Favorite and least favorite aspects of bow building

[Kidder]

Thought I’d open what is hopefully a fun discussion with no name calling! What is everybody’s favorite and least favorite aspects of bow building?
My favorite is finish details - tip overlays, inlays, handle wraps (ooh I love handle wraps) but also shaping grips and risers.
My least favorite by far is establishing the thickness profile leading up to floor tillering. Ugh.

[capitainepatenaude]

I think that the first time a bow is brassed at 6-7 inches is quite extatic. After that, things go fast and first arrows are launched a couple of hours later.

[PatM]

For me it's finding a perfect tree.  Splitting or cutting it up  successfully the way I envision it working best is next.

  My least favorite part is deciding when a bow is done.

[Yooper Bowyer]

Finishing and shooting in a finished bow I'm happy with (which are very rare  ) are my favorite parts.  Seeing any project come together is always exiting.  Finding and working good wood is also great. 

Least favorite part is right after floor tiller when I have to buckle down and take off just the right micro-shavings to get the perfect taper to avoid frets.  Dealing with problems with few answers, like frets, isn't fun.  Then there is the every once in a great while.

P.s.  I dislike heat tempering, but I like the final effect.  I could say the same about making strings.

[WhistlingBadger]

My favorite is that I've yet to build a successful bow, so everything's ahead of me, everything's a learning experience, everything's still to be figured out.

Least favorite?  Same thing.

[darinputman]

 Don't know if this qualifies but my favorite part of building a bow is when the person that receives it is just crazy about shooting it and just can't get enough of it. Had this happen recently and loved it. Most folks show lots of appreciation but this fellow is still just in love with it.
  My least favorite part is building arrows for said bow. Just kinda boring compared to bow building.
   I have had my share of problems learning to bend curves but when it comes together perfectly, thats the part I like. Don't know if its the relief or finished curve but I really enjoy that when it works out. I have enough short blanks from bending gone wrong to last a while.

[bassman]

Keeping my hands ,and mind occupied is my favorite part. My least favorite part is 12 man hours in ,and the bow breaks on the tillering tree, or worse yet a bow letting go at full draw, and causing bodily damage. Both have happened to me along the way more than I would like to admit. It happens much less now after gaining better than 10 years of experience. Great hobby.

[Badger]

    This is really a good question and complicated. My favorite part is refining the tiller the last 8" or so. Every 1" increment has a special meaning to me. The further I go the more meaning they have. The struggle to detect the very first sign of set is intense. When I inevitably find it I have to decide what to do. I make a good decision or what turns out to be a bad decision. Either way I enjoy the process. If one seems mediocre it just gets thrown in the stack if I like it I go a little further with the finish.

[Woody roberts]

My favorite part is roughing the stave in. Especially green hickory. I’ll work it down to floor tiller with an axe. Building something with an axe is something I’ve always enjoyed.

Least favorite is when I’m nearly done tillering and I get a hinge because I got in a hurry.

[Hilongbow]

I was literally thinking about this yesterday. My favorite stage of bow building is chasing the back ring. It's oddly satisfying to me. I also love looking at a stave and visualizing the bow within, and carving and filing it down to the desired front profile. Oddly, I don't enjoy drawing the lines for the profile, but I like following them to layout the bow.

My least favorite part of bow making is when I break one haha. I also hate making strings, but each bow gets a new string made for it for a good custom fit. As said before by at least one other, I find making arrows boring.

I also appreciate that each bow teaches me something, even if it breaks. It can only serve to make me a better bowyer. I'm enjoying reading about everyone else's favorite and least favorite part, thanks for asking and thanks everyone else for sharing.

[scp]

I make bows for physical exercise. I enjoy making bow blanks almost but not quite to the floor tillering stage, much more than actually making shootable bows. Still I am too lazy and impatient to use a hatchet, so I use a band saw, while hating it for making so much dust and noise. I hate sanding and finishing, so I just don't do them. I enjoy shooting the unfinished bows thinking about what I can do to make them better. I love possibilities more than actuality. So silly of me. Still I do have a couple of dozen shootable unfinished bows. Go figure.

[Del the cat]

My favourite bit is when it explodes on the tiller... 
err, no, sorry, that's my least favourite bit 
Del

[bownarra]

The trick is to enjoy everything It's a journey....without an end

[Buck67]

My favorite part is the almost magical moment when a chunk of wood that has been defying doing any bending on the tillering tree all of a sudden starts to show life.  All of a sudden that heavy chunk of wood that I have been working with starts to almost vibrate in the hand with repressed power.  Its that moment that a bow passes from "bow blank" to "bow".

[Dances with squirrels]

I'm having a difficult time thinking of something I don't like about it.

I enjoy tillering. I enjoy making them pleasing to the eye with dyes and a fine finish. I enjoy all the woodworking aspects. But my favorite part is when the freshly finished bow balances in hand, balances throughout the draw, and that first shot reveals balance and harmony in action. A bow's essence. My favorite part of bow making is when that all comes together.