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Tribute to Dean Torges

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TimmyDeNorCal:
I am delighted to see a post RE: Dean Torges. From all accounts, Dean Torges was an amazing individual, and among his many talents and achievements, he was also a great writer.

However (and please know I don’t like saying this), I do believe his beautiful, complicated prose oftentimes was a detriment to his overall work. I found, at times, his sentence structure to be too laborious to parse out and apply to the wood stave in my hand.

BUT, as noted by an earlier post, I have found myself constantly referring back to Dean’s website, and, specifically, his “Writings” section. There are some great essays available online still, great for bow-building, and great for when one desires something entertaining to read that is primitive archery-related.

As for his faceted tillering approach, I find it to be quite interesting…but not quite as useful….which, unfortunately, was the main premise/point of it all. Dean professes some inherent advantage to the radiused belly that his faceted tillering produces, and being that my copy of his book is 100 miles away right now, I cannot recall this advantage.

And the fact that I cannot recall this advantage goes back to my point on his overcomplicated writing: the reader should be able to easily grasp the main concepts of one’s book, ESPECIALLY when that book is a How-To type of creation.

But that is the only complaint/negative point I would ever bring up RE: Dean Torges.
And it is highly likely that the reader (=me) is to blame, because the proof of his teachings are out there, and from what I have heard from those who have personally handled his personal bows, he built self bows that were second to none - perfectly balanced, gorgeous lines, and, of course, perfect tiller.

As for the radiused belly, I think the main differentiating point to take away from it all was that Dean was ONLY discussing Osage Orange wood. Since Osage can handle a radiused belly well enough, and since there was some specific advantage Dean believed held true in the radiused belly, he advocated for one. But had he penned another book - like Hunting the White Wood Bow - he likely would have championed a flat belly. 

Lastly - I love the bow tribute to Dean Torges, organic archer. I have set aside a few of my staves for some Dean Torges flatboat builds myself…should get to starting them any day now. Thank you for sharing yours.

Hamish:
The faceted approach's advantage is that its easier to keep balanced from one edge to the other. The peak acts like a keel.
A truly flatbow can be hard to tiller evenly across the full width of the belly. This can lead to uneveness in the edge thickness which can lead to twisting.

Also with the faceted approach you adjust the tiller only on the peak belly facet, where it needs to be done.
Weight removal is achieved mainly by taking down the facets on either side of the belly peak. Then you re establish the peak facet, by flattening the peak along the entire length
Its a more methodical approach, that allows many people better control.

bassman211:
Nice bow ,nice buck Steve. Will B. gifted me with a faucet tillered Osage bow that he had bought before he got into bow building. The riser area had splits ,and cracks that I repaired. It shoots good. I still have it . It is a snakey bow, and still holds a little reflex. I have made a couple ELB,s that also turned out alright with faucet tillered. Methodical way of tillering.

organic_archer:
I'm enjoying reading everyone's thoughts!


--- Quote from: TimmyDeNorCal on November 06, 2022, 06:25:04 pm ---As for the radiused belly, I think the main differentiating point to take away from it all was that Dean was ONLY discussing Osage Orange wood. Since Osage can handle a radiused belly well enough, and since there was some specific advantage Dean believed held true in the radiused belly, he advocated for one. But had he penned another book - like Hunting the White Wood Bow - he likely would have championed a flat belly. 

--- End quote ---

It would've been interesting to see his approach with whitewoods, Tim! I've never tried a radiused belly on anything other than osage and ERC but might have to experiment and see how it goes with a hickory or elm bow.

The tribute came full circle for me this Sunday after taking down a nice young buck with the bow posted earlier in the conversation. This was its maiden voyage, still as blaze yellow as can be. My usual bows are around 68-70 inches long, and it was a pleasure carrying one of 62" length.

It is what Dean said it would be — a solid, no-fuss hunting bow. He came in at dusk and gave me a slightly angled broadside shot at 6 paces. I’m eternally grateful for the gifts and lessons of the hunt.

Edited for grammar.

superdav95:
 Very cool.  Nicely done. 

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