I do need to put something on my website about that. I haven't put that up yet as it is something I have been considering, but have yet to come up with any conclusion on. Personally, I believe 1 year free replacement or repair for any failure that results from materials or craftsmanship seems to be pretty much an industry standard and that is what I am leaning towards. Shipping and abuse of course wouldn't be covered.
It is the minor details that I need to work out...such as, I think an archer should use at least 8 gpp arrow weight for maximum efficiency, but I have been thinking about allowing as low as 7 gpp for my warranty as I believe the bows can handle that without any problems. I am very selective with my materials and also careful with my glue mix up and tight glue joints. If I see something structurally wrong, it won't leave my shop. Should I produce a bow that has a minor cosmetic blemish but is structurally sound, I won't even ship that to a client...and will produce the client another bow. I might put such "cosmetic" blemish bows in my inventory and sell it at a reduced price, but I have to think about that. If I do sell such a bow it too would still come with a full warranty. For example, right now I have a bow in inventory named "Little Scrapper" (that I haven't put on my website). It got its name because I used some scrap (but structurally sound) materials in that bow that I don't advertise on my website. Also it was the 3rd bow I made off my protege longbow form. For disclosure, I had a 22" cocobollo riser that I glued up laying around, but had not yet used and I also had some edge grain bocote 0.030" veneers (which I do not offer bocote as a limb wood in my bows). So, I used that riser in that bow and the bocote veneers in the limbs just to use them up, but combined them with some edge grain red elm to be sure the bow would perform well. (I normally use only bamboo or edge grain red elm for my natural limb cores as I believe they, and maple, offer the best performance...which is our goal). Additionally, I had some carbon that was only 0.020" thick that I didn't have any planned use for as I normally use 0.030", so I put that in that bow, but hid it behind the bocote veneer. Although this is done all the time by many bowyers, I normally only use carbon directly under a black s-glass backing. Finally, that bow bow has clear glass on the back and the belly so one can see the bocote veneers...but the piece I used on the back that had one small 2" streak in it (very hard to see in the finished bow and if I didn't point it out in the right lighting most people probably wouldn't even see it given the bocote limbs), but I do know it is there...so, should I sell that bow (as it is structurally sound), I will likely sell it at 33%-50% off just because of the blemish. In conclusion, I think it is a great bow, but I do believe most people would find my typical competition bow superior...yet, I figured I might as well use these materials up...after all these same materials are often used by many bowyers even though they may not be my normal preferences. I may give it away to a youth...but honestly, I see no reason to not sell it discounted although if I did so I would still offer a full warranty on it. "Little Scrapper" or not, the final product is good so it certainly shouldn't go to waste should someone want a light weight bow. It is only 38#@28" draw and has a slightly small grip for an adult...perfect for a lady or youth. Regardless though, I wouldn't sell it without such being disclosed to the customer.
Rest assured, anything sold will be covered as I want to treat customers the same way I too would want to be treated. Of course are all human, so warranties need to be written up and addressed in order to protect both the customer and the bowyer.
That said, I am reasonable and basically feel warranties should be taken on a "common sense" type basis, but unfortunately a "common sense" warranty would be worthless in writing. Last thing I want is someone to get a problem. The entire goal of my bow is to benefit the archer. Problems don't help anyone. So, the best option I am leaning towards is a simple no-nonsense 1 year warranty on craftsmanship and materials.
Topic: protege long bow ? (Read 1279 times)
