Bowyer

For people named Bowyer, see Bowyer (surname)

A bowyer is a person who makes bows for archery. The term bowyer typically implies a skilled craftsman, though with simpler designs even a beginner can produce a functional bow. Bowyers today usually make selfbows (bows made from one solid piece of wood), composite bows, or recurve bows. Compound bows are produced almost exclusively in factory.

Making a bow

The most important part of crafting a bow is ensuring that the materials used are not strained beyond their breaking point. Due to the large amount of energy stored in a drawn bow failures are often spectacular--referred to as explosions because of the loud crack and flying debris. If a bow is being made from wood or a combination of natural materials (often called a primitive or traditional bow) careful attention must be paid to the selected materials. There will be natural twists, knots, bends or other variations that must be taken into account and worked with to ensure that the bow will not fracture at any point along its length. Due to this, traditional bows must be made individually. Bowyers who create fiberglass laminated bows, bows consisting of wood sandwiched by fiberglass layers, can create somewhat more standardized bows as the significantly stronger fiberglass, not the wood, is the load bearing component and keeps the bow from breaking.

Assuming a bow will not fail during shooting then other factors such as efficiency, aesthetics, portability, finish, noise during shooting, and weatherproofing can all be important. How these factors affect the bows design and construction depends on the purpose of the bow and preferences of the user.

History

Historically, a huge variety of bows have been produced for food gathering, warfare, and recreation. Who created these bows depended mainly on the type of bow being produced, but also on the quantity required.

In tribes or social groups that used wooden self-bows (bows made entirely from one piece of wood) bows would sometimes be crafted by the individual user; however, even with fairly simple bow designs it was often easier to rely upon a few skilled bowyers within the group. In medieval England, for example, professional bowyers produced the thousands of bows required for that country’s military. These bowyers could reportedly make an English longbow in as little as two hours (wooden selfbows normally take from 10-60 hours of work depending on the skill of the bowyer and how challenging a piece of wood is).

In cultures that used composite bows (bows made of several materials, often horn, wood, and sinew) skilled, devoted, craftsman had to be relied upon. Composite bows could be made relatively short, heavily recurved, and highly efficient but the constituent materials had to be put under enormous stress and the bow’s limbs needed to be perfectly aligned. These demands required experienced bowyers who were willing to spend a great deal of time crafting their weapons. Though cultures such as the Mongols made incredible military use of powerful composite bows the ancient Turkish bowyers are typically considered to have been the most skilled. Because the glue used to apply each lamination was allowed to dry for months Turkish flight bows took years to produce. The short, very recurved, sinew-horn-wood composite bows were exquisitely crafted and pushed the natural materials to their limits. In the 1500’s one such Turkish flight bow set the record for longest shot, 846 meters (925 yards), a record that stood until the 20th century and the invention of modern material science.

Bowyers in the United States

In the United States, Will and Maurice Thompson may have made some of their own bows, but many American bowyers were inspired by Art Young, Dr. Saxton Pope, and Will Compton. These included Chester Stevenson, Glenn St. Charles, Howard Hill, and Fred Bear. Following the publication of The Traditional Bowyer's Bibles in the 1990s, there has been a resurgence of traditional bow making in the United States. These include Jay St. Charles, the late Jay Massey, Oregon bowyer John Strunk, Tim Baker, Paul Comstock, and Jim Hamm, among others.

References

• Adam Karpowicz ”TURKISH BOW TESTS” Retrieved July 31, 2005
• (1992) The Traditional Boyers Bible Volume 1. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-085-3
• (1992) The Traditional Boyers Bible Volume 2. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-086-1
• (1994) The Traditional Boyers Bible Volume 3. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-087-X