A Gallery of My Bows

Basically, I’m playing with two styles of bow: AF or American Flatbow, a glass lam version of the old 1950's lemonwood longbows, or Hill Style, either being with or without shelf. Limbs may be straight, highly deflexed or moderately reflexed. Risers may be forward or reversed. Some are shelfless, like my first bow when i was a kid... ambidextrous, shoot off the fist on either side. I still find that a great deal of fun... it takes me back.

Here is a list of links to presentations of some of my favorite bows and/or the more recent ones to come out of my shop:

Slowpoke - Slowpoke was my first solo bow making effort. I documented the whole project as "Beginning Bowyer's Log", probably at far too great a length, but what can I say, I'm a victim of my own enthusiasms. This link is a condensed report, just the final outcome. Slowpoke is an oak and glass American Flatbow

Lemonade - Lemonade was my third effort. (The second rests in a corner as my first broken bow...) It started out as a flatbow, but due to problems ended up being a unique and eye opening Hill style that opened my eyes to the possiblity of building effective very light weight Hill styles.

Flapjack - With this bow I felt I started to come into my own. I used lessons learned with Lemonade and set out to build a light weight Hill style. It came out very successfully and is, at the time I'm setting this page up, my "go to" bow.

Road Trip - Counting all of my efforts, Road Trip is Bow 7, and is clearly the best work I've done. It's also the first bow I built for someone else.

Out of the Closet - A Hill style bow that copies the Hill Cheetah, using aromatic cedar instead of Juniper.

Arrowl Flynn - A 3 lam Hill style bow with classic grip, using yew and lamboo.

Look at Me! - Another 3 lam Hill/flatbow style with classic grip, using red elm with a cherry riser. It started out being pretty uncooperative, but ended up a very nice bow.

Cream in My Coffee - This bow is heavier than my norm. It was built for a bow swap among bowyers, and is only the second bow I've built specifically for someone else.

Stevens Pass - This one gave me a few problems, but came out just fine. My usual weight, at 27#, osage and walnut construction.

The Big Bad Wolves - I recently got the chance to schedule a hog hunting trip. As much as I like my light bows, I knew that they weren't a wise choice for this project, but if I got a hog, I wanted to do so with a bow I made myself. I went off to my shop to build a Big Bad Wolf to help me get a pig... and ended up building two.

Airwolf - This is my first attempt at a take down longbow. It has its own carrying case and will fit in my flying duffle.

Sweet Georgia Brown - Lemonade, (see above) was a real eye opening in showing me what could really be accomplished by a very light draw deep core bow. After awhile, I wanted to try that approach again, and came up with this 22# at 25" bow that shoots amazingly for me all the way out to 50 yards, making shots I don't even usually bother to try.

Osage Can You See - This bow was made for a shooting buddy who expressed an interest in trying a longbow at lighter weight. It was made right after Sweet Georgia Brown and I also leaned toward a narrower limb and deeper core, but not as much so since this bow is a good ten pounds heavier.

Cherry Pie - This was a really interesting project... an attempt to see just how simply a bow can be built. The answer turned out to be, "pretty simply".

Le Chasseur Noir - A black glass flatbow that's a bit heavier than my norm, and, in my opinion, particularly striking in looks. This one was made as a trade for a custom hand forged knife.

Foxy Lady - Le Chassuer Noir ended up coming in a bit lighter than I had aimed for, so I decided to try another effort at heavier. This truly 48# yew and bamboo bow with Argentine Mesquite riser was the result. It may be the prettiest bow I've built.

Forward Scout - This was a new challenge for me... a forward or reverse riser longbow. The build is the result of a special challenge issued in conjunction with the 2010 Pirates of Archery Bowyers' Bow Swap. The challenge was that if you participated you should try to stretch yourself and do something you hadn't done before. This page shows the bow I produced and includes some thoughts on the advantges/disadvantages of a forward riser, at least as I understand/perceive them.

Raven - One of the projects on my list has been to build a reflexed longbow as opposed to the straight ones. Iguess building Forward Scout got me in the mood to try some new things, so I finally got around to this and Raven is the result.

Little Feather - This is my first attempt at a kid's bow. It came out "OK", but not great. However, it was a fun build and with what I learned from it I'll be able to do much better on my next attempt.

Arakhor - Ever since building Forward Scout, my first forward riser D bow, I have known that I would build another one for myself. This is it, and it has made me even more intrigued with the qualities of this style of flatbow.

Orion - Some members of the Howard Hill Longbowmen wanted me to see what I could do if I tried for a heavier bow. I decided to do a heavier forward riser, which came out as "Orion" - The Hunter, after the constellation. It's 57#.

Bamboo Beauty - I shot with Jesse Havens and his dad a couple of times this summer and Jesse inquired about learning to build a bow. I invited him to come be an Observer/Assistant while I did one for him. Jesse's still in high school, so we arranged the work for times when he was available. It took us awhile, but we did finish the bow, and he got his feet wet to some degree in each stage of the operation. He now has a beautiful bow, as he obviously thought when he named it. Next time, he's on his own!

Tequila Sunrise - After building Orion and Bamboo Beauty, both heavier bows, I was really feeling like a lighter bow and trying a few different things. Tequila Sunrise is another Red Cedar bow, with the addition of my first ever power lams and tip wedges, and working thinned limb with a deeper core/glass relationship. It was also the first successful build with an air press.

Bamboozle - Bamboozle was an experimental bow off of a string follow form, made with all bamboo lams and a bamboo riser

Chocolate Moose - I wanted to dupllicate Bamboozle, but a little heavier. I kind of overdid that part... 50#! Oh, well, I'll have to try again. This is the first all walnut cored bow I've built.

Over the Hill and Fudge Ripple - These two bows were finished the same day. Over the Hill was another project of Jesse's (see "Bamboo Beauty" above) made as a birthday present for his dad. He did a lot more of the work on this one. Fudge Ripple was building simultaneously and was my "recovery" from missing my weight by such a large degree on Chocolate Moose. This one came out right on the button... as did the design for Jesse.

Smoke - Awhile ago I saw a gray glass bow I really liked the looks of. It took me a long time to find gray glass, but I did and this bow is the result.

Bird's Eye View - I decided that I should make an even lighter bow than my usual ones, just in case I had to go down in weight again. I had a beautiful piece of unusual maple, and this was the result.

Javelina - While I love the Forward Scout pattern, I was interested in making a slimmer, more graceful forward riser design. This is it.

Another Forward Scout - This is a Forward Scout pattern built for a tall friend. It involved working quite a bit beyond my usual tillering range.

Return to Main Archery Page