Latest / Salish Wolf / #88 Martin Birk on Project Quiver

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#88 Martin Birk on Project Quiver · Salish Wolf

0:00
The official pre sale for our new book, Quiver, The Art of
0:03
Life Through Bow Craft runs from June 30th to July 13th.
0:06
Published by Trope of Chicago, this 336 page coffee table book
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features more than 350 photographs and explores the
0:14
legacy of primitive archery through the lives and work of 14
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of the world's finest traditional boggers.
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We're launching a special Founder's Edition available
0:22
exclusively through Project quiver.com.
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Each copy includes A numbered book plate hand signed by Ella
0:28
and me, and is available only during our limited presale.
0:31
The Founder's Edition presale lasts only two weeks, from June
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30th to July 13th, exclusively at projectquiver.com.
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We'd be honored to have your support and to share this
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project with you. Welcome to Project Quiver, a
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father daughter journey across the globe to document the
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artistry and spirit of the world's finest traditional
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bowyers. I'm Todd and Ella is my
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daughter. Together we've traveled to the
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workshops of master bowyers, carving bows under their
1:02
guidance, photographing their work in extraordinary detail and
1:05
preserving the stories behind one of humanity's oldest crafts.
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The result is Quiver, the Art of Life Through Bow Craft, a
1:12
photographic and narrative exploration of traditional bow
1:15
carving, this podcast shares stories and experiences of the
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remarkable individuals who are carrying forward the enduring
1:21
legacy of the bow and arrow. The book is Quiver.
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The journey is Project Quiver. Welcome to the Salish Wolf
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podcast. Good to meet you.
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How are you doing today? Fine.
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Thank you. Good.
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Well, that's quite a collection of bows behind you.
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What? Yeah, just some of them.
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Some of the many dozens or many hundreds.
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Dozens. Dozens.
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Yeah. Where are you right now?
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I'm in my ballroom. I live on a island called Bon
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Hon, about 120 kilometers from Denmark.
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OK, so it's smack in between Sweden and Germany, Poland and
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Denmark. Wow OK, how far is the island
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from any mainland? 35 kilometers from Sweden and
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120 kilometers from Denmark. Yeah, so ferry ride.
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Yeah, ferry to either Denmark or Sweden or Germany, Poland.
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Yeah, well, I think. Go, and what's it called again?
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Bondhol. BORNHOL.
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And what country is that in Sweden or Denmark?
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It is then. It's a Danish island.
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Danish island. Cool.
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So you're like right in the heart of all the primitive bow
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history. Oh yeah, right in the middle of
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the Baltic Sea. So we have many influence from
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the countries around us. Yeah.
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And then how far are you, let's say from like the Malaga bet
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region? And what?
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From the Malaga Bet bow is named for that area isn't?
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It a model gap, yeah, that would be about 350 kilometers.
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OK. And the Home of Guards name for
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the an area there too, right? Yeah, Home of God is actually
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about 20 kilometers from where I was born.
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Really. Yeah, so right in the backyard.
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Wow, now which one of those is? Or both of them like submerged?
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The Miller Gable was submerged one and home of God was found in
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a bulk. In a bug.
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OK, wow, that's a cool spot to be.
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Did that influence you in any way growing up?
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Not not growing up now, no, it inspires me when I was about to
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get into build building, so I wanted to build that one, but it
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but growing up, I was completely blumious to the fact that it was
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found just out there. Yeah, wow, that must be pretty
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cool. You feel like go dating your
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back backyard and maybe find something.
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Yeah, where I was born we had a sand pit where they dugout sand
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and gravel and whatnot, and we had tons of Mesolithic findings
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all around the place. Wow, that's so cool.
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Yeah. So there was a dig about 5050
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meters from my front door where they found pots and slid tools
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and stuff. That's cool.
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So where you grew up, was that on, was that in mainland Denmark
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or was that also on an island? Yeah, yeah, it's was, it's still
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an island. It's called Sealand.
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So we if you look at Denmark on a map, you have a Big Island and
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small island, and then you have the mainland called Jutland.
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I'm going to look at it on a map.
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I've been to Copenhagen but I can't quite picture.
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The Copenhagen is on the north, let's say north, northwestern
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part of Sealand. OK, So you have a bridge that
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connects Sealand to Sweden and Sealand to Thunan.
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That's the island in between. And then you have Jetlin on, on
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the east, the West, sorry, West. Jetlin's on the West, all right,
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So cool, very cool. What was your inspiration then
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for getting into bow making archery?
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Or was it what came first? It archery first.
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I started with archery as a kid. My dad made me as very simple
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bow and then I have photographs of me shooting that fresh brands
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bow. And from there kind of evolved
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until age 14 when females became more interesting than archery.
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And then I picked it up again in 2019 and from there I quickly
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started getting more bows. And of course, being inquisitive
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as I am, I wanted to get into bill making, so I started
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breaking some wood. How long did it take you before
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you actually made a bow? Third.
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Attempt third attempt and that was the home of gold mates from
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Ash. OK, nice.
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So. The Yeah, sorry.
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No, go on. Well, it was just it was a funny
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experience because I've carried carried with me that experience.
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So when people asked me about getting into bow making, as they
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say, well, how do I make a boat? When you start by making a one
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that is too heavy and you break it by stringing it and then you
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make one that is too light because you don't want to break
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it. And then you get to the third
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one that it's actually a Sugar Bowl.
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Do you still have it? No, I sold it to a Swedish guy.
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Really, it was that good that it was sellable.
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Yeah, yeah, it was. I'm apparently, I told I'm very
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meticulous about things, but perfectionist.
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I don't see myself that way. But this guy personal living in
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Sweden, he contacted, contacted me extra after I posted it on
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Instagram and asked him if he could buy it.
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And sure thing, I'll just make more.
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So that was soon after you made it?
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That's about months after actually.
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Wow that's a fast turn around a lot of bow years ago.
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Like a deck a decade before they ever sell a bow.
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OK, I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah, crazy cool.
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And is that something? Do you still sell bows now on a
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regular basis? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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I sell a couple every month and some of them I give away
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because, well, if I some people don't have the means that I do
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is you have a lot of those and then some people are less
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fortunate and I eventually end up giving away those because
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it's just wood. And then I only it only cost me
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time to make and. Is this your main occupation?
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No, no, I'm a I'm a sales manager, so this is my just my
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hobby. Yeah.
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How often are you able to carve? Hey, well, I have my my workshop
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just across the yard, so it's four or five days a week if I
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want to. Nice.
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That's great. And what's it like right where
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you live? What's it like?
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What do you mean? Yeah.
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Like describe what's the the environment.
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Like I live in a in a dozy little village just outside the
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main, the main city on the island.
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And they're very little people here.
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And the ones they are here just pass through really.
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We don't see much of live people.
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And our house is just where is it 50 meters from the main road.
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And then we have this little little nice mandible garden and
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a workshop. And that's that's it's kind of
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it small. Plane What's what's the
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surrounding like forest or? No, we also have fields.
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Well, in Denmark we have a lot of field, corn fields and we're
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not. So we have mostly field.
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Then we have a small forest about a kilometer and a half
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east. And from there they are, I don't
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know, 5 kilometers to the nearest larger forests.
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So we have a lot of forest, lot of fields and we live about 3
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kilometers from the ocean, so very diverse environment.
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Yeah, and what's the coast like there?
