Do we have left? Self bow makers. Just wondering how many guys on the Leatherwall are making Selfbows. And is there any new guys giving self bow making a try? One new guy comes to mind. And he builds a beautiful bow.

I wish Jamie Miller would come back and post, gosh he makes some beautiful bows...

I have a couple staves, but haven’t ventured down the path yet.

Would love to see some that other members have built.

I am a raw rookie, but I'm pretty much become obsessed with it. I have a bunch of bows in various stages of completion. I'm dragging home Osage logs every time I can find one. My neighbors think I'm nuts splitting them out in my driveway. My wife is wondering when I'm going to get going on our bathroom remodel - I need to give my hobby a break for a bit and get some household projects done - chasing rings and shaping bows is consuming all my free time. I guess there are worse things I could be obsessed with.

I agree some pictures of selfbows are always nice to see. I didn’t make these. “Badger” Steve Gardner from California, made these for me. Two are Osage and one is Hickory. Really beautiful and powerful self bows.

I haven't made one yet this year, but mainly waiting for the warmer weather to work outside. I have a couple staves that I have been trying to straighten somewhat and one that is waiting to be worked. They are fun to shoot and hunt with. Beautiful and ultra simple.

I still make a few. I don't make a steady stream of them though. I've got too many hobbies and switch back and forth among them.

I've made a few, as well as some bows backed with sinew, hickory, or bamboo. There are a lot of guys building them and a number of gatherings for learning how. MoJam, OJam, the Tenn. Classic, as well as our small Trad. Bowhunters of Arkansas gatherings, always have a new group come through every year.

Bob, that is beautiful.

Gorgeous bows, guys. Wow!

I make one or two a year,mostly hickory board bows. But I'm on my second Osage stave bow now.

thanks...I get carried away decorating them at times. LOL This one is bamboo backed osage with a wenge core lam.

I just finished these heat tempered hickory bows last week

In a galaxy far far away and a long time ago there used to be a lot of threads on here discussing self bows.

Latest Osage

Damon Wood “wooddamon1” is the new guy on the block I was thinking of. Very impressed with his work. Some nice looking bows gentlemen. Thanks for the pictures.

Awesome bows Bob, you build beautiful bows

A long time ago. Self bow guys use to come up with ideas on here to push other self bow makers to be the best they could be. Like during the “White wood wars” some amazing things were done with wood and a few hand tools back then. I don’t know who gets the credit for starting the Whitewood wars. But it truly was a high point in self bow making on here. Guys would freely give their knowledge to anybody willing to listen. Of course, there was some bickering too. But all in fun. I know I sure enjoyed a lot of those threads. I wonder if we still have anybody left that participated in the Whitewood wars.

I'm down to a couple per year for myself I've lost contact over time with some of the guys I learned from.

Here is a hickory self bow, made by a young Amish boy, who is very talented!

This was a Osage backed with bamboo, made by the late, great Bobby Lofton.

looks like a winner Scott, good looking bow and great combination

Quite a few of the old crew still attend MoJam each July. This will be MoJam 25. If you ever wanted to learn to make a selfbow, that is a good place to do it. Free help and advice by some outstanding bow makers. It's a 7 hour drive north of my home, but I will definitely be there. It all started with the white vs yellow wood wars...LOL Several of the original guys still post on the PA site.

Beautiful bows Brian

Very nice bows, Brian.

Beautiful bows, guys. Let's see if I can post from the shabin.

Thanks for the kind words, Don!

Latest bow, happen to be up shooting today. Turkey season is coming up quick.

She'll shoot!

Caught this ugly bastige sneaking through camp.

Bears don't get a pass since they like chewing up my buck targets.

Great seeing everyone's builds, just great bows!

Already on to the next chunk of wood :)

OH MY! AMAZING TALENT and BEAUTIFUL BOWS! PLEASE do NOT EVER FORGET the OLD WAYS! I have a feeling that they might come in VERY HANDY!

I'm one who does, but not a new guy. I just dont post here about it because I dont do it for adulation or want to sell them... and when you post about it, especially pictures, it encourages prospective buyers. I avoid buyers. I'd rather help folks do for themselves. Big difference. I enjoy helping others, but don't like to have to tell folks no. Weird. I know.

