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Tribute to Dean Torges
TimmyDeNorCal:
Nice shot, nice buck!
I hope I didn't come across as too negative RE: Dean Torges' writing...because that would be akin to bowyer treason, as far as I am concerned.
Both my laptop & phone's browsers ALWAYS have a few windows open to The Bowyer's Edge's "Writings." I have probably read each piece 30 times each, and the bow-making specific articles like "Dimensions of a Hunting Bow," "Tillering the Organic Bow," & "Handicapping the Odds" well over 50 times!
And each time I reread them, it seems like I pick up on something new, something interesting & unique, that I might have glossed over the 1st time.
Organic archer, again, great work. And thank you for posting it.
Dances with squirrels:
Congratulations on the buck, Organic Archer. Nice bow too.
I miss Dean. He was a friend and mentor to me. The only reference I had when I made my first selfbow was his then-new book, Hunting the Osage Bow. Prior to that, I had never held or seen a real selfbow in person, but I still have that 1st bow, ugly as sin, still a shooter. Soon after that I met him, saw his work in person, got some pointers, and my bows improved quite a bit. Just seeing his bows, seeing the quality was possible, was a game changer for me. I have a few of Dean's bows, including The Streak which is the bow he chronicled the construction of in his book.
I eventually bought all the other popular bowmaking books but since I don't care for flat-bellied bows, practically every wooden bow I've made has been made with faceted tillering and fully radiused bellies. There are some benefits that come with the method.
When I use woods other than osage, I adjust the length and width accordingly, but their bellies are all fully radiused too. I've used osage, yew, hophornbeam, mulberry, hickory, elm, ash, cherry, walnut, and others. Dean briefly mentioned using his shaping and tillering methods on whitewoods in his book.
In my opinion, one of his biggest contributions is 'Tillering the Organic Bow'. This too raised the bar for me, forced me to be even more critical of my own work and understanding, and ultimately made noticeable improvements in my bows. THAT'S what Dean was so good at. He didn't like to spoon feed folks if he could help it, he'd rather incite us, sometimes instigate us, to uncover challenges, truths, and rewards for ourselves.
Dances with squirrels:
Here are a few pictures of Dean's bow 'The Streak' from Hunting The Osage Bow.
Dances with squirrels:
Two more
Dances with squirrels:
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