The truly artisan crafted handmade bows.

[Ghost Dog]

It wasn't too long ago when the majority of custom bows were handmade, and typically by a single bowyer. I cannot tell you how many bowyers I became friends with as a result of ordering a bow and the several conversations that followed, and the several bows that followed.      

Over the past several years more and more custom bows are being made in part with CNC machines, just like mass produced bows.  The advantages are infinately reproducible bows with indentical shapes and predictable shooting qualties. From a certain perspective this may be a good development, from another perspective it is a great and perhaps ireetrievable loss.

I have made it a point to only order bows from single author bowyers who still make their bows without the use of softwear programs/CNC machines. This has been easy for the most part because so many of my bows are selfbows made by the very few bowyers who know how to read and interpret wood, but I also own fantastic glass bows which were handmade.

I would be interested to know which bowyers still make handmade bows. Here are the ones I know of.

Gregg Coffey- Shrew and Java Man
Jerry Brumm- Great Northern
Allen Boice- Liberty Bows
Tom Parsons- Kimsha Bows
John Strunk selfbows

I know there are more. Who would you add to the list that you are absolutely sure make their bows by hand?

[Bjorn]

Jay St. Charles
Mike Fedora
Dave Windauer at Schafer
Tim Meigs

There are many more

[Rossco7002]

Dave Miller

[guk]

Chad Holm Holm-made

[South MS Bowhunter]

Jim Neaves Centaur Archery to my knowledge one at a time and how you want it.

[Arwin]

St. Joe River Bows:
All hand made, I've watched Tracey and Dave do it.   :cool:

[fujimo]

Bert frelink, Alberta canada

[SportHunter]

Steve Turay, Northern Mist

[Danny Rowan]

Bill Howland, Brackenbury Custom Bows
Abe Penner, Cari-Bow Custom Bows

[Rick Butler]

Chuck Deshler- Two Tracks

[OBXarcher]

Ben Graham- Hummingbird Bows
Rick Ellis -Striker Bows
Don Reeves- Elkoholic

btw, nothing wrong with Cnc usage. Consistency is a good thing.

[Shawn Rackley]

James at jd. Berry archery.

[Mike Gerardi]

Dale Dye

[Tique]

Dale Dye
Ed Holcomb

[Kevin Dill]

It's nice that we can get both: Completely built by hand, and CNC assisted builds. At the level of being a customer/consumer, I haven't found any major advantage or disadvantage to either method of bow construction.

[csimpson]

Wes Wallace custom bows
Ron King-Fox Archery

[HMlongbow]

Hitman Customs are all hand made bows.  There aren't two bows alike other than appearance.  I don't even use jigs for sanding, as it's free hand sanding.  
Good shooting,
dave

[Bowwild]

I probably have both kinds of craftsmanship on my racks.  I couldn't tell you for sure which are built without any tools and those for which tools were used.

I understand the sentiment but to me it doesn't matter.  Personally,  I want well-made and don't care what kind of tools are used to get that done.

[BigJim]

No CNC here, but I don't have an issue with anyone who does use one either.

BigJim

[Brandon Stahl]

Interesting thread.

The irony is that neither Bear or Howatt/Martin, two of the largest manufactures of "mass produced" bows, don't use CNC equipment to build their traditional recurves and longbows.  CNC's are mostly used by us smaller guys.

Not that it matters, but I'm pretty sure that one or two of the previous bowyers who are listed as building 100% "hand made" bows, actually use a CNC to help build their bows.

Personally, I think that any person who is in the market for a new bow would miss out on some really great bows if they limit themselves to only 100% "hand made" bows.  Some of the best quality bows in the world are made with CNC equipment.

This is nothing against bowyers who don't use CNC equipment.  I have the utmost respect and admiration for all of them.  I've even built them myself the "old fashioned way" for about 16 years, and then another 4 years using a CNC router.  


What is a 100% "hand made" bow anyways?  A bowyer needs some sort of tools to make just about any type of bow.  It doesn't matter if it's great grand dad's rusty pocket knife or high tech CNC router.  They're both tools.  You need to have hands, skills, and knowledge to use both of them.  

You can hand me a bone saw and a scalpel, but that doesn't make me a brain surgeon.  I would also need to have the knowledge and skills to get the job done.

Even when a CNC is used to build a bow, there's still a lot of hand work left to be done.  The bow doesn't go straight from the CNC into the shipping box and then onto the customer.  (I wish it was that easy sometimes though)              


It's amusing to me how some folks can utilize many of today's modern conveniences and also shun others for doing the same.

How many people here use a washer and dyer to do their laundry?  (Shouldn't you be washing them by hand?)

How many have a dishwasher in their kitchen? (Your spouse or children don't count.)            

How many drive a car to work?  (Shouldn't you walk, or use a horse and buggy?)

How many watch television?  (Shouldn't you be reading books instead?)

How many own a computer, that you're probably using right at this moment?

These are all "machines" that make modern life more convenient and interesting.  There's nothing wrong with using any of them.