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Well, on home is actually geographically and not geography
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geologically very interesting because here on the South side
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have very, very fine sand, almost like table salt.
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And on the northern part of the part of the island, 45
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kilometers N, we have 70 meter of high cliffs, Yeah.
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And then we have like kind of like an incline.
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And then we have a lot of forests and lakes in between.
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So very, very diverse environment.
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And did the forest hold any good bow woods?
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Oh yeah, we have the actually a surprisingly high amount of
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view. And we have some Elm, we have
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Hazel, something called rock Elm, and we have lots of ash,
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Beech, oak, so on, but lots of native Danish bull woods.
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Yeah. And are you able to harvest a
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lot of those? Oh yeah, yeah, I have.
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I have a friend who works in the, what's it called?
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Environmental. I don't know the English word,
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but he is, he's managing forests, so eventually I can get
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some view from him when he manages specific parts of the
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thesaurus. And I have permission from the
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local authorities to go harvest some woods for historical
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bullmaking. OK, how'd you get that
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permission? Simply contact them and say,
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hey, I'm a, I'm a local lawyer. I make, I make replicas of
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historical bows, long bows, Stone Age bows, and can I
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harvest some, some of this, some of these words for, for these
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kinds of purposes. And I got the permission.
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And do you have to get specific permission for each piece that
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you harvest or do you just have? No, I just have to be careful
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not to over harvest. So in Denmark there also is a
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rule that you can harvest smaller amounts for your own
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use. But if it's for production, so
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let's say I would make 20 those months, that would be illegal.
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So I have to buy wood from people who have permission to
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harvest or from their private woods.
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And then what type of land are you harvesting it from?
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Is this owned by the government? Yeah, government would.
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OK. And anyone has access to that?
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Yeah. Wow.
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So it's like this common sense kind of law.
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So you can take some for your own use.
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Yeah, but not for commercial use.
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So you can just go in with a chainsaw and take out a tree.
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Smaller ones, yeah, not not the big ones.
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So the smaller sapling or stuff, we can certainly grab those, but
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I don't use a chainsaw, just use a manual 1.
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Yeah. Wow.
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OK. And lots of you is they use
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something you can also harvest. It's not protected.
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You is protected, so I need specific permission to harvest
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you and I always not often do because I they grow so slowly
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and if we just harvest it, they'll they'll be gone.
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So primarily you almost managed managed from Europe during the
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Middle Ages because the English king wanted a lot of you for the
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bows against the war on France. So Hugh, you was almost
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eradicated from Europe at that point?
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Yeah, it's, it grows prolifically in a lot of the
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cities, but I know it's protected in many of the
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countries around Europe. But I guess we actually.
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Have a lot of wild you here. Actually.
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I was actually surprised once I got into filmmaking this, well,
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this up there and this up there, and big ones too.
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Yeah, cool. What is your favorite?
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What if you have one? But I don't have a specific
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favorite. I like working with beach at the
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moment. Beach, OK.
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Any particular type of beach or is it just?
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No, the the native one we have, I don't know if it's specific
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kind. It's, it's a little reddish, but
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very, very nice to work in. So it doesn't splinter a lot.
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And then, yeah, you can plan it, you can rasp it, you can file
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it, you can scrape it, whatever it takes, any kind of tool, very
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well. And is that hardwood or SAP
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water combination? Hardwood.
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OK. It doesn't really have that much
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of the difference from separate to hardwood.
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It's almost the same throughout. Of course the the cores are very
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little little denser, but doesn't really vary in color.
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Is it comparable to another type of better known bow wood that
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you work with? It's almost like working in
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Osage and but it doesn't splinter the same way.
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OK. And is it as good as a bow?
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What is Osage? Oh, no, no, no.
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Now say Osage and and, and you are are special.
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Yeah. We don't have Osage natives in
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Denmark, so it's hard to come by.
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You have to get it from Bulgaria or from the US and that's
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expensive. So we don't really have it.
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We have to import it and that's very expensive.
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I think it's about $200 for a stave.
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I think that's a bit much for a piece of wood.
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Yeah. And then that doesn't include
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the shipping does. It that actually includes
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shipping, yeah. Oh really?
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OK. Yeah.
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So the beach is not nearly as good as Osage, but it's similar
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to work with? It's similar to work with and I
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often make a laminate so I use Amish for packing and then beach
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for the belly and that makes actually very very good and
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pliable. You said Ash.
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Ash for the back. Yeah, yes.
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OK. Ash and beach.
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Do. You make self bows?
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Do you make self bows out of the beach or mostly or just
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laminates? I made some from some self bows
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from beach as well, but it's I use it with the standing growth
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rings because the growth rings are actually kind of hard to to
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get down to. It's not very clear where they
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are. OK.
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So you said the standing growth ring, what is that?
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Yeah, let me show you. Just scrap this one.
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So we have the normally you would follow a growth ring, but
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I cut it so it's standing up so you can actually see the the
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growth rings unlocking perpendicular.
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Edit. Got it.
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And then I use the use the yes for backing to stabilizer so it
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doesn't splinter any wrong way. Cool.
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Do you use a lot of laminate? Do you do a lot of laminate
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bows? Right now I do, yes, kind of a
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thing I do at the moment. I have a small web shop where I
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sell the woods to people who are getting into bow making but
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doesn't have the patience to wait for wood to dry.
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OK. So are you selling like laminate
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staves then? Yeah, I make the I make the I
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cut the the backing and sand it so it's ready for use and I have
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some cut some, some beams from ash or or beach or E pay so they
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can make whatever. You're not gluing them up first,
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you're just selling them the layers.
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Yeah, I'm just selling the layers so they have the
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experience of putting it together.
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Yeah, OK. And then you make some self
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blows also. Oh yeah, I harvest mainly
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smaller saplings from mostly from rock Elm.
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It's kind of a it's a kind of a mix between Elm and and Hazel
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works just all the same, but it grows very uniform.
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So it grows straight mostly and makes it easy to work.
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What are you using for the back? Is that just the outer growth
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ring or? Yeah, just I just scrape off the
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the bark and that is in the back is just the outer growth ring.
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Yeah. Outer growth ring OK and how big
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of a or how small rather of a sapling can you use?
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Down to about 4 centimeters for lighter bows, and I often go for
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about 7 centimeter in diameter. That makes a nice crown bat.
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OK, What else are you? You got a lot of different types
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of bows behind you. Obviously some of them it look,
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some of it looks like you didn't make.
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What about some of the fancier, probably traditional bows that
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maybe you did make? Like I see some?
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Well, I at the moment, I like making these laminates.
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So I make a like a pistol grip kind of kind of bow and also
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make Howard Hills Taco. That's that's my thing at the
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moment. And I think these are very, very
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cool. It's like making something that
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fits me because I have a tendency to like a high grip
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when I make when I buy lemonade bowls.
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So so that shipping of the grip to match my idea, it's actually
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a cool thing. So when you say the high grip, a
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high grip, are you talking like a thicker grip?
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Yeah, no, the angle of the grip. The angle of the grip.
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The angle and so I like making these ah yes, kind of seep angle
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grips. Right.
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So like the narrow but high grip?
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OK, so you make all sorts of different styles from kind of.
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Yeah, I make English long bows and I make Stone Age bows like
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the Miller Cable and and Home Nickel and I make.
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These Howard Hillside balls. So basically what I feel like
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doing, or what I think the specific type of wood could be.