I don’t think it’s weird Jeff. A lot of work goes into a self bow. We are very lucky on the leather wall. Because we have guys like you that are willing to help and share their knowledge. And we also have guys that want to sell their Selfbows. but just like everything else softball prices have really went up. I know twisted limbs first sold his bows for around $300.00 now there over a $1000.00 Who would’ve ever thought a self would go for as much as a black widow!;) Thanks for always sharing your knowledge about selfbows over the years Jeff.

Self bow not soft ball lol no way Was my spelling that far off! Must be another computer glitch going on here;)

come to Mojam...the "old guys" always teach the "young-uns" to build bows...

That’s a great picture Bob.

Ryan has $2500-2800 price tags now. I doubt many sell at that point. If they do? People really are as crazy as I've often thought. You should seriously get checked out if $2500 for a self bow sounds good.

That's a whole heckuva lot of materials to make your own bows.

I am working on one currently.

Very nice looking bows, you guys have there.

I remember the “White wood wars”...8^)

I’m guessing I forgot to resize my photo so am posting again. These are two I made in January. Both 44# @28” and 66” ntn. Timber rattler skin on the right, Montana prairie rattler on the left.

bentstick54 - Those are pretty, have any close-up pix... Thanks...

When the Stickbow first started up in the 90s it had all of the selfbow greats on board. At the time there were some pissy excuses for men on the site that felt it was their duty to attack these men and their knowledge. In short order these icons of our spot found better places to be and never came back.

Things are much better now, there are better moderators and these kinds of jerks aren't tolerated on the site anymore.

As for making selfbows, I have made a few, old age has slowed me down but I still like to help newbies if they have a question.

I gathered up some of my bows through the years and put them on the wall of my shop a month or so ago, these cover a span of about 25 years, almost all of them are too stout for me to shoot now.

The bow on top is a BBO (bamboo backed osage), I noticed the handle had started to come loose on one end and have since shaved down the block of wood that I glued on and repaired the bow.

Beautiful bows Eric

Here are some from the past.

Self bow posts never get old. Some real beauties there fellas!:)

I build so many I forget about the one from 3 weeks ago :)

I’m just learning to make them, I have a long way to go. Hope to get half as good as most of these guys.

Just keep building, Greg. A large share of this is "feel" and no directions or direction can improve that skill. You just have to keep building different bows with different woods. Failures are often the best lessons.

Thanks for the encouragement Pearl

Selfbows, sinew backed, and sturgeon backed. Hickory, Osage, and hackberry.

Love that picture of the two young bowyers Bob. Also your bow pictures too. I haven’t seen as many of yours as I’d like but every one I have was inspiring.

Eric you are still helping a lot of new bowyers with your tillering gizmos. It’s a good tool to help with the biggest mystery for new guys and gals. Know a couple really good lady bowyers to.

Burnsie that’s what happened to me too. I didn’t even see it coming.

I think it so cool to watch new guys get it and then get hooked like I did.

Damon you’re making some nice bows and I really hope we get a chance to make some shavings sometime. I really wish the Michigan Primitive meet would come back again.

I make them when I can and the urge hits me. I have lots of other stuff to keep me busy too. Like Jeff I don’t really want to be in a position where I’m selling bows. I do occasionally, but it’s pretty rare. At this point I want to keep it that way.

I don’t begrudge anyone for asking or offering any price. I guess I think it’s a personal thing. I personally really struggle with putting a price on them. I don’t have the money to spend but if I did I would love to buy one of Simson’s. Man he made some beautiful bows. Not necessarily fancy. Just plain beautiful.

I haven’t been to Ojam yet but I know a bunch of those guys and they really are good people. It’s definitely on my bucket list. Definitely worth attending if you are at all interested in Selfbows.

Bjrogg

For Zbone, here’s the best I come up with on close ups. Crooked one with Prairie rattler skins.

Handle wrap

Another

Timber rattler skinned.

Handle wrap

Another

Wow, very nice Brian... Thank you and all others for sharing your pix...

Nice Brian I never get tired of looking at Selfbows

Bjrogg

Can't post pics ,but I have built well over 200 of them. Great hobby.

Sweet!

