Customer Reviews

The Traditional Bowyer's Bible (Volume 3)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The entire set of Bowyers Bibles are wonderfull.I must have read them all cover to cover a dozen times over the years, The information is invaluable to the novice and the serious bow builder.I especially love Tim Baker (the wildman)of bowyers he's always challenging the rules,and rewriting them.As a woman bowyer I understand challenging the rules.

This final volume ( # 3 ) of this series has very useful instructional information concerning bow making tools, take down ( two piece ) bows, stone age bows, stone points ( knapping ), and making arrows. Bow designs from many cultures around the world are examined and explained in detail.
The tools mentioned range from simple hand tools, such as the wood rasp, to power tools, like the band saw. Power tools are not needed to make these bows, but can save time.
Properly made arrows are a very important part of archery gear, and this voulme shows how they are made correctly and safely using a variety of woods and fletchings.
Other chapters explain bow designs such as the asymetrical yumi bow from Japan, the materials for composite bows of Korea, and the hole nocks from some African bows.

I bought this for my Dad, who is into bows. It has tons of information about the history of ancient bow making, arrows, all kinds of stuff. I only browsed through it, but I can tell you that if you are interested in getting into making your own kit, you should get yourself these bowyers bibles to start.

This volume is very explicative and not lost any details of his points. All the volumes makes a great help, and even a single powerfull source of information, to anyone who want to make the finest traditional bows, i recomend !

This book was excellent for outlining the process of making bows. Each section of the book is dedicated to a different area of bow making, and therefore was able to cover a substantial amount of ground. This book does require an advanced knowledge of bows and archery.

Very detailed and informative. I've made several traditional bows and the more I make, the more I want to make and experiment. More people need to start making bows and/or getting in touch with making practical things from local materials.

(This review pertains to the first three volumes as a whole. I do not own the new 4th volume ... yet.)

The Traditional Bowyer's Bible can be reviewed fairly briefly.

On the pro side:

- The authors are traditional archery experts.
- The content is wide-ranging, covering longbows, recurves, flatbows, backed bows, composite bows, takedowns, asymmetrical bows, arrows, nocks, fletching, backings, finishing, tools, etc. Virtually every bow type is represented and from every area of the world and from ancient history to the present day.
- The books contain original material, such as information on hysterisis.
- The content covers basics to very advanced topics.
- Though the authors express individual preferences here and there(bow types, woods, etc.), taken as a whole the material is quite neutral and fact-based.
- Design is emphasized as much as construction, perhaps more so. I'd go further and say the intent of the series is to teach foundational material and definitely not to present simple how-to instructions. I've made bows using these books, but see comments below, too.
- There is very little throw-away material, here meaning text that preaches to the choir about the virtues of traditional archery.

On the con side:

- The material is topically organized (e.g., design, tillering, woods). While that's terrific for the topic, it isn't the best for the step-by-step how-do-I-make-a-bow reader. You really have to read the bulk of the material to put it together.
- These may not be the best books for someone just starting out in traditional archery. The authors presume basic knowledge of archery and terminology. A newcomer, unless extraordinarily enthusiastic, will be overwhelmed.
- There's a lot of line drawing illustrations. I would prefer photos.
- The multiple volume approach isn't really necessary, given the size of each, drives up the price of the total, and I would like to see the series published in a single volume.

The cons are nits, however. This book series provides an extremely comprehensive view of traditional archery and is a must-have on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the topic.

The things that I learned in here I am puting into practice, very knowledgeable man and very practiced at what he does, real easey to understand,and I had fun reading it

This book was excellent for outlining the process of making bows. Each section of the book is dedicated to a different area of bow making, and therefore was able to cover a substantial amount of ground. This book does require an advanced knowledge of bows and archery.

This was a very excellent book and I ordered the other 2 vol.
These also were very very good. I have enjoyed them very much.
They would be a very good addition to any boyers library.
Very good prices also.