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Do you only work with wood as a medium or do you also use
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fiberglass or bone? I have made a few fiberglass but
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I really don't really like it and I use home one for overlays
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to build bullets and stuff but I haven't gotten around to actual
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biocomposite those yet. Yeah, I I don't like the.
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I've never worked with fiberglass.
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I don't want to. I'm only interested in the wood,
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but just. Curiosity, yeah, I like, I like
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being like working with natural, natural materials.
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So, so the fiberglass of sure it's a nice insurance for
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packing, but it's kind of soulless when comparing it with
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real wood. And then you on your some of
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your self bows, do you go, I guess you do go fully primitive
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inspired by like the the Home Guard.
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So no arrow shelf. Yeah, like this one.
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This is the Home Go replica made from Elm.
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So an actual replica, same lengths and dimensions.
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Yeah. And and then I like doing that.
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It's it was kind of my hallmark for 4-5 years.
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People want specifically my home go boast because I make them in
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as close to the original as possible so from small saplings
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instead of using a board or something.
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And you might be related to the people who carried the Home
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Guard bows originally. Definitely, yeah.
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Which is pretty cool. My my lineage, so far as we can
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track it, goes back to about 1200.
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So you can track it that far back.
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Yeah. Holy Church books.
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Wow. OK, what's some of the history?
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Well, I came from peasants, so nothing, nothing's nothing
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special. There's a bit of a mix on my
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mother's side with with gypsies, but mostly just Danes, the
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ordinary boring Danes farmers. But probably some bow builders
22:21
in there. You think so?
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Perhaps, perhaps don't know. I kind of got it from my father
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the the working with wood thing. He's a woodworker.
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Nope, he's A at present time, he's actually a Smith.
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He's working his, his, his his penchant by now.
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But he works with the but works with me.
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He makes knives and swords and arrow tips and.
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Wow. So, so but he, he and I made
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some pair of some bows when I was 12 I think.
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So kind of came from there. He made bowls and arrows.
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He was your inspiration, yeah. Bow making it kind of it was
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kind of the back of mind when I started picking.
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Up with him. You made bows when you're around
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12, so had he made bows before that or was that just a father
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son project? Just father son project.
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His first bows as well. Yeah, primitive stuff, but they
23:22
worked. And then and only say we made a
23:25
few and then he, I started shooting with him and he made
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some arrows. And then I think that was about
23:31
time my my parents got divorced. So things just fell apart again.
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And now the is that something that he does kind of full time
23:41
is making swords and arrowheads and things?
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He's he's gone on pension so it doesn't work anymore.
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So it's just just for fun. So every now and then when I
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miss him, yeah, he's oh, I made this nice thing.
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Or arrowheads. Or spearheads.
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And is that something that you ended up inspiring him to do
24:01
that with your bow making? Nope, no, no, he's just he's
24:06
always been doing into this, in this into history, Vikings
24:10
especially. Yeah.
24:12
So his first project was a was a Viking sword.
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So he he made a Viking full size Viking sword.
24:18
So he hasn't on the wall in his workshop and he just went all
24:24
out. So cool this this whole world of
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craft, whatever type of craft it is, whether it's bow craft or
24:32
leather craft or. Yeah, my mother's working with.
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Metal. She was, yeah.
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My mother makes jewelry and paints and stuff, so that, yeah,
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very artsy family. Huh, very cool.
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And then some of those bows on the other side are looking much
24:48
more modern. Oh yeah, you do a lot of archery
24:53
I presume. Oh yeah, yeah, pretty much every
24:55
day if I can get away with it. And I have a target range in my
25:00
backyard. So instead of I also wouldn't go
25:04
to a club 2 times a week and then and then I go shoot a
25:09
couple of arrows in the morning or when I get home from work.
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Why do you do it? Stuff like that, Peace of Mind
25:16
sort of meditation actually. I hate competitions so I rarely
25:21
compete. I only compete at our local club
25:23
because just keeping things going.
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But arch archery competition doesn't really speak to me.
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I have a competition, but it's with myself.
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So be the the type of cliche. Be a better be the better
25:37
version of yourself. And so when you go out and shoot
25:41
in your backyard, is there any particular goal or is it just to
25:45
go and reset, shoot, meditate? Reset and refine.
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So I like being able to shoot with multiple bows.
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I'm kind of a restless soul, so if I shoot with one bow, I get
26:02
it gets tedious, I get bored. So I all the bows you see, I
26:07
shoot with them regularly and then picking up a new bow every
26:11
week just to keep myself short. Picking up a new one as in
26:16
buying one or making one? No or making one.
26:19
I rarely bias buy those nowadays.
26:23
I recently bought myself a new riser for a modern bow but other
26:28
than that it's mostly film making.
26:31
But then I grab one of those and go out, shoot, and they all need
26:35
some different technique to work the best, and then that's what
26:39
kind of keep me short. So I've never shot one of those
26:42
fancy modern bows. What is, if any, the difference
26:48
for you and shooting, let's go way primitive versus one of
26:53
those? Well the primitive ones, if you
26:56
go all wood, they are much more silent and less vibration.
27:01
The moderns ones, modern moderns one.
27:03
The modern ones are definitely faster and definitely more
27:09
efficient, but doesn't have the same kind of soul to them as the
27:14
as the old wooden boats. Yeah.
27:16
Different worlds. And what about for kind of what
27:20
you spoke of earlier that meditative that reset, would you
27:24
go for a modern bow ever for that or is that only in the more
27:27
primitive ones or the least? Wooden.
27:29
The modern bows work just as well for that.
27:32
Yeah. OK, so my favorite bow is a, is
27:35
a Australian one made by Flatline Bows.
27:40
Very, very, very smooth bow with some beautiful work that I don't
27:44
have the skill for yet. But it's of course it's a it's
27:47
another one with with fiberglass on it.
27:50
And and that is certainly that they keep the shape better than
27:57
putting bows so it doesn't degrade in performance over time
28:02
as I have experienced that all windows.
28:07
What sort of draw weight do you like to shoot?
28:10
4045 is my comfort. And is that what you make most
28:17
of your bows then? Or do you make them various
28:19
weights? Various weights.
28:21
If I make them for myself, I aim at 45 and then sometimes I just
28:26
grab a piece of wood and say what what, what can this be?
28:29
And some of the sometimes they end up at 25 and sometimes they
28:33
end up at 55. Depends.
28:36
And then the lighter ones I usually pass along to people who
28:41
don't have one. And then where do you sell your
28:44
Bose? Locally mostly we have I attend
28:51
two different medieval markets, 1 locally and one in Sweden, and
28:55
some go there. Otherwise, through my social
28:58
media, people also ask if they can buy a bullet that I've just
29:02
made. Yeah, the medieval markets, how
29:04
often are those? Once a year.
29:08
OK, so you take all, you take a big cachet of bows to the
29:11
markets and? Yeah, usually I make a boom.
29:14
Yeah, yeah, I make a bows because, because, well, spending
29:19
time I like working with work. And then when I make one, I say,
29:22
well, if there isn't an immediate demand when I post it
29:27
on my Instagram or Facebook, then it goes in the stash over
29:31
here. And sometimes they I I bring 10
29:36
to 20 bows to a market and some of them sell, some of them
29:40
don't. What's What's it going right for
29:43
one of your bows? I am way too cheap when
29:48
regarding my bows. I sell them for $350.00.
