Here's to you Jawge! I promised you 2 years ago that I'd get busy building a board bow per your instructions. Well, 1 year too late, but my son and I are well on our way to completing our first.

We bought two red oak 1x2's at Lowe's on Saturday. One has perfect grain that runs the full length of the board with no run out's. The other is very good too, and we decided to use it to learn on. It is becoming my son's 64" bow, with a 4" handle section. He's shaping the handle right now.

Had the tiller perfect (by measurements on both limbs) before the handle was glued on. Now one limb is showing stiffer than the other. But the bow is still a couple pounds over our target weight at my son's draw (about 35#), so once he gets the handle shaped, and the whole bow sanded better, we will look at that tiller again.

He is 12, and is loving this project. He has tried and failed about 10 times with hickory saplings (a few shot, but developed hinges). I must say that this board method of George's is the only way to go for a beginner to get a reliable shooter.

We will try to make a 72" bendy handle bow for me out of the other stave. Probably 45#@30" will be our target. I don't want to draw it back more than 30, so I will probably use some 30" BOP arrows with it just to make sure...

Anyone who hasn't tried this has to give it a whirl. This is pure, clean fun.

Thanks again Jawge for all the help and encouragement.

John.

Looks good john,fun project for your son and your self.

now yuo wont have any spare times, with building bows, and shooting, etc. LOL

chris.

A Father and Son making a bow together. Now that's Tradition at its finest. Very nice. Rick

John- nice job! looks like you guys are having a great time. who says those bows in the background and the one in the foreground can't coexsist!..... that is proof right there that they can.

Fun stuff! I hope to learn a little board bending from Jawge this year myself.

This is a good inspiration...

I'm proud of you both.

Shape, you picked out the fita's peeking 'round the corner eh? ;o) They're always there, ready to do thier job when called on... :D

Here's our makeshift tiller tree...

You can see one limb a little weaker than the other. We'll get that fixed soon.

Here's Adam shaping the handle with a rasp.

We didn't have all the woodworking tools we needed, so we bought a set at Lowe's when we picked up the boards. Found a 10 pc. set of wood files and rasps with handles cheap, and they are the only way to go. Love that 10" rasp that is flat on one side and round on the other...

John.

John, this does my heart good-father and son. Such a special time together. Thanks for sharing. Jawge

Yea, mine too Jawge. Mine too.

Thanks buddy.

John.

Welcome, John. Very much so. Jawge

Nice work Limb & lil Limb, Jawge you are the MAN!

Your boy will always remember this...good stuff!

FF

John,

Great father and son stuff . . . congrats . . . Young Adam certainly looks "the goods" . . . his form, and at the bench.

regards . . . Ziggy

Congratulations to you both.

Very cool stuff. I wish I'd have been able to do that kind of stuff with my father when I was a kid, but.... we can do what we can for our own kids to give them these kinds of experiences. :)

Ziggy,

The boy doesn't have a clue yet what kind of God-given ability he has for archery. He won Louisville and brought home a big silver bowl last year after only 3 weeks of practice with his recurve. I never taught him proper form. He's been watching me shoot since he was a baby, so I guess he just figured out how to shoot from that...

He's been able to pull over 40# since he was 8, simply because his mechanics are very sound. Should be a lesson for lots of folks. You don't have to be big if you are using the frame the right way...

John.

Nice job! You'll have to post some pictures of the finished product and some of the groups he will shoot with it.

Wow, what a way to end the day. That's a nice scene right there. Way to go Limbwalker and son!

John,

Over 40# at 8 . . . amazing!

I had a similar experience with my daughter fly fishing. When she was about 8 she would come with me, and when I cast and hooked a fish, I would hand the rod to Jules, and she would play and land the fish . . . we were a great team.

We did this for a couple of seasons, without her casting, and then, as kids do, she lost interest. At 18 she then wanted to learn how to cast a fly rod.

The first time I put a fly rod in her hand, and without any instruction, she started casting, virtually a perfect line, with "wrist snap" . . . I just couldn't believe how much she "soaked up " as a kid, just watching me cast . . . the same as in your case.

Of course, there's a much larger picture here ....just what kids pick up with whatever we do (not say) . . . positive and negative.

As a father John . . . looks like your also "the goods".

great to see . . . Ziggy

Whoa! Talk about the Head Start program. Now you just need to find someone to show him how to shoot it!

To be serious, you could link that first pic over to the "What is proper form" thread!

Nicely tillered also.

Outstanding!!!...Van

I keep checking back on this post to see more pics, I think it's great that your son is working his own bow, my son shoots but he doesn't have the desire to create yet. You're a good Dad, my Dad is too but I grew up not learning alot of stuff cause he was busy and instead of getting to pound nails I only got to hand them to him. I let my son try everything safe that he has an interest in, you have to empower them to succeed. VB

Now he will looking up at the trees instead of behind them when he goes hunting. Poor kid will never be the same 8>)

John....do you have a future Olympian there as well? I would bet yes.

Thought I'd bring this back up in memory of Jawge - who inspired me to build a "board bow" along with my son.

I will find pictures later today as they are no longer attached to this thread.

We still have that bow. My son is now 28 and in medical school at Mayo in Rochester after serving in the Air Force.

I keep that board bow handy and he and I enjoy the memories it brings back when he visits home.

God bless you and yours Jawge. We will always be grateful.

yeh JOHN I'd appreciate seeing the pictures, if you do post them, as I was not on here in '07. Thanks Steve

Very cool! Looking forward to seeing the pics!

Good stuff.

I’d say that one is irreplaceable for sure.

Bjrogg

Hope to see the photos SOON. Will be ANOTHER GREAT memory of JAWGE!

Images are on a drive that's in storage at the moment. I'll get them posted as soon as I can.

Md2blntn, staying in wasn't an option. After 3 years at the USAFA, he was medically discharged due to a life-threatening autoimmune disease. 2 years of chemo and recovery while he finished his pre- med degree at CU Boulder, then he applied to 24 med schools, including Mayo. Got in to 5, 4 with a free ride. Mayo was his top pick. He's studying to be a trauma surgeon now.

Great to hear. Anytime you have a father son or a father daughter doing something together like this in this day and age there is nothing but good involved. Glad he is doing better with his illness and pursuing a worthwhile career that will make a lot of difference in a lot of lives.

Great thread John - thanks for bringing it back up.

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