Hi all,
Just me but with a new badge of "Maker plus"
I guess a lot of the regulars on here know that i have been making bows for quite a few years now and due to my "working from home" I have been able to dedicate 4 or 5 hours a day pretty much every day to the task of becoming a bowyer.
I am a bit of a realist so I know that bowyery full time is like most traditional trades out there and is never going to make me any money but I think I can support my wood worrying habbits if I have a real job that pays the bills too
I have been making bows for friends and member of the local bow clubs for a long time and over the past 18 months I have started to take commisions which i enjoy no-end.
I love to have the new owner of a bow along with me for the whole project, from felling the tree to the finished bow. I like the owner to have input in the design, style, type and finish, aswell as the usual draw weight and length specs. Truth be told i have no taste at all when it comes to anything! Just ask my missus, she says unless my bum gets cold i wont consider buying a new pair of pants
Shabby sheek she calls it!
I put a hell of a lot of soul, effort and time into all the bows i make and a little bit of my self if i am honest. By the time it comes to let one go i get pretty gutted and wish i could keep them all for my self but unless i let them go i never progress, that and i have far too many i never shoot as it is, if truth be told i prefer making than shooting.
So the bows them selves, I only ever use wood that i have sourced my self which is either from arborists, forestry workers or friends i am lucky to have with private woodlands. This is for two reasons, first off i dont like shipping woods from half way around the world to make a "traditional bow" and two, being a control freak i need to control the wood from green to seasoned my self so that i know it is in perfect condition.
I only use hand tools all the way with the only exception being a hot air gun if a heat treat is needed or for recurves when a fire is impractical and if the arborist or friend has used a chainsaw to fell the tree which is their choice. I split, shape and finish all with manual trditional tools, some of which are over a 100 years old. Not only does this process tell me more about the indiviual character and grain of the wood which cannot be gotten with power tools but it also keeps me intouch with the materials. That and power tools scare me to death and wake the baby
All of the bows i currently make are what are known as "Selfbows" This means the bow is made from one single piece of wood, no glue ups no laminates and no machined lumber. The bows back (faces away from the archer) is usualy the original tree just under the bark. This type of bow I beleive is the most pure traditional form of bowyery. You listen to the wood or the bow fails, you dont tell the wood what to do and glue it into a shape or stick two bits together in a bow shape with glue. If i do ever "back" a bow it will be with either raw natural silk or sinew. This is either for simple asthetics or to add insurance against a bow break. I recently estimated that there is aproximately 30-40 hours in each bow i make. If you were to make a commision you will get weekly reports with photos of each stage of work so that i can get your opinion on style and finish so that you have an input in your finished bow.
One regret i have is not photographing a lot of my previous work but i do have a few pictures from a bow that has just been finished for a member here and a few others from previous commisions.
So thats it i am out the closet as a member who is looking for commisions for anything from English longbow designs to short flat recurves for hunting or target archery. One thing i can guarentee is that no one else will have a bow like yours and in regards to performance they are up there with modern glass recurve bows. So please enquire if its something you are looking for via PM. My bows start from about £150 upwards which equates to about £4 per hour without the cost of materials lol but i love it.
Here is a bow just finished for Cromm an archer from this forum
This is a cherry bow, about 50lbs@28 silk backed light recurve 59.5 inches long, antler overlays
A few previous bows and recent commisions.
Thanks for looking all and thanks for all of your support over the years of bending wood.
Leon.
Just me but with a new badge of "Maker plus"
I guess a lot of the regulars on here know that i have been making bows for quite a few years now and due to my "working from home" I have been able to dedicate 4 or 5 hours a day pretty much every day to the task of becoming a bowyer.
I am a bit of a realist so I know that bowyery full time is like most traditional trades out there and is never going to make me any money but I think I can support my wood worrying habbits if I have a real job that pays the bills too
I have been making bows for friends and member of the local bow clubs for a long time and over the past 18 months I have started to take commisions which i enjoy no-end.
I love to have the new owner of a bow along with me for the whole project, from felling the tree to the finished bow. I like the owner to have input in the design, style, type and finish, aswell as the usual draw weight and length specs. Truth be told i have no taste at all when it comes to anything! Just ask my missus, she says unless my bum gets cold i wont consider buying a new pair of pants
Shabby sheek she calls it!I put a hell of a lot of soul, effort and time into all the bows i make and a little bit of my self if i am honest. By the time it comes to let one go i get pretty gutted and wish i could keep them all for my self but unless i let them go i never progress, that and i have far too many i never shoot as it is, if truth be told i prefer making than shooting.
So the bows them selves, I only ever use wood that i have sourced my self which is either from arborists, forestry workers or friends i am lucky to have with private woodlands. This is for two reasons, first off i dont like shipping woods from half way around the world to make a "traditional bow" and two, being a control freak i need to control the wood from green to seasoned my self so that i know it is in perfect condition.
I only use hand tools all the way with the only exception being a hot air gun if a heat treat is needed or for recurves when a fire is impractical and if the arborist or friend has used a chainsaw to fell the tree which is their choice. I split, shape and finish all with manual trditional tools, some of which are over a 100 years old. Not only does this process tell me more about the indiviual character and grain of the wood which cannot be gotten with power tools but it also keeps me intouch with the materials. That and power tools scare me to death and wake the baby
All of the bows i currently make are what are known as "Selfbows" This means the bow is made from one single piece of wood, no glue ups no laminates and no machined lumber. The bows back (faces away from the archer) is usualy the original tree just under the bark. This type of bow I beleive is the most pure traditional form of bowyery. You listen to the wood or the bow fails, you dont tell the wood what to do and glue it into a shape or stick two bits together in a bow shape with glue. If i do ever "back" a bow it will be with either raw natural silk or sinew. This is either for simple asthetics or to add insurance against a bow break. I recently estimated that there is aproximately 30-40 hours in each bow i make. If you were to make a commision you will get weekly reports with photos of each stage of work so that i can get your opinion on style and finish so that you have an input in your finished bow.
One regret i have is not photographing a lot of my previous work but i do have a few pictures from a bow that has just been finished for a member here and a few others from previous commisions.
So thats it i am out the closet as a member who is looking for commisions for anything from English longbow designs to short flat recurves for hunting or target archery. One thing i can guarentee is that no one else will have a bow like yours and in regards to performance they are up there with modern glass recurve bows. So please enquire if its something you are looking for via PM. My bows start from about £150 upwards which equates to about £4 per hour without the cost of materials lol but i love it.
Here is a bow just finished for Cromm an archer from this forum
This is a cherry bow, about 50lbs@28 silk backed light recurve 59.5 inches long, antler overlays
A few previous bows and recent commisions.
Thanks for looking all and thanks for all of your support over the years of bending wood.
Leon.
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