A Couple New Designs

For some time I've been thinking of a particular pattern for some cresting. I found the specifics for size and such on Wikipedia. At the same time I found pictures on the internet to use for a basis on the crown of one of the sets. After practicing the crown on a few dowel scraps I figured I was finally ready.

Here are detail shots of the cresting...

For those folks who don't recognize the crest pattern, it's the Vietnam Service Medal ribbon. The medal was given to armed service members who served in the Vietnam theater during the Vietnam War.  

I never went but quite a few of the folks I call friend did go. I wanted to do something to recognize those who served there and this is what I came up with.

The camouflage crown on the second set is meant to portray the iconic tiger stripe camouflage that some units used in Vietnam. It was never an officially issued uniform but it has come to be associated with the time and place. I didn't capture it exactly, but for hand painting it I don't think it came out too badly.

The red and yellow fletching echoes the colors of the crest. I thought about doing a barred cock feather but decided to keep it plain so the visual focus would be on the cresting, where it should be for these arrows.

I'll have these arrows for sale on the Greenman Archery website soon. If you're interested in them before I get them over to the site just leave me a message here. I'll also have these or similar arrows available at the Chamberlin Ranch traditional 3D shoot in April.

Happy Archery... and, thanks for your service.

Arrow Raffle for a Worthy Cause

Many readers of this blog know that I participate in a group that does historical recreation called the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).
On January 6 a gentleman whom I knew through the SCA passed away unexpectedly. Scott Jaqua, known in the SCA as Njall Olaf Hagerson was one of the first people I met at an SCA event so many years ago. In addition to his many other accomplishments in the Society he had a long and honorable presence on the archery field and shared freely of his knowledge and time.

Like many of us independent craftspeople trying to make a living by our own wit and skills, Scott and his wife didn’t have a lot of extra money. Nor do I think they had anything in the way of health insurance to help cover his final medical expenses.
In an effort to assist Scott’s dear wife, Sandra, I am offering a raffle for one dozen custom arrows. Chances are $5 each and 100% of the money gathered will be sent to her.

If the winner of the raffle is in the lower 48 states I shall pay for shipping of the arrows. If the winner is in Hawaii, Alaska, or a country other than the USA I ask that they help with half of the shipping charges and be responsible for any customs duties.

The dozen arrows will be made to the winner’s specifications and they will be ready to shoot when received. Open season on the arrow artwork, if I can do it I will. If you are a regular reader of this blog you have an idea for the kind of arrow artwork I do. If you are not familiar with my work I encourage you to scroll through previous posts here to see samples. You can also visit the Greenman Archery website to see the galleries there.

I will be happy to take entries to this raffle by PayPal, money order, or check. For more details or to arrange to send me an entry, please contact me at guy.taylor@sbcglobal.net. Individuals are encouraged to enter as many times as they wish.
I will also be able to take entries to the raffle in person at SCA events I will be attending in the next month:

Gyldenholt Unbelted, January 21 in Garden Grove, CA

Festival of the Rose and Olde-Tymer’s Tourney, February 11 in Lake Balboa, CA

Arts and Archery, February 18 in Los Angeles, CA

Queen’s Champion Archery and Thrown Weapons and Barony of the Angels Robin Hood Tourney, February 26 in Van Nuys, CA

I will not be selling at the first three events but I will be there with my bow bench to work on something. I’ll probably be the only one with a shave horse doing this kind of activity but you can also look for the Greenman banner. At the last event I will have my full booth so I’ll be quite easy to find.

Many thanks to Fayme for taking these pictures. I usually take my own camera but I almost always forget to use it. And how about that great banner she just made for me?

The raffle will be open until a few minutes before closing court at the SCA event, Queen’s Champion Archery and Thrown Weapons and Barony of the Angels Robin Hood Tourney on February 26 of this year at the Woodley Park archery range in Van Nuys, CA. With the permission of those running the event, the drawing will be held at closing court. Of course, the winner need not be present.

Legal disclaimer:
Please note that this is a privately organized raffle and is not sponsored or endorsed by any SCA group or authority. The raffle is open to anyone interested, you need not be an SCA member.

Thanks for reading.

New Arrow Work

Here are the latest arrows with a decal on them. I am really liking what I can do with these.