29:53
Yeah, you are OK. Yeah.
29:56
But it's I don't make them to make money.
29:59
I make them for me. And if I can make somebody happy
30:03
for a low price and get a little dollar for myself, that's
30:07
that's. Great, good attitude towards it.
30:11
Do you work with any leather on your bows?
30:15
Only primitive leather wrappings.
30:17
Yeah. And then what about any?
30:19
Eventually. Sorry.
30:21
No God. Eventually sometimes for English
30:28
longbows I do a stitched up handle but but nothing really
30:31
fancy. And then you said you don't use
30:33
horn. Did you say you don't use horn
30:35
on the tips too? Or sometimes you do?
30:37
I use. I only use horn on the tips.
30:39
OK. Do you do horn or tips or
30:44
overlays on most of your bows or some of your bows?
30:48
It's it's it's about 5050. Actually I some of them I do AI
30:53
do a tip overlay from from scraps I have laying around that
30:57
match the woods I'm using. Very rarely horn because I find
31:04
that the wood is well it matches better the the other woods that
31:09
I use. Yeah.
31:12
And do you use any board bows or is it all staves or build?
31:16
Any board bows are all from staves.
31:18
Oh, many board bows I actually make.
31:21
Yeah, it's it's I have a saying you can pretty much make a bow
31:26
from every type of wood or every piece of wood is just might not
31:29
be the bow that you want. So I actually have over here, I
31:33
have the Stone Age bow made from a hardwood terrace plank just to
31:40
a hardwood terrace plank. It's from Get Over.
31:43
Yeah. Do you know it?
31:45
This is kind of a reddish Brownwood from South America.
31:49
And they, we use them for terror, for terrorist acts.
31:52
So they come in in a plank and I just cut that up and and make a
31:57
stone rage bow from that. OK, and is that a self bow?
32:04
Yeah. And what?
32:05
How's that wood? I've never worked with it.
32:08
It's very, very heavy. It's not it's not easy to to
32:14
plain or it doesn't really work well with a draw knife either.
32:18
So it's actually mostly rasp and card scrape.
32:22
So tedious work, but it turns out very, very nicely.
32:27
You can scrape it, most of it and reacts really well to that.
32:31
Do you ever have you ever made a selfo out of E pay or is that
32:35
just for laminates? Yep, I did 1-4 years ago was I
32:42
worked out of the lumber yard. So I brought home the board, cut
32:46
it up and I think well let's make bought that and made a
32:48
fairly narrow bow. Turned out to be about 80 lbs
32:54
and that was and with no backing and it actually held up and I
32:59
sold it year before last. Really.
33:04
So you say fairly narrow. Was that more of an English
33:07
Longbow profile or? Was it still a What was the flat
33:11
bow? Flat bow, OK.
33:14
And that's heavy wood too, right?
33:17
Oh yeah, very heavy. Yeah, is a very heavy, heavier
33:20
than the Jatoba. Yeah, just a tat.
33:24
Just a tat. Yeah, toba is very heavy as
33:26
well. E pay has different grain and is
33:29
usually dark. Yeah, and then I'm surrounded by
33:34
teak. Anyone.
33:35
Do you? Have you ever made a bow out of
33:36
teak? All I read is teaks too brackish
33:39
to use. Yeah, I'm trying to make one,
33:42
make one last year I think, but they usually develop compression
33:47
graphics. OK.
33:49
So yeah, a band of that. Think it might be good for a
33:54
long flat though, but that's about it.
33:58
And as far as my experience go into my.
34:02
So you said you can pretty much make a bow out of any wood.
34:05
So when like I just had a tree fall on my yard here and it was
34:11
tricky to get it identified, but ultimately it has really, really
34:14
thick sapwood. So it's probably 3 to 4 inches
34:21
thick of sapwood and then about the same diameter apart wood.
34:25
How do you know when when working with the with wood,
34:29
whether to use the hardwood or the SAP wood or a combination of
34:32
both it? Depends on the grain when you
34:37
start working with it and if it's splinters really easy then
34:42
I usually remove the SAP wood is the SAP wood.
34:46
Works OK and cuts nicely and doesn't splinter, doesn't rib
34:49
up. Then I can use it for for back
34:52
and then I use the hardwood for for the belly.
34:55
Do you do like a one third 2/3 sort of principle with one third
34:58
being sapwood? Or one fourth or one third, one
35:03
fourth or one third separate. Yeah.
35:05
I do the same when I make laminate.
35:07
Yeah. And then if you're using sapwood
35:09
as a back, do you have to chase a ring on it?
35:13
Usually yes. Very, very few words that I have
35:17
worked with have the same what's it called properties as as you
35:23
where you can just cut into it. It doesn't really have that that
35:28
growth ring in the sapwood. So you just cut that down.
35:32
Very few was I've worked with have that same property to have
35:35
that same property. Yeah, cool.
35:41
Tell me about your archery. Is it?
35:47
So you started out very young during archery.
35:50
It's become a meditative practice for you.
35:52
You don't like to compete? Do you hunt or is that not
35:54
allowed in Denmark? Oh yes, it is allowed.
35:57
I have been there. Now I'm warming up to hunting.
36:00
But it's very expensive to hunt in Denmark.
36:03
You have to have a piece of land where there are animals and you
36:08
have to have a hunting license and you have to pass the bow
36:11
hunting test. The Hunter's license is about
36:17
what's that, a couple of $1000. Each year.
36:21
Just for no, just just a one time, but joining in on the hunt
36:27
is just about the same amount. So that's fairly steep.
36:33
And then I think that's that's kind of too much capitalism for
36:37
me. So what do you mean?
36:39
Joining in on a hunt? Yeah, in Denmark you can only
36:44
hunt on private land. You cannot hunt, hunt on, on
36:47
public. So we have, and pretty much most
36:52
of the forest in Denmark is privately owned.
36:56
So people who have a lot of forest, they, they lease out
37:01
these hunts and that that's a big money maker and people pay
37:06
to hunt on those areas. And that's actually fairly,
37:11
fairly steep. It's not, it's not liable to to
37:16
get meat that way. So it's just for the hunt thing.
37:19
And that's not really that, that's not me.
37:22
So if I were to hunt it was free.
37:24
Sorry. No, go ahead.
37:25
Sorry, there's a little bit of a delay.
37:26
My fault. Yeah, it's OK.
37:29
Well, getting me through hunting would be too expensive.
37:33
You have, if you have your own land where there are deer, it's
37:37
fine. But if you have to buy in on a
37:39
hunt to get me, that would be too expensive, would be at least
37:42
10 times the kilo price of meat as you get in supermarket.
37:47
If you have your own land, can you just hunt on it without any
37:52
of their permissions or licenses?
37:53
No. Yeah, you have to have a hunting
37:55
license, but if you have a hunting license, you can.
37:58
OK. And then when you are out or
38:00
when someone's out hunting, you said most of the forest is
38:03
privately owned. How does someone know if like
38:06
wandering through the wilderness?
38:08
You have to. You have to know somebody.
38:10
And like I said, most forests are privately owned and the ones
38:13
that are not are commonly known as state forest.
38:18
And you're not allowed hunting in the state forest anyway, so
38:20
you can't just go out with a bow and wander through the forest.
38:26
Not. Not for hunting purposes, no.