Thanks, BJ. I wish I would've made it to Marshall years ago. We need something around MI again for sure. I'd love to get together with ya sometime.

Beautiful work, guys. Keep posting up! Maybe we'll get some guys on the fence to jump in and start making some bows.

See if I can find something

Bjrogg

Bj, that's awesome.

Thanks Jim.

I made that one from a Osage plank. I split it and chased a ring. Then I followed the grain to lay out its front profile.

I dedicated it to Jawge because he helped so many people with board bows. He was a good guy.

Straight as a board.lol

Bjrogg

I pretty much built this one on the site. Not sure name of thread but I think it started out as “Bending Recurves 101” or something like that.

Ended up going to the finished bow.

Got the stave from another LW’r Wolf.

It has some serious wind checks and they even ran out of the handle but I soaked it good with CA glue and it sure seems solid. It really shoots nice.

Bjrogg

Who’s afraid of the “Big Bad Wolf”

Bjrogg

I give it a go. Made 5 and one broke. Pearl Drums straighten the one out that I use. I just never go the hang of it. I had Wooddamon over and gave him all my staves but one. He does a very nice job on his bows.

These Michigan boys make some nice bows

Very nice Brian. I remember both builds.

Had to take a break for the past few months due to personal issues, but still have plenty of staves doing nothing but drying. Thanks to Eric Krewson for all the time he has spent helping me along the way. When I'm not in his presence learning his tillering gizmo continues to teach me how proper tiller should look. It really is an amazing tool when used properly.

Very nice, BJ. Love your tip style.

Thanks, Jon! Made my 2nd and 3rd bows from the first stave you gave me, Big Medicine and my son Gabe's first bow, the Hulk bow. I believe I posted both back when I made them. Also made both my grandson's bows from a bullet you gave me, split down length- wise. I have a couple wavy roller coaster blanks ready to go from another stave you gave me and I'm steaming a nice one this morning that should make a good bow. Your generosity is very much appreciated. I'm also making arrows for each bow I finish from shafts you gifted to me.

One for the little guys

Bjrogg

awesome pic BJ...Is your friend still enjoying that bow?

I haven’t seen him this spring yet. He usually goes south in the winter. The cold really hurts.

As far as I know he is.

Bjrogg

Any of you guys ever use mulberry? A friend is giving me a couple staves

I have. It's not osage but it's ok. Can make a good bow. It might reach about #5 on my preference list.

Thanks Jeff. Just curious what is your top 4 ?

1. Osage Orange

2. Bo D'Arc

3. Maclura Pomifera

4. Yellar Trashwood

Just kidding, kind of. But seriously, I'd choose osage, yew, hophornbeam, elm, and black locust over mulberry... and then would rank it even with some others.

Hop Hornbeam bend thru the handle with static recurves. Garter skin and water buffalo tips. Black leather handle wrap

Bjrogg

Getting ready to start floor tillering another one. If it survives I'll choose the best shooter from my last 2 and gift it to my brother in law. He's a good dude that's always offering me cool free stuff whenever my sis makes him clean up the pole barn :) we'll see if I can bring him over from the dark side.

What a good thread!;) What do you guys think? Maybe we should have a white wood wars II. Just a thought. I made the two bows in the middle. The one on the right is Ash. and the one on the left is Hickory. A Bendy handle 68 inch lightweight bow that’s still shooting. I only made three. I would never use sassafras or ash again. Anybody have a sassafras or Ash selfbow?

What a good thread!;) What do you guys think? Maybe we should have a white wood wars II. Just a thought. I made the two bows in the middle. The one on the right is Ash. and the one on the left is Hickory. A Bendy handle 68 inch lightweight bow that’s still shooting. I only made three. I would never use sassafras or ash again. Anybody have a sassafras or Ash selfbow?

Osage with walnut/Osage handle and tip lams.

Nice full draw Damon.

Maybe you can talk your sis into storing some of that stuff in her shed.lol

I need someone to come over and take stuff out of my garage.

Bjrogg

Beautiful bows guys, built 5, and arrows, enjoyed it, but on to other pursuits! Pic of 3#@15" mini-bow, arrows and quiver I built a few years ago. FUN!

A few of mine

Good to see we still have some stick bow guys on here. Great pictures!

Good to see we still have some stick bow guys on here. Great pictures!

Good to see we still have some stick bow guys on here. Great pictures!

Here's a little curve I finished a few days ago.

Other limb

Nice looking bow Chris. How about a close up of those tips?:)

That’s some awesome curves Chris

About 40 years ago, I was shooting a longbow and met this elderly guy that was as well. We became friends and even though we lived quite a ways apart, we shot a lot together for the summer. Then he got primitive on me, which was good, I just didn't understand a lot about it. He was a rather short man and made a short bow out of some wood, then backed it with sinew. I found the whole thing fascinating but never got to see any of the process. Seems like he made three or four bows before he was gone.

I was a working fool back then and didn't have time to learn anything about what he had learned. His learning was from some books. I really wish that I had stopped to learn and understand what he was doing back then. Always wondered about what happened to his bows, he was more proud of them that his expensive longbows. So, I am a late bloomer as well. The object of my last bows has been to really slow down and not have the set that I first had from getting into a rush. It is truly a great feeling to make a really good looking and great shooting bow.

Greg Fetty has come a long ways too and has made some very nice bows. We both started about the same time, him way up north and me way down south. He is as nice of a man as you can find and loves his bows like a lot of us. There is no telling what I would have done if only I had stopped way back then and simply made a selfbow. There are some totally awesome craftsmen on this site as seen by the pics and these are but a few of them. Sweet Stuff! Jerry

No more pics taken Don. I took those few to show a few buddies how my vinegar/steel wool stain worked. The over lays are calf horn. Hard as diamonds. The blue leather grip came from my wife's old purse I snagged out of the garbage can.

Thanks Greg

I could tell those tips were sweet!

Thanks for the kind words Jerry, you make some awesome bows brother.

Beautiful bows. Keep them coming.

Hard to believe it’s been over four years since I made this one for my brother. He’s almost a leap baby.

Bjrogg

Bjrogg

Very nice work, guys. Got mine to full brace, still feels like about 80# lol. Got one snakey limb I wanna use for the top, might have to manipulate the tips a little. It favors the boring one for now :)

Man that's a terrible pic. Here's full brace, maybe a little high.

Dang close. I’d say mid limb on the right needs to move a bit more.

That’s what I’m seeing too

At least without really seeing it bend.

Bjrogg

That's the snakey limb, it also has a woop dee doo in the side profile there. Working on that now, trying to get tiller closer at brace, works best for me when I have to scrape both limbs reducing weight. I can keep an eye on it a little easier if that makes sense? Right now it's 50#@20", I wanna end up around 45#. I'll take a pic and post.

Hopefully this shows what I mean. It snakes sideways and woop dee dooz there. It's throwing me off, it bends there but maybe not enough yet? That tip is also slightly deflexed from 2 big knots I split off the stave reducing the belly. I'm pulling it on the tree with my eyes crossed to see what's going on and where ;)

And thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback!

Looking good Damon

Looking good Damon

Thanks, Greg!

Chris is my new hero! Took a few scrapes off the mid-limb and wah-lah, evened right up. Hopefully you can see the difference in this pic, I sure can sitting here looking at it. Now I'm off to the snail's paces losing weight. Thanks again! Back at it tomorrow, it's Miller time.

Yup I can see it. I think that looks better from here. Hopefully not leading you astray. Those woppied do ones aren’t going to be a text book profile

I think it looks good though. I can still see the reflexed area

Bjrogg

Thank you, BJ! I exercised it a bunch out to 22" so far and it's looking pretty decent to me. 52# so a little ways to go. Hoping to get it tillered tomorrow and shape the tips and handle. I'll do some shooting too of course.

I'm also using a great tip from Jeff D on pulling from my balance point where my fingers will be. Since I've done that my bows shoot smoother. Thanks Jeff!

Looking good in that last photo to me Damon. Nice to see a selfbow thread come to life. Let’s keep it going.

Thanks, Brian! I agree, hopefully Don doesn't mind me hogging his thread for a bit:)

Damon I’m really enjoying this post. We use to have more self bow threads on here. I always found them enjoyable and interesting. You appreciate seeing holding and shooting a fine self bow even more after you actually try to make one for yourself;) Thanks for sharing all the pictures with us Damon. Keep up the outstanding work.

