First failed attempt

My first attempt at making a bow was not a success, it was a project with my son who was 6 at the time, we tried to make him one out of an old broom handle. We worked on it and all was going well. Unfortunately I hadn't read the book 'The Backyard Bowyer by Nicholas Tomihama' a book I recommend by get a paper copy not an electronic copy as the pictures aren't as clear.

Archie Filing down the bow to shape, he was very keen at this stage.

We got it to a stage, where we thought it needed a tiller stick, so Archie went to work making a tiller stick while I carried on filing. It was a simple design but very effective.

When we started to tiller it, I was in too much of a rush, as you can see, at this stage it was far too stiff at the centre of, and I didn't spend enough time training the wood to bend, resulting in it breaking near the handle, and Archie in tears.