38:28
Yeah, shooting stumps, Maybe not animals.
38:31
Shooting stumps, Target practice.
38:32
As long as you're not endangering anybody, you can
38:34
actually go shoot in the in the woods.
38:36
Yeah, OK. Tell me something about your
38:39
style, your archery style. My style, well, I'm kind of a
38:45
rebel and I don't like following mainstream.
38:51
So I like to test that if if somebody says, well, you can
38:56
only do it this way, I like to test it out and find other ways
38:59
of doing it. So basically I do the same with
39:04
when teaching archery, I do when teaching boxing.
39:07
I try to in I try to enhance the, the style that people
39:14
already have all the wishes that they already have, rather than
39:18
putting them in, putting them into a box.
39:20
OK, so my, my, my general idea or way of going about it when,
39:28
when what's it called conveying my archery is that well, you
39:33
don't have to do it a specific way.
39:35
So if you want to do an Ishi style, the Indian draw, do that.
39:42
It works fine. You don't have to do it Olympic
39:44
style, you don't have to shoot like a bear, bow hunter or
39:46
whatever. You can do it your own way and
39:49
as long as you follow some basic principle to not not getting
39:53
hurt. So basically I just I wing it
39:59
and I like, and I kind of like pushing people and pushing them
40:03
in to think, well, why do I do this?
40:06
Do I do this because I was told to or did I actually?
40:10
Test it out. This doesn't work for me for for
40:13
instance, I never use a sling when shooting modern bows never
40:16
use a sling. I rarely use stabilizers and I
40:21
only shoot split Mediterranean and then I have short of sort of
40:29
AMI have a loss for hybrid bows. So short long bows like those
40:35
like those ones. So these about 60 inch long.
40:41
I like those snappy and agile and and really like shooting
40:46
them. So you you said when you teach
40:49
archery, so you teach others to shoot.
40:52
Yeah, I'm a I'm an instructor at the club.
40:55
OK. How often do you do that?
40:59
Two times a week. You teach.
41:02
Yeah. OK.
41:04
What's that look like? Do you have groups or
41:06
individuals or? I like individuals individual
41:11
teaching because when I have two Archers they are never the same.
41:16
Have they come from different places?
41:17
They have different abilities. Some have mobility issues, some
41:22
are young, some are old, some have shot before, some have
41:24
never shot. And some like I, I some like
41:30
aiming, some like the instinctive style.
41:32
And I actually like diving into these 4 overall personality
41:39
times that we have. And two of them are prone to
41:44
shooting instinctive and two of them are prone to shooting
41:48
aiming style. And I like to work with people
41:52
in the way that they learn best. OK, describe for me the primary
41:59
differences between Instinctive and Amy.
42:02
Well, aiming is a constant reference between arrow tip and
42:07
target, and when I shoot instinctive I try to ignore the
42:12
arrow completely, so I don't see the bow and arrow.
42:15
When I shoot I only see the target, so no conscious
42:19
reference between arrow and top. OK.
42:24
And that's that's the difference.
42:27
That's the main difference. Yeah.
42:29
So no one can tell what you're doing.
42:32
Basically, it just depends on. If they look at me, if they if
42:36
they look at me shooting, they can't tell if I'm aiming on.
42:40
OK. And then can you do like a
42:42
hybrid of that or is it one or? The I guess some people can
42:50
often you tap into some kind of instinct when shooting and when
42:55
aiming, you have to judge distance.
42:57
If you don't know the distance, you have to judge it by some
43:00
measure. That's that's an instinct and
43:04
and then you aim accordingly. When shooting completely
43:08
instinctive, you do the same. You judge distance, but instead
43:12
of actually seeing the tip of the arrow on the target, just
43:16
simply rely on muscle memory and experience.
43:21
All right, So basically when I shoot I look at something and
43:26
judge the distance and body takes care of the rest.
43:30
And when you go out for your daily shooting, what do you
43:33
normally do? I always shoot instinctively
43:37
unless I'm shooting a bow with a sight on.
43:42
So I have two compound bows, yeah, with sights on it.
43:48
And when I shoot those, obviously I aim, but when I
43:50
shoot all the other ones, it's completely instinctive.
43:55
And you have to use. You have to aim with the sight
43:57
one because it's in your conscious reference field.
44:01
Or well, when I shoot the compounder, you can shoot them
44:05
instinctively, but it's more difficult because the normal
44:09
style of shooting compound is a lower anchor.
44:15
Like when you shoot a Olympic recurve, it's also a low anchor.
44:20
So we have this alignment indiscrepancy because your error
44:24
is down here and your line of sight is up here.
44:26
So somewhere out there the lines convert, but that's difficult to
44:31
tell with a compound though because it have has a more flat
44:35
arrows trajectory. So basically you can, but you
44:38
have to anchor hunt. Is hunting considered one or the
44:43
other more often? Yeah, always.
44:49
Always aiming or instinctive. Mostly aiming in Denmark I think
44:54
it's. I think there's difference but
44:56
depending on where you are in the in the world.
44:59
But then most punters in Denmark punt with a compound bow.
45:05
I think it's the same in the US actually.
45:08
And so with the compound bow, you're aiming more.
45:12
Yeah, yeah. Compound bow is is aiming
45:15
because you don't have that same.
45:19
You're not. You don't tap into your
45:21
instincts the same way because the arrow is down here.
45:24
So your instinct would be up here someplace.
45:27
And then what about with the hunt?
45:29
What about with hunters who are shooting only with primitive
45:32
self bows? We don't really have that in
45:35
Denmark. There's not really many of those
45:38
in Denmark. We have quite strict rules,
45:44
required gear. You have to have a bow with a
45:48
minimum impact of 42 Joule. How many pounds that's is?
45:55
You have to have a minimum error weight of 28 grams.
46:00
That's about 400 and something great.
46:03
So you need at least a 50 LB bow.
46:05
If it's a, if it's a, if it's a self bow, and if it's a modern
46:11
bow you can go at about 42 LB. OK so you can use a £50 self
46:15
bow. Yeah, if, if the you have to
46:18
measure it so you get your error, it has to be at least 28
46:21
grams. You shoot it through a
46:22
chronograph and if you have a impact velocity that is high
46:27
enough to render a 42 Joule impact, that's that's allowed.
46:32
And so someone who is shooting with that regulation approved
46:36
self bowl, if they're hunting, would they be doing more
46:40
instinctive shooting or is it aiming?
46:45
I would think that usually would be more instinctive, but I don't
46:49
know anybody who shoots a self bow for hunting in den.
46:53
Yeah, I'll have to save that question for someone else.
46:58
Yeah. I think I think I can get
47:01
somebody to answer it, but but I don't have them online.
47:04
I'll ask Corey Hawk. I don't know if you know Corey.
47:08
Oh yeah, in the state, in the states, he's always he hunts
47:11
almost exclusively with his hackberry.
47:15
He. Looks like a He looks very much
47:17
like an instinctive shooter. OK.
47:21
And what is what? What is that?
47:24
Why do you say that? I agree.
47:26
With you, usually when you look at his style of shooting, he can
47:31
shoot fairly fast and accurate, but he doesn't really stop to
47:36
aim so he has that fluid draw and the often the moment he
47:42
comes to anger he raises so the the time for aiming is not
47:48
enough. So what is that time window for
47:52
aiming? Usually when people aim, they
47:56
have to take at least a couple of seconds to get that that that
48:00
tip to align correctly on the target.
