About Me
My name is Oliver Lewis and I love all things archery.
I live in the beautiful hills of South Shropshire with my wife and son, who also enjoy the wonders of archery.
I first fell in love with the sport as a young boy in scouts, although I didn't pick up a bow again until my early 20's, I never lost the passion. I returned to the sport shooting Olympic recurve at a local club in south Shropshire. I later became heavily involved in various other roles within the club including; lead coach, events organiser, treasurer and chairman. Unfortunately, the pandemic of 2020 saw our club come to an end. As one chapter closed, another opened when I joined Bowbrook Archers where I found my love for field and 3D archery. I was obsessed from the second I stepped out of the car. I bought my first traditional bow and wooden arrows - the rest is history. I currently shoot my KG Ospray as my field bow, and use my Gary Evans longbow for target and clout as I no longer own an Olympic recurve.
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The Story of Hemlock Archery
I first came across hemlock arrow shafts in a local archery shop. Having never heard of hemlock before, I thought I would give them a go and I never looked back!
This set turned out to be a one off, as the supplier was no longer able to source them. For me, this wasn't an option. I set out on a mission to find some more across the UK market.
Unable to find any, I decided to find a supply of sawn hemlock lumber and make my own arrow shafts.
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I eventually found a supply of high grade, sustainably sourced, Western Hemlock good enough to make quality arrows from. Then came the small matter of turning square blocks of wood, into something that could perform as well as, or better than anything I could buy from an archery shop.
Having some experience in arrow making and a passion for wood work, I thought, 'how hard could it be?'
Job number one; making square wood round. It was soon made apparent that without a pricey dowel milling machine, getting perfectly clean shafts at multiple different exact sizes, is really quite difficult.
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It took about 6 months of hard work and a small fortune, but eventually, I had some success! The device I had designed to dowel the wood was finally, consistently producing 11/32, 5/16 and 1/4 inch shafts with relative ease and clean results. Something I had not anticipated was how many arrows I would need to produce just to get a dozen arrows at the exact spine, grain and grade I needed. Having shown the arrows to some local archers, I unexpectedly started taking orders. I got such satisfaction from doing this and seeing people using something I had produced. I decided to take my new found hobbies to the next level.
What We Stand For
At Hemlock Archery, I pride myself in quality as well as my design. It's one thing looking good, but more than anything, they need to shoot well.
My aim is to give a new look to traditional archery. Although I am happy to keep to the traditional styles, what I really pride myself in is bold and distinctive designs that are easy to see and easy to recognise. All my arrows are made from high grade Western hemlock fir, I turn and hand craft all my arrows from plank to target.
My main products are arrows, however, Hemlock Archery is about more than just arrows. I have a real passion for woodworking and love making a whole range of products such as; ground scrapers, string jigs, medals, trophies, shooting sticks and bow racks. I am constantly working on new products, and have some really exciting plans for the future so be sure to stay tuned.
