Unfortunately, I have few pictures of this project, and it is not quite finished, since I had to
leave it behind when I came to Dubai -- I guess it is technically classified as a “weapon!” I fully
intend to finish it, but when I’ll have the time no one knows...
My older brother started this bow in a class taught by an old friend of ours, who is a longtime
woodworking master from Germany. All our work was done with hand tools only. The quality of work produced
by this man’s students really shows throughout this project. Other projects of mine also arose from
lessons I had with him. I also made a black walnut wooden spoon, and a faceted copper bowl, under
his guidance -- again, using no mechanical tools whatsoever, only hand tools.
When I took over the crossbow from my brother, I had just the stock, the unfinished bow, the trigger
and the cover plate. Since then, I have made shims to hold the trigger in place, and a trigger
guard. I also had to finish pieces like the axel. The cover plate needed holes, and I needed to find
a spring to keep the trigger latched. The last step will be to steam and bend the ash bow, before
affixing it to the stock.