Today marks the start of a new period in the life of the Bow Hospital. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I am going to try retirement (Again!), and have sold the Bow Hospital business to John Rafferty (jcrafferty) of Sterling Heights, MI.
John brings a wealth of experience and will hit the ground running with all of your bow refinishing needs, weight reductions, and repairs. He has been a carpenter for 35 years, and builds beautiful bows himself for the past three years.
John is in Lake Mills for the weekend, in theory for me to teach him, but to be completely honest, I think I am the one doing the learning. His bows are gorgeous, and the finishes rival anything I have ever done. I am really happy that such a capable owner is taking over.
This is not a great picture, and we will try to get more tomorrow, but here is John in my shop.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r610/jcrafferty/JohnRafferty.jpg)
It wasn't long before we got to work. I had a customer call earlier this week and he had two bows he wanted to have some weight removed from and refinished. These will be John's first bows under the Bow Hospital name.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r610/jcrafferty/JohnRafferty-3.jpg)
You need to see the quality of work that John is already doing. As I mentioned, he has been building bows for himself for the past three years and calls them JR Bows. Take a look at this one!
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r610/jcrafferty/JRBow019.jpg)
As a part of our ownership transfer to John he will be continuing as a Trad Gang sponsor. (Terry, as I mentioned to you - the check is in the mail :thumbsup: )
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Very Good! Gentleman the best of all to both you as you carry forward!
Outstanding :thumbsup: Best of luck to you John in your new venture! Whip, happy retirement (again).
:clapper:
Nice hand-off!
Good luck!
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Glenn
Good luck to both!!!
:campfire:
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Good to see it continue on!!!! :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Bisch
Looks like it is indeed in good hands Joe. :clapper: Do you have any contact information, or know when John will be accepting any orders? I have a 69 Bear I'd like to have refinished.
I can't tell you how happy I am to be able to turn this over to John. He knows what he is doing, and I know is going to take this business to another level. It is a perfect fit for him.
It also makes it so easy for me in that I will have no trouble at all recommending his work to anyone.
Congratulations to you both. Enjoy that retirement Joe!
congratulations, gorgeous bow by the way!
Thumbs up! best of luck to both of you.
Marco
:thumbsup: Good luck to both of you.
Good luck,im sure you will be awesome!
Welcome!
Good Luck Joe! It's been fun seeing some of the nice work you've put out. Sounds like the business is in good hands.
Best of luck to both of you!
Way to go, Whip.
Good for you and good for us. Nice to know the change will be seamless.
Good luck to you both.
Happy re-retirement Joe.
Does sound like a great fit with John. Much success!
Thanks for the shop pictures too by the way.
Congratulations John is agreat guy and will do well
Good Luck Guys
You'll both do great!
I am so happy to have seen this. John is a great guy, I have known him for a long time.....his wife worked with mine about 20+ years ago....We had cabins in the same area for years. I have seen John at just about every traditional archery show (at least in Michigan)for years, and he always has his latest creation with him. His bow building has progressed from "pretty darn good" to "WOW" status in the span of those years.
I am so happy to see him succeeding in traditional archery.
p.s. JOHN, I showed this to Lori, she says tell Kelly HI!
Looks like a good fit....
Now go hunting Joe... :bigsmyl:
Joe I hope you enjoy your retirement, and John welcome to you!
Getting to know John for the past couple years,and with looking at his bow,I can tell you that he is a very capable man for the job, no doubt.
Good luck with it John,See you soon Joe.
Happy for both of you fellas.
CTT
Awesome, and best part is that it's only a few miles from my home. I will deffinately be coming by to check your place out once set up.
Actually , scratch that, if you need a hand setting anything up, just say the word and I will be there to help where ever you need it.
John, Welcome as the new bow Doc. Congrats to Whip on your retirement. John, big shoes to fill, but we know you can handle the job. Best of luck too both of you.
Ata boy Mike, burn some of that energy off. :p
Nice offer buddy.