48:04
It's my experience, yeah. Aimers are generally slower
48:08
shooters and then instinctive shooter.
48:11
Yeah. OK.
48:13
And are the results typically if you're going purely for target
48:18
based results, do you find that the aimers generally perform
48:22
better than the instinctive shooters?
48:24
Yes, OK, because Corey's a hell of a.
48:27
Marksman. Oh yeah.
48:30
Oh yeah, one of my pals, Clayce, I understand all of you have
48:33
seen him on Instagram. He is a he's a local long boat
48:37
champion. He he shoots instinctive and
48:41
he's very, very good. He shoots about 514 average I.
48:48
Don't know. Maximum, maximum, well, maximum
48:52
points is 600 / 60 arrows and he shoots 540.
48:56
So he, he, he's very, very accurate.
48:58
He's very, very impressive. And so it, it can be done.
49:02
I I know some people who shoot instinctive and shoot very, very
49:06
accurately, but it's difficult to get that same accuracy with
49:14
instinctive shooting as aiming because you have that other
49:18
reference. Yeah.
49:20
And when you are doing instinctive shooting, where's
49:23
your anchor point? I always have this intent on the
49:27
cheek, on the cheekbone. That's my primary anchor.
49:30
And then I'll use the tip of the of the of the fletching on my
49:33
nose so I have a double anchor point.
49:37
And that point on your cheek, is that your index finger?
49:42
OK, cool. I love just digging into the
49:47
different styles. I'm entirely self-taught in my
49:50
my archery and then I teach people here in Costa Rica to
49:52
shoot. So hopefully I'm not teaching
49:54
them a bunch of shit, but it seems to be working.
49:57
So it's always. Talk to and I don't like, I
50:01
don't like, like I said, I don't like being put into a box.
50:04
And in Denmark it's often one style only.
50:10
There's just not many who, who who cross the style.
50:14
How? How conscientious are you of
50:16
your breath when you're shooting?
50:20
Not super conscious. My birth is generally very slow.
50:25
I've built it up over years. I have been boxer since age 6,
50:29
so I generally have a very very good control of my breath during
50:35
specific moments. But I when when asked about it,
50:40
I have discovered that I breathe in when I draw and then exhale
50:44
after the after the. Yeah, yeah, that's what I do
50:49
too. So you're a boxer and you said
50:50
you teach boxing. Yeah, I've been a boxing
50:54
instructor for the past tenure. And did you or do you ever
51:00
compete in boxing? Yeah, I had the six fights.
51:05
Like I said, I don't really enjoy competition, but I had 6
51:08
fights just just to seven fights I had 1-2 months.
51:14
Wow, you don't look too beat up for it, so you must have won.
51:20
I'm very good at moving my head. I have a lot of head and having
51:24
a lot of musical. Scar tissue or.
51:30
No, my, I have a very, very yeah.
51:33
Your cartilage. I have a SO.
51:35
Hitting getting hell nose hurts a lot.
51:38
It don't hurt a lot. And they generally I'm a, I'm a
51:43
defensive boxer. So I, I adapt multiple styles.
51:47
So if I meet somebody who is a specific style as which, and
51:52
then yes, usually I, I'm a defensive boxer.
51:54
So I like to move my head and company.
51:59
And only boxing or do you do other combat or I did?
52:03
2 I did 2 years of Kung Fu when I was when as a teenager but
52:09
other than that boxing since 8/6 and I'm 42.
52:12
Wow, Very cool, very cool. I was with Parafried and you
52:18
know, Para and Sweden. Yeah, he's he was, I guess he
52:24
was an MMA fighter in his earlier years.
52:27
He was the he was a Swedish amateur national champion at
52:31
some point. Very humble person.
52:36
And although he's he's he's big and he looks strong.
52:40
I just, I never would have. He's such a gentle soul.
52:43
I never would have thought that he would go in the cage and but
52:49
yeah. And boxing.
52:52
Are you training that every week, Every day?
52:55
Two times a week I am practicing and then shadow boxing whenever
52:59
I see my reflect. You don't like yourself that
53:04
much or? No, it's just in.
53:07
I grew up with it, my dad was a boxer and just got under my
53:13
skin. So it's just well, maybe now
53:17
there's just well, I've record hook and getting that.
53:20
It's just on the backbone. So keeping up the reflexes and
53:25
must mind. Are you going to keep competing?
53:29
No, I have one more fight in late August and that will be on
53:36
my last. I think keeping up the the shape
53:40
to to keep boxing at the competition level is that that's
53:46
tough. Have to be in a very, very good
53:49
shape, even though with with age comes experience, but it's it's
53:55
still it's still tough to go those go those round.
53:59
Have you ever been knocked out? Once in sparring.
54:04
Yeah. How was that?
54:06
It's not pleasant. It was not pleasant.
54:08
It was shows an out of body experience.
54:11
I remember talking and then my opponent going a ever and waking
54:17
up with my ass between the the ropes.
54:24
And when you say an out of body experience, what was it like?
54:29
Were you looking? Down at yourself.
54:32
It was like almost like I could see myself sitting there with my
54:37
ass through the ropes and and and people just gathering to see
54:43
what what the hell happened. But what what's up?
54:45
And and and when I came to it was like, where was I?
54:49
And then, well, and he said, well, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
54:52
Well, he's now it's boxing. You have.
54:56
You have to get hit at some point.
54:59
I, I do jujitsu and I was, I, I tapped too late once.
55:02
So I was, well, I passed out. Yeah, I choked out.
55:06
And it was a similar strange experience.
55:10
Like I had a whole journey and probably the five seconds I was
55:12
out, I went back to my childhood and when I came to and saw three
55:19
teachers like standing over me, I had no idea where I was and I
55:22
thought I'd done something really wrong.
55:24
I felt like, oh shit, I'm guilty.
55:26
What did I do? You caught me.
55:28
And then I and then I realized where I was and it was, it was
55:31
kind of funny because I was trying to tap, but I just didn't
55:34
manage to make contact. So got choked out.
55:38
But that's a lot. I think that's a lot gentler
55:41
than being punched in the head and knocked out so.
55:45
Well, you don't play boxing and if you lose, you could be.
55:50
Yeah. Ouch.
55:53
Yeah. What else?
55:54
What else do you keep busy with? Any other passions?
55:59
Well, between boxing and archery and and work, there's not much
56:04
time left. I had three kids.
56:07
That's pretty. Let's see, just about 9 and 13
56:12
and 6. All right.
56:14
So and the the little 1, he actually enjoys tapping into my
56:21
artery and boxing as well. And the two older ones, they,
56:25
they got their own things going, gaming and gymnastics.
56:29
OK, is the little one carve bows with you, honey?
56:33
Well, he not yet, no, he makes he makes wooden knives when I
56:39
make those. Cool out of like the leftover
56:43
bits. No.
56:45
Well usually he asks can I make a knife and looking right for a
56:49
piece of scrap wood and the last time I carved up two pieces of E
56:53
pay for him so you can make a good one and he just sits with a
56:57
rasp and just goes. Yeah, what's your workshop like?
57:03
Messy. Very messy.
57:05
OK. And I'm not a tidy person.
