What inspired you....

[Crittergetter]

To build your first bow? I understand the addiction. Kindof like  lays potato chips, except you can't just build one bow! But what put you on the bowyers path? Where did it all start for you?
For me it started when I was a kid. I always wanted to build a bow like the "Indians" did. But with little or no info to get me started it never went beyond just a few sticks and strings. Fast forward 25+ years and that's where things took a turn for me. I was on a family vacation and ended up in Hot Springs SD at the mammoth site. In there was a simple display of points and such. It just blew my mind that some of the materials found here that prehistoric man had used came all the way from tx. It awakened a desire in me that had layed dormant since my childhood. I told my wife when we left there I was going to make me a primitive bow. A couple of months later I had my first self bow. Been an addict since! Even though I've been focusing on glass bows lately I haven't forgot what initially inspired me. I hope to do a complete primitive setup one day. Still have tons of stuff to learn! Here's a few pics from today. We stoped back by on our way to Wyoming for spring break.        

[jsweka]

What inspired me.....I just wanted a new bow.

I had been shooting a Great Plains recurve that my Dad bought me as a college graduation present.  I shot that bow for about 10 years.  There was nothing wrong with it.  I just wanted something different.  I didn't want to spend a fortune and I didn't want to wait a long time for a new bow.  I had always noticed Bingham's add in Traditional Bowhunter Magazine, so I checked them out and decided to give it a try.  After all, my Dad had a whole shop full of good woodworking power tools.  So I got the instructional materials and supplies and built my first one in 2006.  I was really proud of it at the time, but when I look at that bow now it reminds me of a 2 x 4 with the edges rounded off.  I have gotten better and now can't imagine buying a bow.

[Trux Turning]

I had one bow and thought it would be cheaper to build one than buy a new one...      

[wood carver 2]

I've always had an interest in archery. Not long after moving to Cambridge, I made a friend who invited me to hunt with him and his friends. This friend and some of his ( mine also now ) friends happened to be trad archers and bow hunters.
Then I discovered Trad Gang and realized I could learn to build my own bows.
Thanks guys!!!
Dave.

[JamesV]

I built my first bow when I was 6 years old. Used a window shade stick and a piece of string. Made some arrows from milk weeds and used it to shoot my cousin in the leg. Didn't get much penetration but I did get a big "reward" when I got home from my Mother. That is how I got started on this bow building adventure.

James

[Roy from Pa]

I have loved bows ever since I can remember, like 6 years old. Through this internet stuff, I met Bowjunkie " Jeff " who posts in here, that was about 14 years ago. Jeff has taught me everything I know about building bows. This is Jeff when  he was about 13 years younger, holding my very first Hickory Selfbow he helped me make in his shop. Damn those last 13 years went fast...

 

Me with the same bow the night we stained it.

 

The very first shot out of my very first bow.

 

And my first group, all heart shots.. And no wise cracks.. LOL..

 

But I love this crap and love passing it along to new guys....

[Crittergetter]

Awesome guys. Roy, I see you mounted that one!  U said no wise cracks but u can't post a pic like that on here and not get a ribbin from us!!

[DVSHUNTER]

Man roy. Your bows are supposed to look better over time. Lol

I got started because I wanted a fancy  us to bow and didn't have the money for one. Then a copy of primitive archer a buddy picked up showed all wood bows and the rest is history.

[TradBowyer]

Its going to be interesting to hear responses. I bet a lot of people had a 'mentor' that got us started. Mine was a guy who also learned from Jeff. Its great that this stuff gets passed down like it does. Now my 7 yr old wants to build a bow. All because people are willing to help and share knowledge without asking much in return other than pass it on. When I started in trad, I was told that its a different breed of people. and I have found that to be so and i'm doing my best to pass it on. Thanks to all those 'mentors' who are willing to pass on the craft

[LittleBen]

What inspired me was simple. I wanted to shoot a longbow, and I didnt have the money to buy one. I bought a board, and a half round file, and built that bow using a kitchen knife, a hunting knife, and a file. It was a terrible bow.

I was hooked immediately, but the moment that changed my bow making forever was the day I first visited Dave Grant, Canopyboy, and saw the swap bow he built. It was laminated, with a bamboo back, and ipe belly, and looked like a million bucks. The finish was deluxe, and he talked about the bow like it was just OK. I was floored by it and thought, "I wanna do that!". I won't even start to mention the help he's been since then. Shooting most of my bows, helping me solve all sorts of technical problems, and giving honest no BS feedback. If your bows ugly, and got hatchet marks ... He will tell you.
I've been threatening to build a hill bow ever since .....

[Robertfishes]

I went to the 1994 Spring TBOF bow shoot here in Florida, there I saw Archers with non fiberglass bows. I saw a flyer there for a "bow making" class. I signed up for the class and made a Mulberry bow with Tom Stanley and JJ Guidry. Tom and I built another bow together from Osage Billets.  I took 4th place at the fall shoot and killed 2 hogs and a turkey in October of 1994. Tom passed a few years back and I still see his bows at some of the local bow shoots. I started building glass backed bows in 2009 with the help of the internet sites like TradGang..several members here were very kind and helped me out thru PMs and e-mails.

[canopyboy]

Funny, we all learn for each other. Ben taught me a bow can be ugly and full of hatchet marks and still shoot quite well and last. All I showed him is what fancier tools looked like. Funnier yet, I've just started down this path myself. Look at my profile date. It is after Ben's. I joined when I went online looking for how to build my own first bow.

