Wyatt’s first bow building lessons
I need to start this story with a wee bit of background…..
Over in the Bowyers Gallery there is a fairly new member of Trad Gang that was interested in building his first glass backed bow not long ago. wcasey755 is his forum name, and in a very short time become my friend Wyatt.
Wyatt lives about an hour and a half north of me very close to Kelso Washington. He told me on the forum that if I ever wanted to consider giving some lessons, he would be interested. So, I told him if he was willing to help me split some cord wood and get it in my wood shed, I’d gladly give him some bowyers lessons……. Quite honestly, I figured that would be the last I heard about that trade. Wood pile duty is seriously hard work, which I’m sure a lot of you know……
But this young man was very interested in the proposal, and we soon worked out the details for his first visit to my shop within a weeks time….. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. But then I got to thinking…..”Oh my God! Now I’m going to have to do some spring cleaning rather quickly.” My shop was seriously trashed out and full of scrap wood and saw dust. I couldn’t hardly walk through it, and still had my arctic curtains up cutting my shop in half so I can heat it in winter. So I had to roll up my sleeves and get it cleaned out so we had some elbow room. This was a good thing though. It forced me into cleaning house a bit.
Originally Wyatt had planned on just building his first bow solo, and with the help of the guys in the bowyers gallery, was able to purchase his materials. He was going to do a straight ASL design for simplicity and kind of hope for the best on his first attempt prior to coming to my shop.
I recommended a second option to give him some experience and insure his first bow came out with something he could shoot at his desired draw weight. I recommended he bring his materials to my shop, and we could use a form I have already built. Or better yet we could build a new form for my Flatliner design and use that one. That new form has been needed for awhile, and that would give him some form building experience too. Those suggestions went over pretty well, But he was undecided on what form we should use. He really wanted a Hill style bow…. So I told him of a design I had built forms for years ago I called “The Boot Hill Express”. We could build his first bow from that form, and build a second one from a different form if he would like.
He was jazzed about that idea , and sweetened the deal offering to not only help with my wood pile, but bring me some wood in his pick up as well. I was happy with that. Good horse trade me thinks… As things turned out, our two days of shop time and wood duty planned, turned into 4 days, 3 loads of wood delivered, and two finished bows he took home
Here is the wood pile. . Of course my wood splitter died and I had to borrow a buddies to get it done.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bgw2b6GAGQjXjDiA6These are photos of Wyatt laying up his first long bow.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nYpqJw7iJUba2tUAAAnd here is the finished product.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/SuwP4P3R1TcepLk47The second bow we built was a Sasquatch Hybrid. Wyatt fell in love with my hunting bow, and I just happen to have a riser block just like mine sitting on a shelf. So we went for it….
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rPwraGPnQEJ7oMYw7Here is the finished product on the Sasquatch. This is a 60” bow being drawn 31”
https://photos.app.goo.gl/wgrGatQjMftymAcw6I did the finish spraying between his 3rd and forth trips so we would have time to get some form building experience in too. I figured Wyatt went the extra mile cutting and splitting 3 loads of wood. So I went the extra mile myself.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/hQqnVtmWjj5BAiRCAHere is Wyatts latest post in the bowyers gallery and with some great photos.
https://www.tradgang.com/tgsmf/index.php?topic=178892.0There comes a time in life where your body just refuses to do the hard work it used to, and things get put on the back burner a lot. I’ve had issues with my back for the last few years, and just recently blew out my knee. Having this young man come and help me out with this wood chore was a god send, and very much appreciated…..
I look forward to seeing more of Wyatt in the future and spend some shooting time and getting to know each other better.
Thanks a BUNCH Wyatt…. This was a great horse trade, and I appreciate the extra effort… Kirk
Topic: A beginning bowyer & new friend (Read 1006 times)