To start at the beginning…

Gary has gotten a few sets of arrow from me but they’ve all been for his own use (for the most part, his sons seem to abscond with his arrows pretty frequently).  This time it was Gary’s wife’s turn for new arrows.
The funny thing is, Gary hates pink. I mean he’s flat out allergic to the color. When I make his arrows I have to keep all the parts at least five feet away from anything pink. But Diane loves pink. Just for the fact that he ordered pink arrows for her you can see what they have between them.
Gary specified the horn reinforced self nock, pink fletching, and pink stain crown. I asked him if I could try something special and he gave me the go-ahead.

When Gary and Diane were married a few months ago they had these cute little bookmarks at each table setting. Someone had made up a bit of artwork for the bookmarks that had D and G on it with a stylized bow and arrow between the letters. I scanned a bookmark and then spent more time than I want to admit taking out everything but that little logo. We can safely say that I am not a professional graphic artist. The end result is what got printed on the decal.

Reports are that Diane loves the arrows and they shoot well from her bow. I couldn’t ask for more than that.  

Thanks, Gary and Diane!

GreenmanArchery.com

Ok, folks… hold on to your hats, it’s finally happened…

Greenmanarchery.com is alive!

Through the hard work of a talented (and patient) web site builder, Steve Varma, we just took the site live today. Click on the link above and you’ll go directly to the home page.
Once on the site you’ll see a menu on the left side letting you choose from such wonderful pages as, Gallery of Past Work, Available Items, Ordering Information, About Greenman, and a plethora of other wonderful pages just chock full of great stuff.

Ok, I’m going overboard a little here but I must be excused as I’m really quite happy about the site going live. Steve has done a great job telling me what he needed and then getting it all together into something that will work.

Don’t worry, this blog will continue to exist and will continue to be a repository for my thoughts and my work. The new site will make ordering these products from me much easier and will give me a better forum for showing my work. One disadvantage I’ve had with the blog is the transitory nature of the posts. If I put up pictures of arrows I currently have available, that post will move off the page once I make another post or two. It’s a challenge to sell stuff when folks don’t know what’s available!

Let me know what you think of the new site!
Click the link above to get to the site, once there you should bookmark it immediately so you don’t lose it and you can easily return later. Wander through the site, check things out, read the information, look at the pictures… let me know what you think. I don’t want this site to be one of those that hasn’t been updated in a year and eight months. I’ll be changing the Gallery pictures occasionally to showcase other arrows, I’ll be adding some more information as I get it thought of and then written. Do you have ideas of what you’d like to see or what you’d like to read? Let me know!

Happy, happy, joy, joy.... archery!

Latest News on Custom Arrows

Well, folks… I’ve put this off as long as I could, but I’m afraid I have to do it…

I need to raise my prices.

Every time I’ve ordered arrow shafts in the last year the price has been higher than the previous order. I try to keep the cost under control by ordering in bulk but it still adds up.
My main feather supplier raised prices last January and I’ve been absorbing the difference for the past 11 months.
It’s just gotten to the point where I can no longer afford to keep the prices where they are.

I’ll hold off for another month, but effective January 1st prices for a dozen arrows will go up $10.
So a dozen arrows of the basic design that have been selling for $70 will now be $80. The crowned and crested arrows that have been $90 for the dozen will now be $100. Other designs will see a similar increase.

No matter how I justify the increase, this is still a lot of money and I recognize that. However, if you peruse other custom arrow makers I think my work will still stand as a good value for what you receive.

I use only hand spined shafts that have been weight matched to +/- 10 grains (usually much closer in weight). Unless otherwise requested, all arrows come cut to the specified length, tapered for a tip, and field points firmly glued on. Arrows I make are ready to shoot when you receive them and this is included in the price rather than added to it as many arrow makers do.

And… all the arrows I make are true custom arrows. While I have some basic guidelines to assist folks with decisions, there is no catalog where you choose Combo A or Option 4. You and I will be working together to get true custom arrows that you can be proud of in the field or on the range.

I’ll tell you a secret… do you know the most common email I get when someone has just received their new arrows?
“These are too pretty to shoot!”
I’m just as proud of the arrows I make as their new owners are.

As I mentioned, I’ll stay with the old prices through the month of December. If you order and pay for arrows in December we’ll use the lower price. If you make your order on the first of the year I’m going to look at you with sad eyes and charge you a bit more than the day before.