I casually messed around with archery as a kid. I got more into it in college. I always shot some bows from my grandpa. Two he made, one lightweight one was a Bear. My grandma gave them to me, but grandpa didn't seem to want to talk about them much. Apparently he was quite the archer back in the early sixties according to my dad. He even was in the arrow shafting business for several years, spending many late nights filling orders for local shops in Southern Oregon. I wish I had asked him some more questions when he was still around. But those things don't seem as important when you're a young buck.

Anyhow, moving this story along, one day DU2 was running around the yard with a boo stick and bungee cord as a bow, shooting any semi straight stick she could find. I pulled out my old bows and started shooting with her. A couple months later one broke. A couple weeks later, the other broke. But now I was hooked and needed a bow stronger than the panda. I found TG, then bowyer's bible, then a 6/4 ash board that was quarter sawn and I thought would make a self bow. That bow ended up only about 30@29 with 4" of string follow. But I shot the snot out of it while I started making my next bow.

My wife quickly spotted the threat of this new hobby. She made me a deal that I would finish whatever project was half done and she would buy me a bow. That Hoyt Dorado is a sweet bow and I got my first deer that fall with it. But I kept playing with making bows. Then the Hill threads started. By the time THE Hill thread started, I had a blank being sent from HHA. I spent a lot of time trying to fix the tiller on that thing. Turned out it was just a crappy archer trying to shoot a bow that was too strong. But a great bowyer out in Idaho spent a few nights on the phone trying to explain tillering by feel to me. An arrow maker in Hamilton, MT got me to understand how arrow spine is critical, and how it isn't. And I slowly learned proper shooting form by searching out all the info I could find. That bow taught me a lot.
 
I haven't had a mentor per se, but rather a community of knowledge. Much was here on the bench. Some was reaching out and meeting other bowyers and wannabe bowyers. Some was books. A lot was trial an error. But an engineering education and more importantly growing up in a cabinet shop helped move things along.

Best of all have been the swaps. I think I've been in all of them. They've made me up my game each year.

Maybe some day I'll move past wannabe into jouneyman status. But until then, I'll compensate by giving young Mr. Robert a hard time here and there.

[Mark Baker]

I've been building now for 25 years or so, after shooting longbows and recurves since a kid.  Jay Massey's first couple books lit the flame for me, mostly, although I read everything I could get me hands on.   It was a long, learning curve in those days, before the internet, and in rural MT where few folks built all-wood bows, and osage is a rare commodity.  A lot of trial and error, and all-by-myself stuff.  Besides Jay's books, like many of you, money was a good motivator...and being a carpenter already, I was pretty comfortable with wood....so I dived in and never looked back!

[Zradix]

Simple answer would be this forum.
I figured if a guy that mounts a target like that can make a bow so could I...lol

Really though, it was seeing all the info here and the influx of knowledge so freely given from the very 1st questions asked...especially from mounting man there..

The thought of hunting and taking game with I bow I built was too hard to resist.
I've hunted with bows I've made but haven't taken game with em..yet.

[mikkekeswick]

I snapped a few ligaments in my knee so was house bound for a long time. Anybody who knows me will realize just how crazy I was going sittin/shuffling about for 6 months....Then I saw a Ray Mears programme on the TV, he was making a bow with Chris Boyton. The spark was ignited! I hobbled to a graveyard and cut a piece of yew. I've never looked back  
I've still got that bow...boy oh boy is it an ugly critter and God only knows how it stayed together but it did.
Since then it's been the TBB's and a lot of trial and error!

[fujimo]

i am really enjoying reading this thread.
great idea Randy!

[fujimo]

my grandpa always built bows when they were youngsters- and i admired the man so much, all i ever wanted to do was emulate him- so i built my first  bow when i was 12 or 13 or so- i still have his spokeshave , and use it all the time- the bow failed- because we didnt know much- but the spark had taken, and it was smouldering.
then ran the whole gamut of compounds, muzzle loaders, blowpipes, snares, traps, bola, slingshot and catapaults, just when i was leaving africa for canada, i tried to get some people in s.a. to help me- but they were not forthcoming. but when i discovered tradgang- thats what really got me going - finally!!!
now i am an excellent procurer of large piles of firewood!!

[Buemaker]

Made my first Ash self bow in 1986, that was after shooting a modern recurve for a year. At that time it was very little info available over here, but I found a couple of old books. The interest for archery had been there since I was a kid, but for various reasons it was first at the age of 40 that the bow making began.
So now you know I'm an old geezer, just like Roy.       Bue--.

[darin putman]

After years of bowhunting by other means I decided I wanted something simpler. I found a bowyers bible at a bookstore and started reading, this was about the same time my wife started after me about getting the internet. Cut a little wood and fiddled around made something that resembled a bow  but that was about it. Meanwhile I gave in and got my wife that internet and what do you know, I never dreamed folks got on line and talked about this stuff, bought and traded a few bows. Then I went to Howard Hill shoot in Tannehill really enjoyed it. Almost gave up on making my own, Got a Pm from a fellow by the name of Eric Krewson asking me if I had any interest in making a selfbow, best Pm I ever got. All I had to do was show up and learn, he didn't want anything but to teach. I now consider my teacher a friend, and he's still there when I need advice and always ready to help. Also just lives  a few minutes away and that tillering gizmo is the most important tool I have. Thanks again Eric!                                      One more thing I use the internet more than her now, and she reminds me often.

[soy]

Originally posted by crittergetter:
Awesome guys. Roy, I see you mounted that one!  U said no wise cracks but u can't post a pic like that on here and not get a ribbin from us!!