I build traditional bows -- you know, the kind that shoot arrows. I have been building bows of one sort or another since the late '90s. I started my bow-building experience by making a solid wood bow out of Osage Orange, also known as horse apple or bois d'arc (bow wood) or simply as hedge. I didn't have a clue as to how to build a bow, just an overwhelming desire to build one. If I remember correctly, I didn't want to get into my senior years with regrets about not having pursued my interest in bow building. So I took the plunge and got started.
My earliest efforts at making a working bow were mixed at best. I remember my very first bow and how it literally blew up in Cam Klassen's shop one day when I was stringing it for Jodie and Luke. With a loud "Pow," the bow blew up into three or four pieces and the three of us just stood there with our mouths hanging open. My knowledge of bow building advanced quite a bit that day. The piece of wood I had been working on came from a tree I had cut down on Arthur Koehn's farm. I had carved a piece of the tree into a semblance of a bow and then placed it in my car for drying in the summer heat. I had been told this was one way to dry green wood. Unfortunately, I did not have a moisture meter, so I over dried that stave.
The other fatal flaw in that particular bow was that I had violated the growth ring that was supposed to be the back of the bow. This is one of the biggest "No, Nos" in building a solid wood bow. You have to follow a growth ring from one end of the stave to the other and let that be the back of your bow. This helps maintain the integrity of your bow. If you accidentally cut through this growth ring, chances are high that your bow will break, and the breakage will likely occur sooner rather than later.
Eventually, Don Dixon put me in touch with Jim Spears up in Noel, Mo., one of the best bow makers in the area. Jim was kind enough to take me under his wing and teach me everything he knew about making bows. Jim and I have spent many, many hours working together on bows over the years. After making a few solid wood bows, I went on under Jim's tutelage to learn how to make the bamboo-backed, reflex-deflex bows that are so popular in the primitive bow culture. And, yes, there is a primitive bow culture out there made up of purists when it comes to making bows. They wouldn't think of using fiberglass on a bow. That simply wouldn't be tolerated. Dean Torges from Ohio is the man credited with making them so popular. He has a DVD out on how to build them and also a book on solid wood bows.
Over the years, I built a good number of the bamboo-backed bows. They are pretty and shoot 10 times smoother than a solid wood bow. Dean makes it sound like they are a piece of cake to tiller, but I have always found them to be pretty challenging. Tillering is the process of getting the limbs to bend symmetrically and the bow shooting at the poundage you want.
I was always wanting to learn more about the craft of bow making. The time came when I decided I just had to learn how to make a fiberglass bow. This would take me into new territory that was outside of Jim's experience since he was a purist and would have nothing to do with fiberglass. I had met a bowyer up in Ronan, Mont., who makes some really beautiful bows and he told me where he had gone to learn his craft. I was able to arrange a week-long seminar with the same fellow, a man by the name of Mike Fedora. At that time, Mike had a bow shop up in Franklyn, Penn., so my wife and I drove up there and stayed with friends for a week while I attended class every day. This was a real learning experience for me as it was very concentrated and Mike was one of the premier custom bowyers in America, or the world for that matter. During that week, I built a bow of my own out of wood of my choosing. They gave me a choice of wood combinations and I chose bocote and zebrawood. That bow turned out to be a great shooting little bow. I eventually gave it to my oldest grandson, Paul.
So now, after a several-year hiatus, I am making efforts to get into bow making again. I am excited and also a bit apprehensive since building bows can be challenging. There seem to be so many variables, and the main thing I find myself doing is trying to drive out as many of the variables as possible. I think this is one of the keys to successful bow making. I think what I am looking for is a process that is reproducible with fairly predictable results. So let the experiment begin.
Sam Byrnes is a Gentry-area resident and weekly contributor to the Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 06/01/2016