Well I know that I have been gone for a while, had to take a break to finish college and get myself back to work.

Well I am done with school and am now starting my first attempt at bow making.
I started out by making a bowyers bench from plans provided by another member.

Next step is I am working on learning to correctly use my drawknife and peel the bark off of my Elm wood staves that I split that a friend had given me awhile ago.

Just taking it slow, trying to make a nice self bow out of these staves. At least that's my goal

The first one I am working on split and may be a bit thin, I'll have to wait and see. But I figured it was the best place to start practicing before I jump into one of my better staves.

I'm gonna try to see if I can upload a few pics, wish me luck, I'm a little rusty at this stuff, LOL.Well it looks like I'll have to read up on how to upload pics again, sorry. I promise I'll get some up soon.

Good luck.  Take us along.

The more pictures and questions you post the better the chance you will be stopped from doing something stupid lol!  

Well I'll see if this works, since my computer is having 40 fits lately, I'm trying this on my phone, and I'm no tech expert.

If this works, my apologies for how long it has taken to figure out how to get a picture up.

Sorry, my stupid phone will not put the link in correct, I apologize I'll keep trying.

Good gravy! What's that????

Well Frosty, best of luck with that stave...

Man could you not find anything knottier? That looks like something Goose would pull out of a pile and start on.

Well lets see how it turns out.

Hahahaha that's gotta be a joke!

I'm only kidding, take it slow, and do things properly and you'll be ok, but there's just less margin for error with a crazy stave like that.

Where the heck did you get that thing?

Kelly is right though ... Where is Goose with some advice for this guy?

John Scifres, your my hero.    
Thank you for helping me get a picture of this uploaded here. I really, truly appreciate your help.

Kevin/Frosty

My advice......go and find a better , clean stave.
When you are starting out you want the best, straightest, cleanest stave you can possibly find.
Making a bow is hard enough and the first lessons need to be how to make it bend correctly.
Trying to figure knots etc is tipping the balance well against yourself.
Use one of the better staves you have for your first attempt  

I love a challenge myself. But,that's not a challenge its a gamble at best. Elm knots aren't strong generally speaking and that has way too many to even lay a bow out. Try to get a shooter before you concern yourself with "looks".

Well i will try this again and see if I have any better luck on my laptop.  

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Well praise God, I finally figured it out!!!!  

Well I do not mean to be disrispectful or want to come off like I know better, but I do realize what you are all saying about this stave.
Yes it is a knotty little piece of hell, and not nearly a good choice for a beginer like me. But i started this and whether she works or turns into a million toothpicks i will be seeing this through to the bitter end.

When i started this I did not realize how bad this one was, but I went off the idea that I'll work the crappy stuff first, and try to save the better stock for when I have some experience, and thus hopefully not waste the best stuff on all my rookie blunders.

Thanks all for your feedback, I really appriciate it a lot.  

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Just get er done, frosty ole boy.

Well.  There is nothing wrong with learning technique and not focusing on a product.  But only if you understand that.  Success breeds interest.  And interest breeds success.  They build on each other.  So revel in the successes so far.

You have learned to build a bowhorse.

You understand the basics of laying out a bow in light of a particular stave's limitations.

You have begun to learn the art of careful wood removal.

You have learned to post photos on TG.

You have offered yourself up to constructive criticism and are humble enough to accept it with gratitude.

Now carry on and take us along.

Thanks for posting.

Frosty, how long is it and what is your drawlength?
Jawge

I kinda like it. Can't wait to see how it ends up. Just be careful.