I’ll second that Don.

I love when people share their Selfbow pictures and stories.

I started this one , one very wet spring. We had everything ready to go to the field and plant except the weather.

I started this bow thinking I needed something to keep my sanity and not worry about the weather so much. It was already quite late. I never dreamed that the poor weather would continue long enough for me to finish this bow, but it did.

My first bow from billets. Glued a little deflex into the handle splice.

Reflexed the limbs and recurved the tips.

Osage with copper head skins. (Love the combination)

Water buffalo tips.

I thinks it’s Emu leather handle wrap. That or ostrich. I got it from a trade on PA.

I’m glad it helped me get through those Rainy Days

Bjrogg

Aim higher Damon! I'm no hero. That looks better and will shoot better. It's ALL about balance and string alignment. Jeffs tip about pulling where your middle finger is on the string is solid advice as well. I also have a roll of leather i put on to of my tree to replicate my hand hold on the grip. It acts as a fulcrum of sorts.

Sorry Pearl looks like we were both posting at the same time.

Not sure if I’d call you a hero, but I do call you my friend. And a helpful one at that.

Bjrogg

You're too modest, man ;)

Good tip on the rolled leather, I have a piece I wrap around the handle in the cradle and slide back and forth under whichever end needs raised a tad to level the string (with a blanked handle). Makes it easier for me to side-eye the limbs out to the tips while I'm pulling. I'll try the rolled leather with shaped handles, Thanks!

BJ, another sweet bow!

Don, I've made a couple of bows out of sassafras. It's the only wood I've used. I have a ton of it and I figured I could learn on it and once I figure out what I'm doing I'll have some locust to work on. Unfortunately, I haven't had time in the last couple of years to work on bows. The first one I made was poorly done but I was proud of it. I had a lot of fun shooting it, about 1000 shots before it gave up. The last one I made was much better, I did back it with rawhide. I've only shot it maybe 100 times .

Brad I hope you get a chance to give some Osage a try. It really is a good bow wood.

I don’t have a local supply of Osage and I try to use everything I can.

I use mostly hand tools. Not because I want to be more primitive. Because I just think they are such a good tools for the job.

I do a fair amount of rapid reduction of my staves by splitting wood that isn’t a bow off my stave.

Sometimes it isn’t the main bow but it has its own bow inside it

I got these three bows from one stave.

I side split off the kids bow for my grandson

Belly split off the ladies bow for my daughter

And the main bow for my son in law

I call the main bow Trilogy

Bjrogg

Those are some sweet bows Brian

Great use of that Osage Brian. Go looking bows.

Yes, we have to make the best use out of what we have in some cases because it is hard to come by. I plan to go out in a couple of weeks since the trees are greening up here and look for a decent hickory around 2" in diameter to peel and immediately work down in shape to fire harden etc. I'm just going for a 60" to 62" bow around 42#.

I have yet to make a hickory bow, so I will try this method. I am normally slow, especially now for the tillering and weight part of it. hopefully I can get it done right. It's funny, I used to metal detect a lot and I found a lot of awesome stuff. I would look at the ground in most places in terms of detecting. Now I am the same way as I look at trees, I see them for the potential bows LOL.

Possible future bows?? Six more to haul out of the woods.

Ah, the beautiful color it is!

Nice cache' of the yellow stuff. You have 5-6 bows in the wheel barrow already! I'm afraid of what may happen if I had osage to cut freely. I would most likely quit my job and build bows.

I drug these logs home about a month ago. The log on the right split out nicely, I think I got 1 or 2 decent sort of OK staves out of the left log, the middle one was a mess - split out into some gnarly propeller twist stuff with iffy rings, by looking at the bark I wasn't expecting it to be so bad - not a bad haul though. It's a bugger getting most of this stuff out of the woods I'm in with a wheelbarrow, but I just look at it as part of my fitness plan. I'm not allowed to drive anything out there.

Very nice Troy. You aren’t crazy. You just caught the bug.

No need to worry. There is no cure, but you can treat the symptoms.

Any physical labor you can do now will pay dividends later. It’s really nice to have a bunch of roughed out blanks with rings chased waiting for you when you get a little older.

