By Pete Robinson
My love for the bow-and-arrow began as a youngster when I found myself caught up in a world of adventure. Growing up in a little town with a river running through the property was awesome. I remember wondrous days of fishing and shooting – my homemade longbow and arrows always at my side.
It was only many years later, when I was well into my thirties, that from deep within came a yearning for those carefree summers of my youth spent in nature with my bow. A search at the local library proved fruitless, with very little information on archery and nothing on the selfbow. To successfully build a bow I had to firstly find a suitable bow wood. As a cabinetmaker I had a good understanding of wood and its various properties. So off to the local timber yard I went where I purchased a piece of hickory, and work duly commenced. Although I didn’t have a clue about correct tiller or bow profiles, my bow was completed and, wonder of wonders, it worked.
Around that time I met Johnny Snyman who happened to live close by. A meeting was duly arranged in which I showed him my pride and joy. I must say that he was very gracious with his criticism, and really encouraged me. A strong friendship was forged through our common passion, the wooden selfbow.
From that point on things really took off as my bow-making skills improved. With the Traditional Bowyers Bible in hand I was motivated for any challenge. Thus my apprenticeship began, with many a late night and copious amounts of coffee spent in Johnny's workshop making bows and fletching arrows for various projects.
Archery and especially the wooden selfbow is my passion. There is something magical about the sound of a spokeshave or drawknife sliding across the wood, bringing the bow to life. Just handling a bow made from an unlikely character-laden piece of wood that has come to life and taken on a beautiful symmetrical curve makes my heart beat a little faster.
My main interest is making bows out of our indigenous hardwoods – an iceberg of which I have only scratched the surface, but some excellent wood candidates have come to the fore. "Kamassie" is one such example, of which my own personal bow is made. Even though the wood I used was less than perfect, with weather checks and wormholes, it has an excellent cast and turned out a real beauty with its rich yellow colour and resilience. In today’s rapidly moving world where everyone seeks instant gratification, much can be lost, especially traditional values, when emphasis is placed on assembly line efficiency instead of true craftsmanship. Mass production produces only boring and lifeless carbon copies.
My feeling is that there is still a rightful place for the all-wood bow because of its rich heritage which has been passed down the generations of mankind since its invention thousands of years ago. Therefore we must do all in our power to keep the wooden bow alive in its special place. This is my dream and hope for the future.