Thank you for your support.

Medieval Marketplace this Saturday

Rather late notice for me to be saying anything, but Greenman Archery will be at the SCA event, Medieval Marketplace this coming Saturday, November 26.
The event will be held at Kuns Park, 1600 Bonita Ave, La Verne, CA 91750. The site opens for shoppers at 10:00am and you don't even have to camp out Friday night to get the good deals.

Medieval Marketplace is essentially a shopping event for SCA-type vendors and products. There should be about sixteen different merchants there carrying a wide variety of goods, many of which are handcrafted and quite unique.
While Thanksgiving day looks like it may have some rain and dreary weather, Saturday is forecast for beautiful California weather: clear skys and a 79 degree high.
We attended Medieval Marketplace last year and had a very good time. It was wonderful to have a chance to see everyone. The site is fairly small so it's easy to visit with friends, new and old.

I hope to see everyone there!

Update!

We had a great time yesterday at Medieval Marketplace!

There seemed to me to be a slight shortage of customers but I don't think it affected our day much. Quite a few mundane folks came through the event looking at what everyone had to sell so we had a few interesting conversations trying ot explain what they saw. Most were somewhat fascinated with the whole event. There was some heavy fighting going on in a "Bear Pit" scenario and that noise and excitement is always popular for folks to watch.

I thank everyone who placed arrow orders with me. Your patronage is so very greatly appreciated as I try to make this little business work and keep me out of an office.

I also thank Master Hroar for making his late wife's books, fabric, and other items available for new homes. It's never easy to lose someone but he can rest assured that at least her things have gone on to new and loving homes that will care for and value them as she did. I purchased a book on fruit and vegetable preserving and a book on bread making - something I need quite a bit of help with. Fayme got some beautiful fabric as well as some sewing, gardening, and cooking books. Some people believe that a person is never truly gone so long as their memory is held in someone's heart. If that is the case, Mistress Huette's memory is in for a very long run as folks use and love her items.

A high point of the day for me was a surprise visit from Gary and Michael. They were very heavily involved with the SCA for a number of years but have not been participating of late as other activities take their time. Gary is a leather worker of no small talent and I've been nudging him to get out his tools to make some items for me to carry. He's currently busy with learning a new job as he prepares to retire from his first job, but I have a feeling that he's weakening and I'll eventually have some wonderful leather quivers and other parts available for sale.

Happy Archery!

Postcript...
I have been asked if there are any pictures from the day. I don't normally get a chance to take pictures due to being too busy. But Fayme frequently takes more than a couple and posts them on her Flickr:
SCA Medieval Marketplace with neovictorian

Thanks!

Robin Hood and the White Arrow

So last Friday night we did something that I haven’t done in quite a long time…
We went to a play!

Let me back up a little.
A few days earlier I had emailed a friend of mine a happy 236th birthday for the USMC. Erik is a Marine who’s given his country some pretty good service over the years. Like many of today’s service men and women, he has a number of Middle East tours under his belt. These deployments have taken him away from his wife and two young children but he’s done the job with honor and courage and I’m proud to call him friend.
Anyway, Erik emailed me back to thank me for the birthday wishes and told me that he was in a play at the Rose Center Theater in Westminster, CA. The play was a musical called Robin Hood and the White Arrow. That sounded pretty good so Fayme and I started looking at our schedule and the show dates. Suddenly, Erik emailed me and asked me to call him, immediately. I did, we chatted for a bit, he asked me to do something, I agreed, and we decided to go see the play this past Friday evening.

Wow, talk about a good time!
Robin Hood and the White Arrow is a musical and we just enjoyed the hell out of it. The story follows much of the Robin Hood legend as we usually know it but goes into a unique direction that made for a very good story of the legendary hero and his followers.
There are some seriously good talents in this play and I was blown away at the strength of their voices.
Best of all, I got to see my White Arrow used in the play, and a noble part it had.
That’s what Erik had asked of me, can I make them a good white arrow? They opened the play with one of his personal arrows simply spray painted white. Then he suddenly thought of where he could get a white arrow made specifically for their purposes. I was happy and honored to do it.

Sorry, no pictures from the play itself. You'll just have to go see it for yourself. Trust me, you won't be sorry.

Thanks, Erik!