag]

Experienced bowbuilder getting excited about a piece of wood...MUST be a beautiful piece of wood that is calling out to be made into a bow! God made it, it is now in your hands to apply that knowledge into revealing the bow that is in there. Love it! This is art!

[John Scifres]

Yes, in a bitterweet way, this beauty will spread to another bowyer for further revelation.  I suppose I will feel about him how I will feel about my future sons-in-law     Hopefully they all will be good men that know how to treat a thing of beauty.  If not, I will kill them...just sayin'.

[Rainshooter]

Hopefully they all will be good men that know how to treat a thing of beauty. If not, I will kill them...just sayin'      :D   That's funny John, lol

[George Tsoukalas]

John, I've never  heard you wax poetically about bow making before. I enjoyed it.    Jawge

[burnt]

John I never heard you talk like that. if you put that on tape, I might just close my eyes and do some dreaming myself. I expect to see the bow soon. you got me all worked up.

[John Scifres]

You better hurry Brent, shipping on Monday.  I'm in the shop today and probably for several hours tomorrow. Come on by.