The bending stick

In the picture: Tillering-tree in my workshop. Here I can inspect the arc of the bow and the draw-wight.

Yes, correct, the guy also makes bows for hunting or sports. Yet not out of boredom, but because tilling is the best way to learn about the toughness of wood.



This way, I can translate the knowledge of making an efficiently durable bow to the production of other wooden weapons. Or just give the Makiwara some thought. What would such a striking board be without the right tapering, making the bending possible? In the meantime, bow construction enthrals me so much that I have equipped my workshop with a large tillering tree and a shooting gallery and would now like to slowly include the first archery articles in the shop. With regard to bow construction, I also have a great ambitious target. In the future, I would like to be able to offer my customers typical Japanese bows, too, the so-called yumi.

It is very complicated to make them so I would first like to bring my bow making skills to perfection.

What distinguishes me from others in this fast-growing scene is that I primarily rely on vegetable raw materials. I do without backings from skin and do not twist the bowstring from hair or animal tendons. Here, I use linen or hemp instead. In principle. Many types of wood are suitable for the bow; the right design and the tiller are more important. As I like to make bows from planks with vertical grains, I prefer long-stranded wood such as ash, hickory and robinia.

What would a bow be without arrows? In this case, I work closely with an artist blacksmith friend of mine, with whose help, hand-forged tips and fire arrows will soon also be available. One of the next projects for the turning lathe is sure to be the whistle arrow.


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