CTT
Very cool Joe. Glad it worked out.
Congrats John.
:thumbsup:
Congrats!!! And so close to home :)
Congrats to you Joe and John may both of your journeys be profitable.
Thats great!! No doubt John will do an excellent job. :clapper: Congrats to both John and Joe.
Bill
Thanks for all the nice comments. It's great to see those from people that actually know John and are familiar with his work.
John is in the process of setting up an all new website. Part of our deal included a Trad Gang sponsorship, so that is already covered, and once his new website is up and running I'm sure he will be letting you all know about it.
In the meantime, the Bow Hospital page on the Prairie Traditions site has been updated with John's contact information, so you can get in touch with him through that, or send him a PM here. (jcrafferty - #14,998)
Best of luck to John on his new aquisition, and to Joe on his re-retirement.
Excellent! Congrats on your re-retirement Joe and I'm looking Forward to having work done by John...CONGRATS!
Very glad to hear John is going to be taking over for you Joe. This is truly great news. :)
I hope John has lots of success. :thumbsup:
Welcome John.
For those of you who are already on my schedule to have work done you now have the option of staying on my list or being switched to John.
Our deal is that I keep what is here unless someone prefers to transfer. And that is perfectly fine for me if they do - I'd like to get John off to a good start. But either way works, and I will continue to work on the bows that stay here.
The advantage that John can offer is that he has no backlo% and can get to your bows quicker than I can. And his skills are excellent, so no worries about the quality with him!
Congrats to both of you !
This going to cost me lots now that the Bow Hospital will be right in my back yard :D
Joe: Does this mean that we will get to shoot with you at all the events? That would be great. MIKE
Congrats Joe for retirement 2. John great to see pics of your handiwork. Best of wishes in the buisness.
The very best of luck to you both!
Good luck to both of you.
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I am glad you are been able to close the deal.Congrats to both and good luck J&J!
Best of luck to you BOTH!!
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WOW! That went well! Good job to the both of you.
Wish everything in life would go this smooth.
Congrats!
:thumbsup: :campfire:
I can vouch for John's work and as a trustworthy business man. Chad
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Glad to know it's in good hands. I have some work that needs done...
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So, the Bow Hospital returns to the Wolverine State where great Traditional Archery services and bowyers abound! :readit: :thumbsup: Congratulations.
Hey Whip , I'm sorry to see you go but glad someone is there to take over. I just wanted to let you know how great of a job you did on my Bighorn longbow I got backlast week. Congratulations on you're retirement and good luck. I will probable be contacting John in the near future.
Welcome John :thumbsup:
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You just have to love a place like Tradgang. Congratulations to the both of you.
Thank you!
It is comforting to have three relieved party's.
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Welcome, Brother
Thanks everyone for the kind words. After working with Joe Lasch this weekend I can understand why he has so much respect from the Trad community. He is truly a man of his word! I only hope I can do him proud in taking over the Bow Hospital and earn the trust of all of you. The new website should be up soon and the Bow Hospital will be up and running smooth once again, so please bear with me during the transition. Thanks again, John
Welcome aboard John!
Glad to see someone with your experience taking over!
I want to purchase a tent from you in the next couple weeks.....I was wondering if PayPal will still be a payment option?
Thanks
Bryan, I only took over the Bow Hospital, so please contact Joe about the tents as I'm sure he can help you out. John
That bow is beautiful! looks like it is in good hands. :thumbsup:
As I have never used the services of a Bow Hospital, I'd like to know what is possible in terms of restoring a bow? Mainly I'm wondering abour stress marks in limbs. I don't have any bows with those but many of the old bows, especially Bear TD limbs have those. Just in case I come across a beat up old one.
Bowwild, The stress marks that I saw most commonly in the Bear T/D limbs are the very fine lines that run across the limb face. Those lines are in the finish, and are gone entirely when the old finish is removed.
If you come up with a good candidate John will be able to make it look like new again :thumbsup: