Editorial: Wood-Backed Bows

[TimBaker]

<DIV>Most here make wooden bows instead of fiberglass because some kind of light turns on inside knowing they're walking in the footsteps of their ancient hunter ancestors. </DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>But wood-backed bows with&nbsp;glass-smooth backing surfaces are almost as unnatural as fiberglass bows themselves. There is nothing at all wrong with making such bows, nothing wrong with making compound or fiberglass bows, but we should be clear as to&nbsp;their category. </DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>Wood backed bows of the type made now can only reasonably exist in advanced metal tool civilizations. Making such bows separates the maker from the true primitive bow experience by about 8,000 years.</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>There is nothing wrong with wanting to lower in this way the skill level needed to select and cure wood,&nbsp;to make a durable bow, or to artificially enhance performance. But all should know that&nbsp;the footsteps the maker then walks in trod paved streets, not forest floor. </DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>Comments, arguments, please. Tim</DIV>

[Pappy]

<P style="MARGIN: 0px">I agree totality,nothing wrong with building them but they ant selfbows.Some think if it is all natural it's a selfbow.I try to explane but sometimes have trouble getting the point across.Maybe you could help with some points.</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;&nbsp; Pappy</P>

[BornAgainPrimitive]

<P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;Very well said Tim, </P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp; Even to build self bows with the technology that is available to us,&nbsp;is not walking completely in the footsteps of those befor us.</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;I remember Jamie Leffer stating that he had done some sinew in the primitive way.And I thought anyway that you do sinew is primitive.However&nbsp;then He pointed out that the use of stoves or modern pots and pans or even the hammer to pound the sinew is a violation of the true primitive way.I now see his point.When it is done totally primitive you will gain even more respect and adderation for earlier man. And the bow will have even more value to you.&nbsp;Keenan</P>

[gutpile]

I agree 100% with you Tim...I guess you would have to walk the woods naked and carry a stone axe&nbsp; and only use stone tools to be totally primitive..that would be my view on it..gut<br>

[ROY]

<P style="MARGIN: 0px">I have been to other General&nbsp;Bow sites and the folks who know I make trad bows always give me a hard time for using a band saw, power tools, etc..&nbsp; In my honest opinion, I am making a bow from a tree I cut down with my chainsaw to use for Hunting. Sure I use power tools, heck so would the cave man if he had them..&nbsp; </P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">Depends on how far a man wants to take his traditional bow. If he wants it to be a truly primitive traditional bow, then I say fine.. Then let him live off the land the entire time he constructs the bow with whatever natural materials he finds while living off the land.. Let him make his string from the hair from a horses tail, or a squirrel hide, or weeds, etc! Let him eat nuts, berries, etc to survive..&nbsp;&nbsp; </P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">And if he starts today, he might get home in time to watch the Super Bowl on his wide screen TV&nbsp; </P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">That's my story and I'm sticken to it But for me, I'll use the power tools to make my BBO Hunten Bow..</P>

[BornAgainPrimitive]

<P style="MARGIN: 0px">Roy, I can definitely appreciate what you are saying. I use the modern conveniences of technology as well.My post was simply to state the fulfillment of the experience of doing thing that way. I am trying a bow from stone but am working on others as well with the power tools.This way I will have accomplished both. </P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;I do respect Jamie for his stone age bows and I have yet to complete one from stone. Keenan</P>

[BrianHalbleib]

<P style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, Serif">I understand your point Tim, when it comes to representing a&nbsp;bow one crafts,&nbsp;it is appropriate to call a spade a spade. And if one truly wants to build a representative specimen of a primitive bow and call it such, it would behoove them to use only primitive materials and means to do so.</FONT></P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT face=Georgia></FONT>&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT face=Georgia>However as we all know, there is no one way or one approach to building bows nor is anyone's opinion gospel about such matters. But that is the beauty of the bowyer craft, continuing to experiment, with new and old materials and with modern and primitive means of approaching tasks.</FONT></P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT face=Georgia>With the exception of shooting classes for contest or personal satisfaction of doing it the truly "primitive way", I don't think it's necessary to get&nbsp;caught up in worrying about how you approach building bows.&nbsp;That&nbsp;intimidates and alienates a lot of would-be-beginners.&nbsp;As long as we can keep the craft alive by&nbsp;exposing it to as&nbsp;many folks as possible, I think the rest will take care of itself as they learn to correctly label their bows with care to call them and represent them for what they are.</FONT></P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT face=Georgia>I love handcrafted simple bows and I still get excited over the performance of a well made hatchet bow as well as a new design using fiberglass backing to achieve a new level. Yes of course someone who knocks down a sapling with a fistful of sharp rock and proceeds to fashion a highly crafted killing instrument with nothing but primitive materials and means&nbsp;should be commended for their efforts. But, I hold that same level of admiration for a guy who grinds his own lams, makes his own form designs and shapes a hunk of&nbsp;laminated fiberglass and wood into a work of art. Like life,&nbsp;its great that we have this variety in the bowyer craft. Without it, it would get pretty boring making, looking at and shooting the same bows over and over again.&nbsp;&nbsp;</FONT>&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT face=Georgia>And we have to be careful not to short change the ancients and their intelligence when it came to crafting bows.&nbsp;The natives of the&nbsp;Pacific north, for example, &nbsp;did some amazing&nbsp;laminating with whale baleen and drift wood, using only what they had&nbsp;available. The same could be said of the ancient Turks and other civilizations.</FONT></P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT face=Georgia></FONT>&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT face=Georgia>-Brian</FONT>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</P>

[Sven]

I don't have a problem with people who make fiberglass laminated or compound bows. Doing so is just a different approach to bowmaking. However, people who call fiberglass laminates "traditional" are just ignorant. They may have a traditional design, but are not made out of traditional materials. Bowmaking with fiberglass and wood is an almost completely different art. Neither of these approaches is bad, as long as they are not considered the same thing, for they are not.<br>

[TimBaker]

<DIV>Brian:&nbsp;&nbsp;People&nbsp;are no longer primitive&nbsp;once they've developed complex civilization and metal tools. Since our present slat-backed bows, in real-life terms,&nbsp;would only reasonably be made&nbsp;by refined metal tool cultures, these bows are thousands of years beyond primitive. If you disagree with any part of this let's discuss it further.</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>Present wood-backed bows, like fiberglass bows, need less depth of knowledge and skill to construct than authentic primitive bows. Of course this is good or bad depending on your goal. Again, this is not to disparage any type bow, from compound to fiberglass 'traditional,' to slat-backed. The main purpose here is proper classification. </DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>Open discussions like this are valuable. Thanks for making the forum available. And for enlarging the bowmaking world with your magazine. I'm in the process of getting all your back issues. Tim</DIV>

[ROY]

<P style="MARGIN: 0px">Lets face it. This is 2006. </P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">I don't care how a man builds his own bow, even if he put wheels on it, I would not care. He built it himself is good enough for me.,</P>