Bjrogg

What's a little twist anyways? it is crazy how badly it can contort and do things that you could see coming. But, that is what the heat and steam is supposed to help with...mostly anyways. That stuff is heavy too! But it makes some very awesome bows. It used to be around here but it is a rare tree to find now, besides, I can't get around and do what I used to. I missed out on a mulberry tree that had been cut down, would have loved to try that out.

I got lucky and a friend found me a 16” diameter Osage and helped me cut and split it. Split as straight as I’ve ever had. I got 20 or 21 full length 78” staves, and 14 good 44” billets.

This is what we split on site, then I split most again at home.

That is call hitting the jackpot! Wow! Osage heaven!

Nice haul yourself, Brian! That ain't my pic, lol. First time for everything I guess.

Looks like they are using a thumb ring shooting off other side of bow.

I tried that once. Very nice release but I couldn’t or didn’t want to get use to shooting off other side of bow.

Bjrogg

I think you might like that moderate flip Damon. Just enough to make it work.

Bjrogg

My cousin in a round about way got me started in all of this primitive stuff. He found an arrow head when he was five years old. His brother got serious about looking for artifacts later in life and has a nice collection.

When my cousin was about 50 he decided that he didn’t have the patience to look for artifacts so he decided to make them.

He comes back home from California every summer for two weeks. He decided to bring some stone and a flint knapping kit he brought.

He sat down with about eight of us and we all tried our best to make a point. I really got into it and after a while I realized I was the only one left. Everyone else gave up and I ended up with a very, very crude arrow head.

When he went back to California he left me with the rock and tools. I have been addicted to my primitive journey ever since.

I thought I would return the favor.

I made him this Hop Hornbeam bow and called it “Deep Roots” because he knows where his roots are and they are deep.

Bjrogg

Zebrawood overlays from a chunk I won in Muzzlebow's (Rickey) give away.

Still had a few pounds to shed before I flipped the tips, hopefully I can keep them ahead of the handle when I retiller in a day or 2.

Sorry Damon. We must have both had the same idea. Wanted to keep this one going a little longer.

Those tips are going to look great

Here’s a full draw with my cousin and Deep Roots

Bjrogg

What we need is for the rare breed to start doing more threads like this one. There are some new guys on here that don’t even know what a self bow is;) The Ferret and Jawge were selfbow guys you could count on for a good selfbow post. Fairly often too. It’s time for somebody else to pick up the torch;)

loved that bow, Deep Roots, well done like so many bows on here. what ever we end up with is left strictly up to us, the poundage and the finish besides the design. It's a thing of beauty, even in the rawest of states. Many of us know what it takes just to get a stave from the tree and to the house. So we have a deeper respect for the work required to make a bow, especially to get it tillered right. When we show a bow to someone, they a lot of times like it but then are amazed when you show them a raw stave, then they are amazed at the transformation. it still amazes me, just so way cool awesome! While some of us are just bowyers, maybe even decent ones, there are those that are Master Bowyers as their bows scream out to us. So the only limitations with a bow is us. How cool is that?

Thanks BJ, I think they'll be pretty cool looking when they're shaped and finished. I remember seeing Deep Roots and thinking how awesome everything about it was. Very cool!

I know exactly what you mean, Jerry. My niece's love shooting and didn't believe the bows I've made came from raw chunks of wood until I showed them what I start with.

Don I don’t feel like we are so very rare. I guess I’m lucky to have met a quite a few and for the most part they are just normal everyday people. All ages and backgrounds. Some are just wanting to make one or two and some see bows in every good tree they look at.

I think they must be thriving out there somewhere. It just seems like there are so many other places to go. Social media offers a lot of options and many of them are easier to use than this old site I’m sure.

I don’t do facebook or any other platform.

I come here and Primitive Archery site. Noticed a lot of people left both for other platforms.

Many are busy with life. Or don’t even use a computer.

I’m going to try starting a thread soon. I want to get a little more work done on it first so it doesn’t drag on forever get finished.

Be watching for a thread in the future. I think I’m going to call it “Starting Small “

It’s basically going to be making a selfbow from a piece of firewood.

Bjrogg

Thanks Jerry .

