Archery

    ~ Archery is one of those interests that you can get involved in to any degree you want. Since completing lessons some years ago, I have been intrigued with the vintage recurve target bows from the late 1950's to the early 1970's. I have been involved with buying, selling and refinishing these "works of art" for some time, my goal being to have a small collection of vintage elite bows in pristine condition that I could display and shoot. Having bought over 60 bows and resold many of those, the remaining 19 brings me very close to my goal.

I finally worked up the courage to make my own bow...a "Self Bow" :)  It's made with a Hickory core and is backed with Bamboo.  It took a (stressful) month to complete it.  One of the more challenging project I've done.  The finished bow, that I named "Wood Spirit" is 66 inches and has a draw weight of 34 pounds.  It's shown in the Gallery.

The current collection can be seen by clicking on the "Bow Gallery" link button.

The woods used in the manufacture of these vintage bows were exotic hardwoods mostly from Africa and South America, but also from the U.S. Wood with names like Bubinga, Imbula and Shadua were common. Synthetic materials like Formica, Ebonite and Phenolic were also popular.

In the late 1960's, the Compound Bow (they are the ones with the wheels and gears) came on the scene and the wooden vintage bows (they are the works of art) disappeared. There has been a renewed interest in the more traditional archery bows and now these vintage bows are once again in demand.

A great hobby and a great sport !!