I'm still struggling to see the relevance of state titles to woodworking, but anyway....
What was the name of your bows that you built professionally? I've been shooting custom longbows for a long time, maybe I've came across one of your masterpieces over the years?
Many struggle to see things I see, T; so don't feel bad. But to put it into some perspective, many unfortunate enough to know me have heard my too-many credos,
too often. This is the pertinent credo- "Believe it or not, there are methods to my madnesses."
I only wish I could package explanations for those (many) methods as succinctly. But lacking that, TRUST ME, they do make sense... to Realists. That leaves a lot of folks still in the dark.
Although long-retired from professional bow-making I have a few left; almost all heavy draw weights of 60 pounds plus. My perfectionism is unappreciated by most folks, but you'll find NO
asymmetrical overlay fade-outs; much less traces of adhesive evident beneath my superior finish that acts as a magnifier of my flawless cosmetics. The fade-outs and layers appear to GROW out of the layer beneath. Enlarge the photos to understand.
My bows are not 'twenty footers'. They are
'two-inches under magificationers'. Most people don't know the difference; much less appreciate the difference.
I have never apologized for my bows costing 10-15% more than my competitors' when I was building professionally. I figured 10-15% more expense for a much superior product is not only a deal by any measure, but tantamount to a gift. Unfortunately a large majority of folks put exponentially too much priority on price to TAKE ADVANTAGE of such generous bargains.
Example- some of my more mechanized competitors could produce a bow a day or two. Virtue of my extreme perfectionism and hand-craftsmanship, each bow took at least forty hours; some sixty or more.
I had a loyal following that bought multiple bows each, but most folks prefer to save a few bucks on inferior products. Probably a blessing, because I was making minimum wage or less for extremely-skilled, HARD labor.
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