I don’t post every bow I make. Mostly just the ones I named. Deep Roots is one of my favorites.

I’m pretty fond of this one to. It was the first Osage I ever worked. It was very wet when I got it. I split it and reduced the poorest looking stave to closer bow dimensions.

It didn’t make a great first impression.

I struggled chasing a ring and it was very twisted and rubbery.

I sealed the back and after a while I did a little preliminary straightening with a little dry heat. Then I put it back on my rack thinking I would rather work with hop hornbeam.

About eight months later I picked it back up and was amazed at the difference. It was stiff and the draw knife worked great on it.

I wanted it to be all Osage and a string. I didn’t want any tip overlays or leather wrap. “Simply Osage” and a string.

It was a bit short and narrow and had a bunch of heat corrections to make. I was surprised how nice it held its shape after altering it with heat.

I put in some short static recurves and an almost bend through the handle as the limbs were already quite narrow.

I tillered her out to 52 lbs at 25” just right for me. I fell in love with her the first time I shot her. She was a perfect fit for me.

I shoot a lot of different bows. All different styles and weights.

This is my go too bow though. I hunted with her before I even had a finish coat on and I still hunt with her.

I was just trying to get something from what I thought was my poorest stave. I didn’t want to ruin a good one.

Ended up with just what I needed.

Bjrogg

Simply Orange

Simply Orange

I make my own and shoot deer with them. Just unbacked hickory nothing fancy.

I only make a few bows per year these days. I make them when somebody needs one or shows a lot of interest.

One of my favorite bows is the first Osage Bendy bows that I made. It has some set of sorts at the handle or grip area but it is 42# and shoots like a dream for me. It too is a shorter bow and I backed it with Timber Rattler after I kept going back to it. It doesn't look like much as one thought until I strung it and shot it. Then he had to really check it out and was amazed. It too was not the best piece of wood and yet made a favorite for me. It has a slight feel of bending in the grip and I love it. I have yet to kill a deer with it but all due to lack of commitment on my part due to being a caretaker. Hopefully it will come to past this up coming season. It is the perfect size for slipping along or blind hunting. I had made a mate to it but at 45# but it now belongs to Brock, who loves it big time and is hooked on them. He was blown away by the whole stick and a string thing, the pure simplicity.

The hop hornbeam I made last year.

Nice looking bow, Greg!

Sweet bow Greg, sweet bow!

What Brian said. It's not as rare a thing as what those who don't do it believe it to be. There may be folks near you making selfbows in their garage and you wouldn't know. It happened to me. The guy two doors down was making osage selfbows for years, and so was I. I just happened to see some fresh yellow wood shavings in his driveway one day near his garage door. Shavins make friends.

Great looking bow Greg. I can see when I to building next winter I’m going to have to step up my game to keep up with some of you guys.

I have two osage staves that I have had stored for 15 years. Hopefully when I retire in a few years, I will get to them.

I'd like to find someone in SEPA giving a bow making class sometime.

Thanks everyone.

Great looking bows everyone. Thanks for sharing that leatherwall eye candy with all of us. I sure enjoy the self bow threads. I hope to see you selfbow guys post some in the future. I never heard of a self bow. Till I came on here over 20 years ago. When guys like Fred Arnold, Jim Fetrow, Ferret and Ham to name a few of the guys sharing their knowledge about Selfbows with all of us. Man time goes by fast;)

Good timing for this thread. I was given a few self bows from a good friend and long time selfbow shooter. He these two bows made for him and was wondering if anyone could give me some insight on the builders. Both are very cool bows. Thanks for any help!!

You might be better off starting a new thread on that Chuck. I think it will get more attention that way. Good luck. Nice self bows you have there.

Got my alignment tweaked down the middle. Time to shape the handle so I can sneak up north and fling a few this week. Plenty of meat left for whatever style, but I'm thinking I might try a small bulbous grip. I'm partial to a pistol style like I've had on some nice shooting glass recurves. I really like the small grips on the GN Ghosts I've played with, though.

Great Picture Bob.

There is a lot of talent displayed in the pictures. Congratulations to the bowyers.

Looks great Damon, I like the pistol grips also

That looks great Damon.

I’m thinking you might like that profile.

