Hi Greyowl,
Yeah, I was at the NEC talking bows. Just basic stuff, doing my "bit" to incourage bushcraft :-D
I would never say that I was all that knowledgable about bow making. I have made a few, more than a dozen, but less than 20. I used to hang out at the Leatherwall and there were people on there who had literally made hundreds of bows. They really knew their stuff. I learned a lot from there, and from the Traditional Bowyer's Bibles. Great books, I would say they are a definitive guide to bow making.
I am going to be having a try at teaching a couple of people to make bows this summer. Just one on one, and see how things go. You don't have to be an expert to teach the basics, just so long as the person you are teaching understands you have limitations
I am afraid that I haven't been on any courses. I spoke with Juha when I was on my Woodlore course and the bow making that they do as part of the Primitive Technology course sounded good. They make bows patterned on prehistoric Eurpean designs and those used Eastern woodland indians. The course is expensive though. If bow making was your sole interest, and you had that money to spend, I would think about making a trip to the US (if you REALLY want to go on a course, and have the money to burn :-D ). People like Jim Hamm and (possibly) Dean Torges used to run courses on just bow making. There are also great gatherings of traditional bow makers and archers, such as the MO Bow Jamboree.
The way I see it, a course cost money, but saves time. You can learn all the course might teach by getting good books, reading on the Web, and practicing. It just might take longer that way
A final word of warning. BEWARE! BOW MAKING CAN BE ADDICTIVE :rolmao:
