Should I become a bow tech?

[Tim0712]

I’m sick of the constant run arounds from bow shops as well are all my buddies. I’ve been considering getting certified to just work on my own stuff and my buddies stuff. Has anyone done it before? I have buisness insurance as is so I’m not concerned with liability and all that jazz. I just want a place where I can work on my own and my friends bows and make them right not just some quick drop by tune from the shop next door. We all go to one really good archery shop now but it’s such a drive it’s almost not worth it. I found a YouTube on building your own bow press and I can litterally build the entire thing in an hour just with what I have on my steel rack. I already have a draw board chrono and paper tune set up. Just looking for advice from anyone who may have done the schooling for their personal use and not to actually be a commercial bow tech. Who knows maybe it could take off and turn into a good Saturday side gig out of the shed one day but for now it would solely be people I know

 

[MattMan81]

Why be certified then? What's the cost to get certified? Just because a guy is certified doesn't mean he is a good tech. I have worked with lots of "licensed" people who I wouldn't trust to replace a receptacle in my garage. Build the shop, and learn everything you can by practice and the tube.
I thought this as well, but the problem is when it's almost hunting season everyone and their brother will be running to you to get their stuff fixed. Do it for you and your buddies. Having strangers come in could be asking for headaches.

 

[Weldabeast]

Take the money u plan to spend on a shop and get a van.....mobile bow tec that's comes to to the customer. Better service comes at a premium price.

This just my opinion and it's easy to spend other peeps money.....hehehe
I'd pay more for someone to show up and work with me tuning my bow vs dropping it off and having it "tuned" for cheaper

I never understood how they can "tune" a bow without me being there to shoot it....seems u just paying them to get it "square" and within factory parameters but little to no attention paid to how the bow shoots when the owner is holding and shooting. I have had to adjust my bows every single time I've paid someone to "tune" it

 

[Tim0712]

Why be certified then? What's the cost to get certified? Just because a guy is certified doesn't mean he is a good tech. I have worked with lots of "licensed" people who I wouldn't trust to replace a receptacle in my garage. Build the shop, and learn everything you can by practice and the tube.
I thought this as well, but the problem is when it's almost hunting season everyone and their brother will be running to you to get their stuff fixed. Do it for you and your buddies. Having strangers come in could be asking for headaches.

I just want to take the courses to further my knowledge it just so happens to come with a certification. They’re not that bad can find them for under 300 up to around 600 there’s one called bow tune school and it’s 30 bucks a month until you’re completed or decide to stop and that’s probably what I’d do. I could care less about the actual paper at the end haha I certainly wouldn’t do it for anyone but me and my buddies for quite some time

 

[Tim0712]

Take the money u plan to spend on a shop and get a van.....mobile bow tec that's comes to to the customer. Better service comes at a premium price.

This just my opinion and it's easy to spend other peeps money.....hehehe
I'd pay more for someone to show up and work with me tuning my bow vs dropping it off and having it "tuned" for cheaper

I never understood how they can "tune" a bow without me being there to shoot it....seems u just paying them to get it "square" and within factory parameters but little to no attention paid to how the bow shoots when the owner is holding and shooting. I have had to adjust my bows every single time I've paid someone to "tune" it

That’s the whole point at hand. We can tune bows right because it would be my buddies coming over with everything. I shoot basically everyday which is the original desire to have more knowledge and a press and if I’m going to have it my friends and family may as well benefit from it as well. I don’t want a shop I don’t want to make it much of anything just have reliable service in my backyard. Like I said the whole taking a course would just be to further my knowledge so they’re not a trial and error factor with my friends epuipment. I know there’s not much to it but I’d feel better knowing I’ve been taught and took that extra step

 

[Nutterbuster]

If you like it, and you have the money to burn, sure. Buy a good press, vice, and chrony and build a paper tune board and take the classes. I've hoed that row before professionally and on advanced amateur level.

I'd sell Avon before I tried to make a buck off of it, but if you're doing it for the joy of it, go nuts.

 

[Halfstep]

The "ole neighborhood archery shop" can sure get blamed for a lot of things. The biggest problem that archery shops face is that the person they are trying to help can't shoot a bow worth a flip. And, unless a shop is going to spend countless hours retraining the person on how to shoot a bow properly, then the shop is stuck between a hard place and a rock.

Sure, there are shops that shouldn't be in business. It should be illegal for them to touch a bow. But the vast majority of shops can tune a bow pretty close considering who they have to work with.

As for shop equipment, my advice is to make sure that the "bow press" is of a good design. With so many different bow makes and models, some presses just won't work unless you have a bunch of different adapters. I have a Bow-a-Constrictor bow press and haven't run across a bow I couldn't press yet, including Xbows.

 

[Maverick1]

Learning and doing the work on your own equipment is one thing. Doing it for someone else is another thing entirely. While it may seem like a good idea - and probably can be in some cases - there will likely be some drawbacks when you start working on other peoples gear and equipment, whether they are friends, acquaintances, or complete strangers. (I mean, what could go wrong, right?!)

 

[TK161BOONER]

Take the money u plan to spend on a shop and get a van.....mobile bow tec that's comes to to the customer. Better service comes at a premium price.

This just my opinion and it's easy to spend other peeps money.....hehehe
I'd pay more for someone to show up and work with me tuning my bow vs dropping it off and having it "tuned" for cheaper

I never understood how they can "tune" a bow without me being there to shoot it....seems u just paying them to get it "square" and within factory parameters but little to no attention paid to how the bow shoots when the owner is holding and shooting. I have had to adjust my bows every single time I've paid someone to "tune" it

Seems like a good idea, but I want to see someone shooting a bow in the back of your van…for some reason I see uncle Rico chasing Napoleon dynamite around his van after a arrow is sent through his windshield

 

[Weldabeast]

How much u wanna bet I could shoot an arrow over them mountains

 

[enkriss]

As a second job or something to do when you retire sure. Otherwise no. You wont make much more than minimum wage.

Do your own work. If you like hunting it’s a lousy job to have. All your business will be during hunting season when the average Joe pulls their crap out of their closet.

 

[elk yinzer]

I have buisness insurance as is so I’m not concerned with liability and all that jazz.

Talk to your insurance dude or dudette before you just assume coverage for another business applies to anything and everything else you might try to monetize. You could possibly get yourself in a pickle there if you start dealing with the gen-ral public. Their rates are all calculated based on the activities you give them, and the fine print in your policy probably says if you do other stuff than that, you're on your own. That's all, I'm working, so that's where my head went.

The lack of good pro shops stinks. It's been hard for me to find anyone I trust, but I don't really enjoy working on my own stuff either. At the same time, people don't wanna pay what a couple hours of your time costs. Even if you wanna pay yourself minimum wage, you're gonna need to charge probably twice that to cover overhead. I see that in all the trades anymore. I wanna call a plumber, it costs $250 anymore just to get a one to pull into your driveway. It's about the last thing in the world I want to be doing, but at those rates, I'm finding a youtube solution. At least most work people need a bow press and that's a lot of investment for a guy just screwing around.

 

[kbetts]

As mentioned, be prepared for a rush the week before/during the season. I have a little knowledge, and enough people know about it, that it still happens at least once a year.

I slacked off with all of the new technology. Lots of chances to void warranties, etc. Not as bad when bows were $300-$600. Now everything is too expensive to bother......unless it's my own.

 

[thedutchtouch]

What is the point of getting certified? Do bow manufacturers only send certain parts to certified techs or something? Are you worried about bow warranty being denied if you're not certified? Does it enable you to do something that you currently can't? Will you charge your buddies for your time?(would you if you weren't certified?). And how much time/money does getting certified cost? Per manufacturer?

If it's not obvious, I am not sure what getting certified entails, but it seems like the only thing (other than being paid for your time or not) is parts access or warranty, you just have to weigh the need for said items or warranty claims against the distance to drive to the good shop you've already been going to, and make a dollars vs time decision that we can't really weigh in on for you.


All that said, I see no reason to not go ahead and build the bow press (with the accompanying build along thread or video for us of course), and start using it. If it were me, I would skip the certification, and just know that if I work on my bow the warranty is kaput. I'd be slightly more wary when it comes to working on friends gear. I would have the same expectation for any buddy that I helped that they understand/get it in writing upfront that they are aware of possible warranty voiding before accepting any money from them or touching their bows. I've known too many good friendships or family relationships to go sour over money or decisions that impacted future possible money. Every single one of them went into it with the mentality that "this relationship is too strong for money to cause a rift" and each time it ended up happening anyway, one within months, the others years or even decades later. Thankfully a few were repaired, but took over a decade and a terminal diagnosis for one of them to patch things up.

 

[bowhunthard88]

Classes will get you pointed in the right direction in respect to the basics of bow tuning. However, nothing trumps experience! You're gonna make some boo-boos lol, and as I'm sure you already know, tuning is kinda like the English language (for every rule, there is an exception)! Ask me how I know; I've been a tech, in a professional setting, since 2006... All that aside, if you have the capabilities and knowledge, shoot for the moon, you'll probably end up never wanting another human to touch your bow haha! Unfortunately, the more I learn and the better I get, I seem to work on less and less equipment for other [public] people; progression, additional responsibilities, and all that...

Any way you cut it, the warranty is probably a moot point. Most companies won't ship parts, except to a dealer of their brand, but you should be able to order parts through your dealer (if needed).

 

[Tim0712]

Classes will get you pointed in the right direction in respect to the basics of bow tuning. However, nothing trumps experience! You're gonna make some boo-boos lol, and as I'm sure you already know, tuning is kinda like the English language (for every rule, there is an exception)! Ask me how I know; I've been a tech, in a professional setting, since 2006... All that aside, if you have the capabilities and knowledge, shoot for the moon, you'll probably end up never wanting another human to touch your bow haha! Unfortunately, the more I learn and the better I get, I seem to work on less and less equipment for other [public] people; progression, additional responsibilities, and all that...

Any way you cut it, the warranty is probably a moot point. Most companies won't ship parts, except to a dealer of their brand, but you should be able to order parts through your dealer (if needed).

you confirmed pretty much what I was asking without going astray so thank you haha everyone else jumped to the me working on other peoples stuff and how it’s a bad idea. The bow tech course would be for me and my knowledge not for the certificate at the end. I don’t want to have anyone else work on my bow i do as much on my own as I can but with no press I can only get so far. When I say “friends” I don’t mean guys I know that I shoot 3d with once a week I’m referring to the group of guys I’ve grown up with since diapers and we all did everything together our entire lives haha. I also wouldn’t take a dime from any of them. When I made reference to one day Mayb it could be a side gig I was meaning 10+ years from now and of course on my own terms meaning no in season work haha

 

[Jammintree]

you confirmed pretty much what I was asking without going astray so thank you haha everyone else jumped to the me working on other peoples stuff and how it’s a bad idea. The bow tech course would be for me and my knowledge not for the certificate at the end. I don’t want to have anyone else work on my bow i do as much on my own as I can but with no press I can only get so far. When I say “friends” I don’t mean guys I know that I shoot 3d with once a week I’m referring to the group of guys I’ve grown up with since diapers and we all did everything together our entire lives haha. I also wouldn’t take a dime from any of them. When I made reference to one day Mayb it could be a side gig I was meaning 10+ years from now and of course on my own terms meaning no in season work haha

If you can buy and make tools and are willing to learn the mechanics of compounds and techniques for working on them the more power to ya. I’d say get after it ; there’s no way learning will hurt you.