Bjrogg

That bow looks great Damon. How many bows do you have under your belt now?

Thanks guys. Ended up doing another pistol grip lol. Getting it back on the tree today for any tiller adjustments needed, then shooting a few dozen shots hopefully. Fingers crossed, this one has a more snakey top limb than I've worked with before.

Don, I think I'm on the 12th or 13th one now. That's counting a spectacular explosion on an almost finished bow. Impatience on my part, tried pulling it on the tree only a day after steaming then dry heating a limb ;) Not sure if the red streaks in that area had anything to do with it, but that's where it blew.

Tiller still looked good to me, so I sanded some corners a little and took a couple dozen shots. She shoots accurately right off, I'm happy. If the rain holds off tomorrow I'll take it to my target course and shoot a few rounds.

Handle so far. Might just leave it, pretty comfy.

Dang my fault. Here's the pic.

Sweet really like the full draw

Bjrogg

Full draw looks great Damon.

Ok here is my one what I would call successful attempt after 10 unsuccessful ones.Hickory 66" long 45ish pounds and shoots pretty good. My first one shot great but lasted only a few months the next 9 all took a serious set after 20-30 arrows. Those were all made with spring cut wood that I stripped the bark and used that as the back. This one I used the split face as the back and it had some prop. twist that I left in and so far so good.

Looks good, Tom. If your other bows took crazy set and were dry, they were just too short and/or narrow for your draw length.

Thanks guys. Around 100 shots so far, no ticks or other problems so far :)

I like that profile, tcbow.

So, Chris, when you're gonna do a skin job do you do a coat of shellac on the bow back first or just glue to raw wood? I sprayed a coat on the bow already, but I plan on adding skins after a bunch more shooting tomorrow. Any other prep? Size the back with a coat of TB3? Then another wet coat and slap the skin down? I like the results I got last time with your advice. Wanting to get more ideas for methods is all.

These are 4 sister bows that came from the same log. There were more potential bows in the log, but I messed a couple up getting in too big a hurry with the band saw. I still have finish work to complete on all of them, but working through all the curves was interesting and educational.

Nice!

Damon, I size the back of the bow with the same glue Im using on the skins. Let it dry a few hours and then apply the skins.

Awesome thanks, Chris. I'll do that on these next ones.

I dilute the glue a little and put fresh glue on the skin and bow and stick them together. I am not a fan of wrapping the skin for the glue to set.

I work all the excess glue out from under the skin with my thumbs, at the same time making sure the pattern is perfectly centerd on the bow. I massage the skin up and down the limb with my thumbs for about 15 minutes by which time it is starting to set and won't move. After 30 minutes it is stuck on well enought for me to trimn the edges. I give the skin overnight to dry before I apply any finish.

done

I should have said; I let the skin dry overnight before I use masking tape to remove the scales and put on the finish.

I do like Eric does. I use painters tape on the edges of the bow limbs and wrap under onto the belly of the bow to keep excessive glue off the bow to make cleanup easier. Eric’s photo shows the blue tape.

Thanks guys. Eric, beautiful work. These canebrake skins have huge scales, so I skipped the tape last time and worked them off with my thumbs wearing rubber gloves and using a pink pencil eraser. Worked pretty good and kept the little flaps to a minimum. A few coats of shellac brushed on after and smooth skins. I've done rattlers with the tape as Eric pictured and they turned out nice as well, but I struggled getting rid of the skin flaps. Maybe being too cautious with the sanding. As of now I have a layer of TB3 drying on the bow, In a couple hours I'll soak the skins and then add a layer to them and slap em on.

I soak my skins and blot them with a paper towel before I apply the glue. I use a glue brush on the skins and the bow's back.

Got the skins on, scales off and trimmed. Now into the warm house to dry.

Really looking good Damon.

Looks great Damon.

I have a feeling you are going to really like that one.

Bjrogg

Thanks guys. BJ, I've shot it a bunch already it's a nice shooter. I like how the skins are almost translucent on this one without the vinagroon stain on the back. Sanding it now down to 600 before I coat it with shellac. I'm usually a Tru-Oil guy, but I like how quickly shellac smooths the skins.

Nice grain high lights.

Thank you kindly.

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