Traditional Bowyer's Bible (Volume 4) Paperback – April 1, 2008

These volumes can be expensive... But you get what you pay for, I assure you. The set goes over everything you would need to know. However, you won't fully understand what this book is talking about until you start covering your work space floor with wood shavings. My advice is read the section you want are about to tackle. As you read just know that whatever you don't understand is something you probably won't understand until you get your hands dirty. After you tackle that part of the process, go back and re-read the section. You will have all sorts of little light bulbs going off. This is used more as a reference for bowyering, not a read it once and you are good to go. You will learn something almost every time you read over this.So read it, try it, read it again.These volumes also have extensive sections on different styles of bows and arrows through different era's and cultures. Some of these bows will blow your mind, but also seeing all these different styles helps to build your confidence in making your own bow. There are so many types and styles you feel less likely to screw up, because if your bow doesn't come out the way you wanted it to, it most likely came out in a way that one culture or another used for centuries.If you are serious about wanting to be a bowyer at any level, take the plunge and get the set. You won't regret it.

If you have read the first three volumes of "The Traditional Bowyer's Bible," you will want also to read this fourth volume to continue your education in the history and technology of bow making. Even if you've not read volumes two and three you will find volume four to be informative and at times entertaining. However, do read volume one first so you are able to understand and appreciate what follows in two, three, and four.

great product...the whole series has been awesome. From tree to finished bow with a bit of knowledge collected from actual bowyers and native peoples. Must have collection for traditional archery practitioners

AWESOME READ!!!!!!!!!!!

My 16 year old wanted this set for Christmas, so I got it for him. He read them over the winter and then as soon as school was out he made himself a long bow -- that actually worked. He had no prior woodworking experience, so I guess the books must be pretty good.

awesome set of books for anyone interested in traditional archery, either shooting, making equipment, or just the study of its history.

Like TBB 1,2, and 3, this book is full of fantastic information. There are distracting problems throughout, which make the book hard to read. Frequently in text there are symbols instead of letters. For example, a capitol O with a carrot above it shows up randomly and obliterates key letter in words. At other times multiple letters in a word are printed on top of each other. Something must have been incompatible between the program used to write to book and the program used to print it. These formatting errors can be a big deal when they jumble highly technical sections. I love the topics covered and the information provided. I just wish the formatting was better

The four volume set, is an unparalleled source of knowledge for anyone interested in constructing traditional bows and arrows. It is a joy to read. No matter the type of traditional bow that interests you, instruction can be found in this set.

It completes the set. This series of books cover just about everything you will ever need to know about building traditional archery gear. I have never seen anything else anywhere that even come close to them. The depth and detail is astounding, the writing is direct, the illustrations are clear.I would describe this series of 4 books as a complete bowyers textbook. Everything is here, materials, methods. design, tuning, and use.The pysical mechanics of the bow and of the arrow are covered very well, and lets you know how to make a superb set of archery equipment instead of merely mediocre equipment.

This is a important documnet to every bowyer of the world. The only negative thing is if it could be translated into Spanish.......

Although this review is for one volume of this series, it is impossible to ignore the other volumes in the set.This series of books provides everything you need to know to turn a tree into a fully functional bow. It caters for all required depths of knowledge, with instructions for making a particular type of bow, through to the science of bow making and provides tables and calculations needed to design and produce a bow specifically designed to fulfill your requirements. This includes historical information and also primitivist and traditional skills such as making glue from sinue and the use of other materials. The information of choosing the right wood and methods for harvesting wood are excellent.The text is written by numerous authors who are each respected experts in their own specialism, which means that this series of books (originally intended to be a three volume set but an additional volume was added to provide and even more in depth scientific approach to the subject (handy for nerds like me). Each author has their own writing style, and the text can be humorous at the same time and stuffed full of anecdotes and confessions which encourage the reader to have a go and not worry about screwing up.The drawback with the series is that although the first volume provides enough information to produce a bow, the other three volumes (especially vol 2 and 3) are essential to gain the full benefit of the awesome knowledge and experience these bowyers have generously imparted to the reader. Calling any series the "bible" of a subject is a bold and brave claim, in this instance however, I totally agree. If the price for the full set is prohibitive, I would recommend buying volume one first (Tim Bakers chapter on bow design is incredibly comprehensive by itself and not to be missed), then look at the description of contents of the other volumes and buy accordingly, as and when you have the spare cash. If you can only afford to splash out on one set of books on the subject, then this, to me is the one to go for.

Le volume 4 de l'incontournable bible des facteurs d'arcs.En Anglish bien sûr, dans le texte tout comme dans les mesures (mais même en French les mesures sont en Anglish de toute façon!).Différents auteurs pour chaque chapitres, tous aussi passionnés les uns que les autres, mais avec des points de vus différents, ce qui enrichit d'autant plus l'ouvrage.Un must pour tout passionné d'archerie trad'.

Also für mich war das 3er-Gespann schon perfekt. Mir hat nichts gefehlt. Aber jetzt, wo ich es durchstudiert habe ist klar: das hier hat alles wirklich gefehlt! Sprich: der 4.Teil macht es noch runder! Ein Muss für Bogenbau-Victims xD