I'd been wanting to make my 6 year old daughter, Gracie, a new laminated longbow, but when I got to thinking about the price of materials and building a new form, I just couldn't beat the price of a Maddog Pup longbow. So I talked to Mike Mecredy and he said he could build me blank that I could finish. This worked out great since I didn't need to start from scratch for a kid's bow, but also allowed me the satisfaction of doing a lot of the work on my daughter's bow.
Her favorite color is pink so we went with a pink actionwood riser, white glass limbs, and pink actionwood tip overlays. Mike added accent strips of maple and osage to the riser that look great.
Here's Gracie holding the blank when it arrived.
(http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae23/jsweka/CAM_1571.jpg)
Once I got it roughed out, she helped with the sanding.
(http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae23/jsweka/CAM_1581.jpg)
Here's Gracie showing off the finished product.
(http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae23/jsweka/CAM_1598.jpg)
...and one drawing it back.
(http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae23/jsweka/CAM_1603.jpg)
Here's little brother, Jonathan, shooting his hand-me-down oak board bow that was once Gracie's. I don't think the pink/white bow will be another hand-me-down, so I'll probably be giving Mike another call once Jonathan grows a little more.
(http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae23/jsweka/CAM_1596.jpg)
This was a fun project and the bow turned out pretty sweet. A special thanks goes out to Mike at Maddog! It's definitely not a toy and zips an arrow pretty quick. Gracie is shooting it well and is happy to have her arrows sticking in the target rather than boucing off. It was nice having Gracie wanting to help me work on her bow and I think we might have the making of a new bowyer.
-Just thought I'd post some pics from a proud father.
John
Such a great time in your life and your kid's! Awesome!
Great family activity, enjoy it while they are young. Tell Jonathan COOL BOOTS.
What its all about! Enjoy them as time flys so fast.Ps-they definately had a good teacher,great form.
Awesome.... :clapper: :clapper:
Very nice! :thumbsup:
That's awesome! I was looking for you at ETAR, we shot together at Marsh Hill. I had my two teenagers with me that day. You have great kids, enjoy every moment cause it goes fast. Rob
I love it, both of your young'uns Full Draw pics will appear on my Traditional bows Drawn pages soon. Nice looking bow and young archers. Mike and you (and Gracie) did a great job. Enjoy!
They'll be on page tbd21 - just keep checking.
http://residents.bowhunting.net/bsdunn/tbd21.htm
Just dawned on me - a story y'all might enjoy: We have a couple "volunteer" cats that took up here about a year ago. We thought both were males, so we named one (red and white short hair)"Red", and the grey and white longhair one "Grayson". We finally decided the gray was a female who had either been fixed befor being "deposited" in our area, or doesn't come in season. So we had to change "his" name to "Gracie" - she's pretty as a picture also, John - LOL.
Quality times right there!! You're a lucky man!!
Thank you so much for sharing these treasures with us.
Awesome looking children!! I hope their love for all things traditional continues to grow with them.
God bless,Mudd
Thanks guys for the compliments on the family and bow.
Cal bow - Jonathan is a big fan of the Toy Story movies and he calls those his "Woody" boots. He doesn't care that they are about 4 sizes too big.
ghost rob - Sorry I missed you at ETAR. I was there on Saturday with my brother-in-law. Gracie and my niece were planning to come with me, but with as hot as it was that day, my sister talked them into staying home and going swimming. I think if we would have had her new bow finished in time, she would have opted for the shoot. Don't want to push them too hard into archery, but a little nudge now and then won't hurt :)
Very cool!
Thank you for the pictures, They made my day!
Great looking kids.
:clapper:
Perfect !!!!
Thanks for sharing.
Cool stuff right there!! Congrats to Gracie on her new bow.
Great Stuff!
No greater enjoyment than letting them take part of the process! Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup: :clapper:
Awesomw pics. What a fun time to share. Tell Gracie she is doing great with her bow. Put up some balloons for them to shoot at, kids love to see them pop!
Thanks for sharing those pictures with us. My daughter is 15 now and still enjoys shooting with Dad.
A young man is going to owe me, and you, big one day. Sorry to pain you with that thought right now!
Everyone knows about MADD (mothers against drunk driving). I am a member of a new organization called DADD - "Dads against daughters dating" :thumbsup:
thats so great ...spending time with kids..u are very lucky indeed...
Full Draws are now up on my site, John - thanks.
http://residents.bowhunting.net/bsdunn/tbd21.htm
Awesome! We are going to need a pink Mad dog in our family soon as well!
as it should always be :clapper:
Again, thanks for all the compliments. Gracie was shooting tonight and it was probably the best she's ever shot. Jonathan did well too. He's getting to the point where he can do everything on his own. My performance, however, was a bit sub-par. Oh well, still a very enjoyable evening.
ber643 - Thanks for posting those pics. I'll have to show the kids tomorrow. They just went to bed.
pickaspot - Where do I sign up for DADD? I dread the thought of Gracie dating. Maybe us TradGangers need to put our heads together and start arranging mariages :)