 

[Halfstep]

you confirmed pretty much what I was asking without going astray so thank you haha everyone else jumped to the me working on other peoples stuff and how it’s a bad idea. The bow tech course would be for me and my knowledge not for the certificate at the end. I don’t want to have anyone else work on my bow i do as much on my own as I can but with no press I can only get so far. When I say “friends” I don’t mean guys I know that I shoot 3d with once a week I’m referring to the group of guys I’ve grown up with since diapers and we all did everything together our entire lives haha. I also wouldn’t take a dime from any of them. When I made reference to one day Mayb it could be a side gig I was meaning 10+ years from now and of course on my own terms meaning no in season work haha

At one time, many years ago, I too decided to work on my own bows. I live way out in the country, and it was a major inconvenience to run back and forth. Plus, the local shop was very limited on the type of work they could perform and that also pushed me into doing my own work. I built myself a bow press. I had a buddy build me a string jig. I had already bought a Bitzenburger and an arrow scale. I also bought a chronograph. I built a paper tuner and collected a lot of tools needed for the trade. One thing leads to another and...

Next thing you know, all my buddies and their buddies have learned to bring their stuff to me. I've spent a lot of time and money on bows and bow equipment over the years. I have a personal shop that is better equipped than any pro-shop you will go to. And I am not rich, just collected and built over many years.

What you have in mind is one thing, but what really happens in reality is another. There is no need to take a "bow-tech" course. If you wanted to take a course that is actually useful, take an archery coaching course. You will find that when "fixing" most tuning problems, that the biggest problem is the person behind the bow.

Since I am a lefty, I acquired a hooter shooter as a tool to help me with setting up and tuning right-handed bows. This one piece of equipment opened my eyes to the many tuning problems I encountered and dealt with over the years but couldn't really prove it. Being able to set up and tune a bow accurately before introducing the bad habits of the shooter can be very useful. Just have the ability to nock-tune arrows makes the hooter shooter a tool worth having. Being able to cycle thru different brands of arrows is nice because carbon arrows vary greatly in shooting consistency.

 

[10essee]

I do all my own , I do my friends work and will volunteer to help anyone because I love to tinker. There’s some satisfaction that comes with being about to do your own. I will even unbolt my press and bring it to their house if needed. Never regretted offering to anyone.
@Weldabeast let me know when those strings come in for yours.

 

[raisins]

What is the point of getting certified? Do bow manufacturers only send certain parts to certified techs or something? Are you worried about bow warranty being denied if you're not certified? Does it enable you to do something that you currently can't? Will you charge your buddies for your time?(would you if you weren't certified?). And how much time/money does getting certified cost? Per manufacturer?

If it's not obvious, I am not sure what getting certified entails, but it seems like the only thing (other than being paid for your time or not) is parts access or warranty, you just have to weigh the need for said items or warranty claims against the distance to drive to the good shop you've already been going to, and make a dollars vs time decision that we can't really weigh in on for you.


All that said, I see no reason to not go ahead and build the bow press (with the accompanying build along thread or video for us of course), and start using it. If it were me, I would skip the certification, and just know that if I work on my bow the warranty is kaput. I'd be slightly more wary when it comes to working on friends gear. I would have the same expectation for any buddy that I helped that they understand/get it in writing upfront that they are aware of possible warranty voiding before accepting any money from them or touching their bows. I've known too many good friendships or family relationships to go sour over money or decisions that impacted future possible money. Every single one of them went into it with the mentality that "this relationship is too strong for money to cause a rift" and each time it ended up happening anyway, one within months, the others years or even decades later. Thankfully a few were repaired, but took over a decade and a terminal diagnosis for one of them to patch things up.

A lot of them only send certain parts to dealers….not sure if certified techs can get parts too

I had to beg Bowtech to ship direct to me cam cable stops because 2 local shops wouldn’t order because I do my own work and so they don’t make money off it

I think if bow shops were more lucrative that we’d see nicer behavior on average