57:08
I, I, I'm good at tidying up, but I'm not good at keeping it
57:12
neat. So when I go into a workshop,
57:15
it's just either have a project going that I will continue
57:19
doing, or I will grab a piece of wood and say, well, this is
57:25
going to be a Longbow. And then I start hacking away
57:28
with it. And two to three hours later, I
57:30
have pretty much have a boat and time completely passes away.
57:34
And then it's 11:00 in the evening and then I have to,
57:38
well, go to bed and I leave the workshop as it is.
57:42
So it's very, very messy. So you clean it whatever you get
57:48
around the cleaning it. Yeah, sometimes when my wife
57:52
gets annoyed that she can't get to the back of the workshop and
57:55
then I have to, well, clean up the the messy stuff.
58:01
Yeah. So you're not extremely far
58:04
north, but you're pretty far. So you must have daylight until
58:08
11 at night in the summer. Yeah, by now we have a it's,
58:14
it's the longest day of the, of the summer.
58:16
That was yesterday. So yeah, it's yeah, Yeah.
58:21
Solstice after that's the word. And the, the sun just went down
58:25
here. It's 5 to 10.
58:28
Wow. OK.
58:29
And then you'll have kind of the the afterglow for a while.
58:33
That's cool. Yeah, I think about an hour.
58:36
An hour. It definitely makes it easier I
58:39
find to be out and working and get kind of lost until it is 11
58:44
O clock at night. Here in Costa Rica, sun's down
58:47
by 6 and so it's not unusual, not unusual to be in bed by
58:51
9830. So.
58:54
I was in Phoenix once and I I it was the same kind of
58:57
experiences, but all of a sudden it's just going black.
59:03
Yeah, it's it's, it's very well, you get used to it.
59:06
It's kind of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark.
59:09
It's a little more, probably like 11-11 of dark, 13 of light,
59:13
but. Yeah.
59:15
Well, yeah, we also have comparatively long nights in the
59:20
winter when it's winter. Yeah, yeah, of course.
59:26
So in the workshop you get lost for hours at a time, but then
59:30
you say you can hack out a bow in like 3 hours.
59:32
Is that just the rough shape or are we talking a whole bow?
59:37
I can make a Longbow from ash and two and a half hour.
59:41
Complete. Complete sanded and everything.
59:46
How? How do you do that?
59:48
Wow, is that? Well, it when I have made so
59:52
much so many of them by now, so I know the general shape.
59:56
So I don't spend a lot of time in chillering.
1:00:02
Yeah and the the first though, I showed you the beach.
1:00:07
Oh, just just to have. I'll turn out tonight.
1:00:11
Yeah, it's getting dark. There we are.
1:00:16
So this beach in longer in this number with the ash packing,
1:00:24
it's actually spliced in the middle so it's two pieces of
1:00:28
wood joined together and then backing on the back.
1:00:31
And this one never went into tiller.
1:00:33
It's only been vice tiller. So I put it in the vice and bend
1:00:38
it every now and then and then put a string on and it was fine.
1:00:45
4 hours from start to finish gluing everything actual working
1:00:50
time. So just getting to know the
1:00:53
dimensions actually makes it easy.
1:00:56
But that one had horn tips didn't.
1:00:59
It it is, yeah. And you do get sometimes for.
1:01:02
You can get those on within 4 hours too.
1:01:06
Yeah, I use super. Yeah, but as far as shaping it
1:01:10
and use. That A.
1:01:12
Conical drill A conical drill bit to hollow it out.
1:01:17
Nope, I just use a regular drill bit and just about.
1:01:21
Is it 13 mil? Drill into it and then and then
1:01:25
shape the end of the the tips to fit into.
1:01:31
So it's like the the edges are parallel, they go into the tip,
1:01:36
huh. All right.
1:01:39
I know that's not how many other people use do it, but that's how
1:01:43
I do it. I didn't know you could do that,
1:01:47
so how that is for reference, is that like pencil width?
1:01:54
Much about half an inch. Half an inch is the peg that
1:01:59
goes inside. Yeah.
1:02:01
So does that mean your tips have to be a bit larger than?
1:02:08
I don't think so. The tips are about two mil
1:02:14
bigger on the other side. Yep, cool.
1:02:18
Well, that is fast I must say. Yeah, I don't.
1:02:24
I don't aim at making them fast. It just happened.
1:02:29
And is that primarily with ash? Ash ash and beach.
1:02:35
Where is the E pay takes longer because it doesn't it doesn't
1:02:40
work well with the plan. So that's RASP and Koch Graver.
1:02:46
So that takes 4-5 hours. And with the other ones, what
1:02:49
other tools are you using? I usually use use a little hand
1:02:54
plane and I use my Shinto wrap and then finish up finish off
1:03:00
the cartway. But I very rarely use the the
1:03:03
draw knife on anything but sampling.
1:03:08
And no power tools other. Than like and for for not for
1:03:13
the year for the for the laminations I use a big build
1:03:17
center and the and a table saw for cutting off shakes but other
1:03:23
than that it's just essential. Right.
1:03:29
What has what has Beau Carving taught you that has been
1:03:34
applicable in your life? Patience, like I said before,
1:03:39
I'm kind of my kind. I'm kind of a restless soul.
1:03:42
But with bow making, if you rush it, you break.
1:03:49
So, so I'm, I'm when I'm making a bow, I cannot rush things.
1:03:53
So when I make a bow fast, it's because it allows me to and if
1:03:59
you try to jump the fence at some point and, and and skip,
1:04:03
skip corners and stuff, it it'll they'll come back at you and,
1:04:07
and stuff will break. And yeah.
1:04:10
So film making has definitely told me patient getting older
1:04:16
helps. Sort of been wholesome.
1:04:19
And maybe it's both, but do you would you say your bows
1:04:24
characteristically are better performers or more beautiful or
1:04:28
both? More what is your I don't more
1:04:31
beautiful. Yeah, I don't specifically try
1:04:35
to make bows that are especially efficient.
1:04:40
OK and I don't go for the best performance.
1:04:45
Yeah, Over time I have gone to use come to use better
1:04:50
materials, but generally our native woods are not great
1:04:55
performance. U is good and Elm is also fairly
1:05:04
good, but it also takes string form fairly easily.
1:05:09
So, so working with these native woods, you can't really get
1:05:12
those super performers like those.
1:05:16
And what's the culture like in your area for primitive archery
1:05:22
and and beau carving? Is it?
1:05:26
Almost no, not at all. It's almost non in, almost non
1:05:31
existent. We have a small group at our
1:05:35
medieval center where we make those these meetups once once
1:05:40
once a year and and that's about it.
1:05:43
And there isn't really a big culture football making in
1:05:47
Denmark. We have perhaps a couple of
1:05:50
thousand nationwide. It could be a lot, I don't know.
1:05:58
Never never tried to count how many but but it's not something
1:06:02
where it's what you do. When people find out, it's still
1:06:06
unique to them typically. Yeah, yeah, it is.
1:06:11
A lot of people get very impressed, but also by fairly
1:06:16
simple boasts. So it is not that I make them
1:06:19
well. I try to make them beautiful and
1:06:21
try to make them nice. I want people to have a nice
1:06:23
experience if they try my boasts and but generally people are
1:06:29
impressed just by a simple bow. Easy point.
1:06:36
And that led me to another question, which I've forgotten.
1:06:44
So do you collaborate with other bowyers ever as far as with
1:06:51
ideas, questions, projects do you have happy?
