[Ansteorra-archery] My first board bow

[Sylvrfalcn at aol.com]

Good on you Ulrich, fun stuff indeed!
  I made a sweet Native American (Cherokee friend of mine hates that 
politically correct phrase and prefers to be called an Indian <grin>) style bow from 
an Osage stave I cut and seasoned myself. It was pulling a smooth and 
consistent 70 lbs. at 26" (short bow), so silly me wanted to see what it would pull at 
28". I'll never forget the sound that bow made as it literally exploded in my 
hands.
  So heads up fledgling bowyers, test your handiwork with care, even to the 
point of considering eye protection. When I make a bow for someone else, they 
don't get to so much as touch it, until I've personally put a few dozen arrows 
downrange with it to check for potential problems. So far so good, but 
complacency is the ally of our old friend "Murphy", so "proof testing" will remain 
part of my bowmaking routine.

Cheers,
Robert