Salt Spring Island · British Columbia

Built by hand, from tree to bow

Oshosi Bows are shaped one at a time from coastal wood using drawknives, rasps and scrapers.

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A bowyer's Workshop

Nothing here is rushed, each bow is unique.

Handmade wooden bows begin as a stave split by hand and left to season for years, and end as working bows meant to be drawn and shot.

I split and season all my own staves, leaving them for years before a bow is ever roughed out of them. My preferred material is Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia), increasingly scarce, and in my opinion, one of the finest and most beautiful bow woods in the world. I also work with other local woods and selected imported woods, along with horn, rawhide, sinew and leather.

The rough shape is made with a hatchet and drawknife. A rasp and scraper bring it closer. Then comes tillering, the critical part, and the real art of making a self bow or a biocomposite bow. The bow goes back and forth between the tillering tree and the bench many times, until the draw weight and the tiller are right.

The Maker

Christopher Applewhaite, Salt Spring Island bow maker

I have been drawn to bows and archery my whole life. I build traditional wooden bows on Salt Spring Island, working with hand tools. I hunt with a traditional bow myself. Every bow that leaves the workshop is a functional weapon, made to be drawn, shot, hunted with and enjoyed.

The name honours Oshosi, the orisha of the hunt and the forest, the archer who never misses. Wooden bows run through almost all of our shared histories. In their making and in their use, they connect us to the land and to the people who came before us.

Christopher Applewhaite, bowyer, in the workshop

The Rack

Handmade wooden bows currently available

No two bows are the same. If one here suits you, get in touch. There are many more in the workshop, and I will post them as time allows.

Aara Aara

Pacific yew "english" longbow · 55# @ 28"

Natural Backed " English" style longbow, horn nocks, stone arrow pass

Price on requestEnquire

Osage Recurve #1

Recurve · 55# @ 28"

Truly osage just wants to be a bow. A fast short recurve, shot off the hand.

Price on requestEnquire

Ara

"English" Longbow · 55# @ 29"

Pacific yew " English" longbow with horn nock and stone arrow pass

Price on requestEnquire

Iwin

Rawhide backed flatbow · 52# @ 28"

Classic flat bow with gently reflexed tips. Cutout horn arrow shelf. Horn tip overlays. fish leather grip. Smooth draw, dead quiet.

Price on requestEnquire

Reserved

Ogun

Pacific yew recureve · 55# @ 28"

Personal hunting recurve, made from an eceptionally dense stave, natural back, quick and quiet.

Price on requestEnquire

Sold bows stay on the site as part of the record.

See the whole rack

Common questions

Questions about handmade wooden bows

What wood are the bows made from?

Most are Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia), considered one of the finest and most beautiful bow woods in the world, and which is increasingly scarce. I also work with other local woods and selected imported woods, along with horn, rawhide, sinew and leather.

How do I order a handmade wooden bow?

Get in touch! Tell me what you are after not all stock is on the site and new stock is built over time.

Do you run bow-building workshops?

Yes. We have run workshops in small groups, and each person leaves with a bow they roughed out, tillered and shot themselves. Stay tuned for future offerings.

How do I take care of a wooden bow ?

Wooden bows do require some basic care and precautions. See here.

Get in touch

Curious about a handmade wooden bow?

Whether it is a bow on the rack, a commission, or a spot in a workshop, every order starts with a short conversation about how and where you will shoot, and what you will be shooting at.

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