In the Sportsman section of the Little World’s Fair in Grahamsville this past Saturday, there was a master craftsman carving out a longbow. It was fascinating to watch him work. Not knowing much about the process, I asked a few questions.

He told me that he is a bowyer (pronounced boy-er) and that he was tillering the bow. Ever on a quest to learn new things, I did a little research. It turns out that archery dates back some 60,000 years with bow fragments in Europe having been carbon dated to 18,000 years ago. Bowyers founded official trade guilds in the 14th century.

Traditionally, strong flexible hardwoods have been used by bowyers, such as yew, elm and ash. The bow that was being crafted Saturday was made from rock maple. There was also a beautiful bow on display made from black cherry.

To form the bow, a special type of shave horse is used called a bowyer’s bench. It has a foot pedal that is pushed to hold the work tightly without marring it. The primary tool used is a sharp draw knife to shave the wood. Rasps and other woodworking tools are also occasionally employed.

The bowyer’s bench is highly specialized, and I was intrigued by the speed with which the bow could be clamped and then moved and re-clamped as needed while shaving it. The dexterity of the craftsman was amazing.

So what exactly is tillering? It’s the art of carving the limbs of the bow so that they don’t have any stiff spots and so that they are even and of the correct draw length and draw weight. It’s a process that requires extreme skill by the bowyer.

During the tillering process the craftsman removes wood slowly and constantly checks and rechecks the flex of the limbs. As you might guess it takes a long time to make a longbow.

In addition to tillering the limbs, the bowyer also cuts the nocks for the string at the ends of the limbs, shapes the handle portion between the limbs, and makes the bowstring. He or she also finishes the wood and seals it to protect it from moisture.

The bowyer does not make the arrows. That task falls to a Fletcher. The craftsman working at the fairgrounds does both.

It is always nice to see folks pursuing such “lost arts”. Truth be known, I actually hate to call them that. Let’s start calling them “amazing arts” instead.

The gentleman that I met at the fair is local and hails from the Jeffersonville area. He frequently does demonstrations of being a bowyer. I encourage anyone interested to attend a demo. It truly is fascinating to watch a master craftsman work and to learn from him. He has a website at www.boldarcherydesign.com where you can learn more.

Here are a couple of fun facts. Experienced bowyers could reportedly make an English military longbow in just two hours. The Germans call a bowyer’s bench a Schnitzelbank.

Let’s all enjoy the outdoors!

John S. Van Etten is the current president of the Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs of Sullivan County, Inc.