The arts and crafts of bow-making and arrow-making are alive and well. If anything, they have grown in quality and quantity in the 30 years I have been involved in archery. I, like most of the other bowyers I know, learned in relative isolation with very little printed information available. After a few successful bows, I was lucky enough to find a copy of James Duff’s 1932 classic Bows and Arrows which explains the English Longbow in great detail.
After making a couple dozen bows of various styles, I began to make arrows and realized that this is where the real magic happens. A bow is simply a leaf spring that stores energy applied slowly by the archer and (hopefully) returns that energy very quickly to launch an arrow. On the other hand, an arrow is a work of art and craftsmanship that undergoes tremendous force during acceleration and should be able to survive the trauma of slamming into a target at speeds approaching 200 feet per second (135 mph or 220 km/hr). On top of this, a good arrow must have some weather-proof qualities to handle massive temperature fluctuation, damp grass, heat, sun, and possibly rain.
I mention this because to many people I speak to just getting interested in archery, that to make a bow is the holy grail of primitive technology. For me, it is that creation of a matched set of 12-24 arrows that work well for me and my bow and will hold up under hard use. Yes, there is something cool in making a great bow, but building a good arrow is far more important.
On that ramble, here are a couple of good links I recently stumbled across on the internet.
Bow Explosion is a German website from a bowyer working in the Black Forest with and interest in flight shooting.
Ashbow has an excellent Picasa Web Album documenting some excellent archery and other primitive technology skills.
And I cannot say enough good about the ATARNnet. The forum of the Asian Traditional Archery Network. There is a load of great information there about Asiatic archery, from Scythia to Japan and everything in between.
Preindustrial Craftsmanship 
Nice Post
I never thought of it that way. I make hundreds of hand grafted arrows but stand in awe of people who make hand built longbows. I think that mutual respect for the two chief components of archery and the people who make them is another great thing about it.
Ah, the arrows are the real art. The bow is just a simple machine but the arrows are the art. I’d love to see some arrows.