I have finally motivated myself to get out in the shop and make some noise. I have very important "little" project to get done posthaste. I'm making a bamboo backed osage bow for my grandson. He turned 8 last month and spent some time doing deer stuff with me this fall. He was totally into it, and loves slinging arrows. The plastic piece of crap that he is shooting now is not working for me at all, lol. I would be embarrassed to show up at an OSTA shoot with MY grandson holding a Walmart toy bow. I have a reputation to protect, after all. 
I found a couple of pieces of material that my late friend Dean Torges had worked on, and I inherited when I cleaned out his shop. In some of that was a tapered piece of osage board stock only 60" long, presumably for a 58" bow, and a piece of tapered bamboo backing also 60". Short stock like this is useless to me as I have not shot anything less than a 64" bow for 25 years or more. I further thickness tapered both pieces to get in the ballpark for 15lb bow. Years ago, I made a pattern for kids bows. I only ever made one bow with that pattern and that was special gift for a good friend's grandson many years ago. It was a really nice kids bow. Glad I kept the pattern. I traced the smaller pattern on the already cut out bamboo backing. I'll glue it up later this week.
For the little bit of work I did to get this project underway I find myself feeling an unusual new sense of purpose. New in that this feels different to me from all the other bow work I have ever done. I realized that this is not about me anymore. Being able to make my grandsons first actual bow from materials worked on and left behind by my mentor and great friend creates a connection between past, present and future that is quite rare in this day and age. Maybe, with some time, persistence, and a little luck, I can set a young boy onto a path into the outdoors, onto a better path than he might find otherwise. A path not unlike my own.
I found a couple of pieces of material that my late friend Dean Torges had worked on, and I inherited when I cleaned out his shop. In some of that was a tapered piece of osage board stock only 60" long, presumably for a 58" bow, and a piece of tapered bamboo backing also 60". Short stock like this is useless to me as I have not shot anything less than a 64" bow for 25 years or more. I further thickness tapered both pieces to get in the ballpark for 15lb bow. Years ago, I made a pattern for kids bows. I only ever made one bow with that pattern and that was special gift for a good friend's grandson many years ago. It was a really nice kids bow. Glad I kept the pattern. I traced the smaller pattern on the already cut out bamboo backing. I'll glue it up later this week.
For the little bit of work I did to get this project underway I find myself feeling an unusual new sense of purpose. New in that this feels different to me from all the other bow work I have ever done. I realized that this is not about me anymore. Being able to make my grandsons first actual bow from materials worked on and left behind by my mentor and great friend creates a connection between past, present and future that is quite rare in this day and age. Maybe, with some time, persistence, and a little luck, I can set a young boy onto a path into the outdoors, onto a better path than he might find otherwise. A path not unlike my own.