1:06:55
Yeah, You know, mentors. I don't really have AI, have
1:06:59
sort of a Mendo. You know him already, Phil
1:07:02
Philip Rockhouser. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:07:05
He, I, I tapped into his knowledge quite a lot and he
1:07:08
helped me get along when I started film making back in
1:07:12
2019. And but I also like, I like
1:07:19
learning by doing. So I like get that hands on
1:07:24
experience and fucking things up and learning from that.
1:07:27
So so breaking stuff makes me best.
1:07:33
Also by doing that I I like I said, I woke a lot with beach
1:07:37
and when I post pictures of boom made from beach, people say you
1:07:43
can't make a bow from beach. Well, I also made one from from
1:07:49
Willow a couple of months back. Again, not a common bow would
1:07:53
and people say you can't make a bow from Willow.
1:07:56
Well, it's here so you can't. It's just a matter of finding
1:08:01
out what sort of boat. And when you do have a bow
1:08:05
failure during the bow build, is there a a weakness that you have
1:08:11
found that you have that kind of emerges a time and time again or
1:08:14
is it something different every time?
1:08:17
It's usually something different and whenever boat breaks, I
1:08:22
examine the of course, I examine the the the reason why?
1:08:25
Was it a fault on my heart or was it a weakness in the wood?
1:08:30
And sometimes I perhaps I get too eager and, and, and take off
1:08:37
too much at some point. And also my works, my, my
1:08:45
workshop isn't ideal. It's cold in the winter and hot
1:08:51
in the summer. So, so working in there in
1:08:53
winter time also means these light woods that we have in
1:08:56
Denmark, they take moisture fairly easily.
1:08:59
So if you work on them too much at a time, they take moisture
1:09:03
and then develop compression crack.
1:09:06
So you have to work a little at a time, then bring them inside
1:09:09
and back and forth unless you have a controlled environment in
1:09:14
your. Right.
1:09:16
That's something I'm, I'm, I am aware of that I'm going to have
1:09:18
to be aware of as I start making bows here because we have such
1:09:22
extreme humidity six months of the year.
1:09:24
So what is that window of time that you can work on?
1:09:29
It? Is that 2 hours?
1:09:30
3 hours? Between one 1 1/2 hour so 30
1:09:37
minutes to an hour at a time depending on what stage of the
1:09:41
build. Because when I grab a piece of
1:09:43
ash I can fairly I can work on a 2 two hours at a time just
1:09:48
roughing out the shape as soon as I start tillering.
1:09:52
Yeah, I know. I have a limited window because
1:09:54
of the the moisture. OK, do you use hotbox at all or
1:09:59
you just bring it in your house? Nope, no, just I just bring it
1:10:02
in and. Then how long do you have to let
1:10:06
it rest before you can work it again?
1:10:09
Usually I let it rest overnight so I I don't have a specific
1:10:14
time frame so I work on a couple of hours and then or 1/2 hour,
1:10:18
then bring it inside and take it out the next evening and after
1:10:23
work or something. During the summertime I can work
1:10:26
on the 24 hours no no problem, but during the winter it's a
1:10:31
limited. So Phil's been a mentor of
1:10:35
yours. What about actual resources?
1:10:38
Books, online materials, videos? What?
1:10:41
What has helped you? Learning by doing.
1:10:46
I'm not a big, I'm not a big reader.
1:10:49
I often find when I try to read about something, I often come
1:10:54
across some myths like I would have to season at least two to
1:11:04
three years before you make a boat.
1:11:06
Well, I have found that once it's dry, you can make a boat.
1:11:11
So it it doesn't really doesn't really improve performance, not
1:11:16
with the woods that we have. If you wait four months or four
1:11:21
years doesn't really make a difference.
1:11:24
Not not with with our woods. Perhaps it's something different
1:11:27
with with Osage so that? Any other resources or just
1:11:37
learn by doing? No, thank you.
1:11:39
Learning, learning by doing. I asked, I asked Phil a couple
1:11:43
of times what he did with specific types of woods or what
1:11:47
he would do. That was primarily in the
1:11:49
beginning. And by now we assume we from
1:11:55
time to time we send each other pictures of projects and stuff.
1:12:00
And sometimes she has some insight and says be careful not
1:12:04
to do that. And, and he said it so many
1:12:09
times that it's, it's, it's just stored in the memory.
1:12:13
But he's, he's a, he's a good, he's a good teacher.
1:12:17
He's he's, he comes to the point and then he's not overly
1:12:21
elaborate about stuff. Do you have Phil's books?
1:12:28
No, they're very nice. Nice little handbooks.
1:12:33
Yeah, I have one book made by a Danish called Then Height On,
1:12:38
but that's not specifically about bow making, that's about
1:12:41
historic, both mainly Stone Age and Bronze Age.
1:12:46
OK. So that's your that was more for
1:12:50
four dimensions and stuff and his.
1:12:54
Your brand is Scandinavian Archer.
1:12:57
Is that what you saw your bows under?
1:13:00
Nope, I actually brand my bows under my last name that is Bjork
1:13:04
BBIRK and I often write them in room.
1:13:14
So. That's kind of my.
1:13:17
Beer bows, is that is that what you call it?
1:13:19
Yeah. OK.
1:13:21
And then on Instagram, you're scanning every Archer.
1:13:24
Let me see. Hang on.
1:13:26
Show me that again. I didn't.
1:13:30
Can you see? Yes, now I can see it OK.
1:13:35
So that's that's and that's that's what I brand.
1:13:41
OK, very cool. So this this is too long to
1:13:46
write on. Where can people find out more
1:13:54
about you and see your stuff? Well, I have my my Facebook page
1:13:59
and I have my Instagram account both and I also have a YouTube
1:14:03
account all on the same name, Scandinavian Archer.
1:14:05
That's, that's, that's the brand, That's what I call
1:14:09
myself. So that's where people can tap
1:14:12
in. All right.
1:14:15
Any last questions, comments, anything?
1:14:19
No, no, I think it's, I think, I think your project is cool.
1:14:23
I think that it was very interesting seeing all these
1:14:26
different, different bowyers and stories and seeing stories,
1:14:32
actually discovering bowyers that I didn't know what.
1:14:36
Yeah, yeah. And we've discovered many, many,
1:14:39
many more since we started this journey, which is really cool.
1:14:43
But I'm I couldn't be happier with the 14 who were in the
1:14:46
book. So that's that's been an amazing
1:14:50
experience. And and then I get to have these
1:14:53
conversations with people like you on a regular basis.
1:14:56
And I'm so fortunate. So thank you.
1:15:01
Yeah. Well, yeah, it was great meeting
1:15:03
you and like to stay in touch and hopefully I'll, I'll get
1:15:07
back to Denmark sometime and I'll look you up.
1:15:15
Thanks for listening to Project Quiver on Stylish Wolf.
1:15:18
Follow our journey on Instagram and YouTube at Project Quiver
1:15:21
Official as we discover the world's most extraordinary
1:15:24
traditional bow years, and join our newsletter at
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projectquiver.com. Quiver, the art of Life through
1:15:30
Bow Craft, our photographic and narrative exploration of
1:15:33
traditional bow carving published by Trope, will be
1:15:35
available in fall 2026. We are honored to share with you
1:15:39
the beauty, tradition, and magic of the bow and arrow.
1:15:43
The book is Quiver. The journey is Project Quiver.
1:15:45
This is the Salish Wolf podcast.