I do have Vol 4.
I would advise you to not buy it, based upon what you have posted here.
Volume 4 strikes me as a somewhat more specialised book than the other three. Being written much later it is sort of an update for some things, introduce a few new bits and a chance to capture or expand on things from the earlier books.
If I was back in my archery obsessed bow building phase, with my grown up tool set, I would probably make use of the Wood chapter, Heat Treating, the Design and Performance Revisit, and the Laminates stuff. I might look at the Mass Principle, but I am not sold about how much help it would give.
Vol. 4 Content:
Bow Wood - Talks about moisture content, choosing boards, what could be called tips and tricks, and then about 17 pages of bow related properties and notes about different woods in alphabetic order.
Heat-Treating Bows - reporting on the effect of heat treating the belly of reflexed or recurved wood bows to achieve higher performance.
Copper Age Bow - more anthropology/history, with a bow build. Less interesting from a practical point of view than the previous stone age bow build.
The Mass Principle - the author has worked out a formula to relate bow mass in oz with bow length, draw length and draw weight, with the aim of providing some sign posts, via weighing the bow during construction, on how much material to remove and how ideal the bow dimensions are.
Turtle Bow - a story about a competition to build the slowest bow possible.
Design and Performance Revisited - since Vol1 was published, a lot of people have built bows and tried new things, and some new ideas and refinements were discovered. This is really an update of the earlier work. Very useful if you want to build the highest performing self or all wood bow.
Flight Bows- fairly short chapter, possibly good if one is interested in making and shooting all wood flight bows.
Laminated Wood Bows - more than just wood backed, full 5-6 layer laminations built using a form to impart reflex/deflex etc. Useful if you are more of a carpenter wood worker rather than a woodsman and you want the wood to do what you want, rather than be guided by the tree.
Character Bows - the polar opposite of Laminated! Dealing with snake grain, holes, limbs, huge knots. Builds on earlier volumes.
Arrows of the World - very much a discussion rather than instruction.
Lessons from Target Archery - Jim Hamm talking about improving accuracy with instruction from his daughter in law, a champion target archer. Best bit, I think, is challenging the wide acceptance of poor accuracy and the excuse that one is shooting wood or primitive gear.
Ishi’s Archery Tackle - discussion with illustration of Ishi's equipment.
Bulls on a Stick. - short bow hunting story.
Appendix:
Awakenings - Interview with Baker, Comstock and Hamm about the birth of TBB, what has happened in the years since and what they see for the future.
Your First Wooden Bow - a very short, 3 page, basic set of unillustrated instructions for making a bow
I would advise you to not buy it, based upon what you have posted here.
Volume 4 strikes me as a somewhat more specialised book than the other three. Being written much later it is sort of an update for some things, introduce a few new bits and a chance to capture or expand on things from the earlier books.
If I was back in my archery obsessed bow building phase, with my grown up tool set, I would probably make use of the Wood chapter, Heat Treating, the Design and Performance Revisit, and the Laminates stuff. I might look at the Mass Principle, but I am not sold about how much help it would give.
Vol. 4 Content:
Bow Wood - Talks about moisture content, choosing boards, what could be called tips and tricks, and then about 17 pages of bow related properties and notes about different woods in alphabetic order.
Heat-Treating Bows - reporting on the effect of heat treating the belly of reflexed or recurved wood bows to achieve higher performance.
Copper Age Bow - more anthropology/history, with a bow build. Less interesting from a practical point of view than the previous stone age bow build.
The Mass Principle - the author has worked out a formula to relate bow mass in oz with bow length, draw length and draw weight, with the aim of providing some sign posts, via weighing the bow during construction, on how much material to remove and how ideal the bow dimensions are.
Turtle Bow - a story about a competition to build the slowest bow possible.
Design and Performance Revisited - since Vol1 was published, a lot of people have built bows and tried new things, and some new ideas and refinements were discovered. This is really an update of the earlier work. Very useful if you want to build the highest performing self or all wood bow.
Flight Bows- fairly short chapter, possibly good if one is interested in making and shooting all wood flight bows.
Laminated Wood Bows - more than just wood backed, full 5-6 layer laminations built using a form to impart reflex/deflex etc. Useful if you are more of a carpenter wood worker rather than a woodsman and you want the wood to do what you want, rather than be guided by the tree.
Character Bows - the polar opposite of Laminated! Dealing with snake grain, holes, limbs, huge knots. Builds on earlier volumes.
Arrows of the World - very much a discussion rather than instruction.
Lessons from Target Archery - Jim Hamm talking about improving accuracy with instruction from his daughter in law, a champion target archer. Best bit, I think, is challenging the wide acceptance of poor accuracy and the excuse that one is shooting wood or primitive gear.
Ishi’s Archery Tackle - discussion with illustration of Ishi's equipment.
Bulls on a Stick. - short bow hunting story.
Appendix:
Awakenings - Interview with Baker, Comstock and Hamm about the birth of TBB, what has happened in the years since and what they see for the future.
Your First Wooden Bow - a very short, 3 page, basic set of unillustrated instructions for making a bow
