yet another yew war bow

[Pat B]

I have a primo yew stave that James Parker gave me in trade for some locust I had. The stave was sawn out but the grain looks quite straight. It is 72" long, 1 7/8" wide, the sap wood is 3/16" thick under the bark and the ring count is, from what I can count, about 35rpi. There is one 1/4" knot along one edge about 3" from one end and it looks like it goes towards the center so it is a concern. There are about 5 other knots but they are all towards the center of the stave and I can deal with them.
   I have remover the bark but violated a ring or so  because the back undulates a bit around the knots. Should I worry about these ring violations and raw hide back the stave? or does a few violations matter with yew.
   I want this to be a somewhat heavy bow, 80# to 90# or a bit less even. I need to know what width to make it and should the handle be centered on the stave or offset a bit? and should it taper straight from the handle to the tips?
   I'm planning on taking my time with this bow because I don't want to screw up this beautiful stave and I plan on gifting it back to James probably at the end of May so any and all help would be appreciated.  I have made an ELB style bow with osage(BOM earlier last year) but this one will be of the war bow style...like JD's war bow...just not as heavy.     Pat

[tom sawyer]

I'm no expert on this but I've talked with an expert at some length.  He is in the Bowyers Guild and makes and shoots yew ELB war bows.  He says it is no big deal to violate a sapwood ring.  I think he puts his handle 1or2" lower than center but can't remember for sure.

[Pat B]

Thanks Lennie. With these thin rings and the undulating back it's almost impossible to not violate a ring or 2.    Pat

[episaacs]

Pat, I've just bought a nice AAA yew stave from Dave Robertson and have been researching just that same question.  From reading posts on just about all the trad archery sites I can find, it seems that you can ignore the ring violations in yew, especially with a high ring count.  Hope this helps
Ed

[Dano]

You can ignore the violations, but in the long run a rawhide back is good insurance. Yew has very soft sapwood as you will find and if it gets dinged it could blow. Personally I don't think it's worth taking a chance. That's the only help I can offer Pat. Good luck to ya.

[duffontap]

Hey Pat,

Slight ring violations are fine in Yew of moderate quality.  Very high quality Yew can handle pretty serious violations, tool marks, mistakes, etc.--far beyond what you've got.  If it does break, Yew won't lift a splinter, it will explode.  If you've ever broken a Yew bow or even a scrap, it makes you think about safety glasses.  Pip Bickerstaffe told me he broke a war bow on the tillering tree a couple weeks ago at 130# @ 32 and you could put every piece of the exploded bow in a paper bag!  Yikes. 

If you're going for the war bow style, read the section on my Mary Rose post about "Laying out the Bow."  War bows have an unusual taper and mass placement.  They remain almost a constant width for the middle 40" or so and then taper more and more quickly to 1/2" tips.  The tips should be no more than 1/2" and perfectly round.  I'm working on a 150# war bow for someone right now and my father-in-law picked it up and said, 'you think those tips will hold?'  175 Mary Rose bows can't be wrong!

Here's the page you would need to view:
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,863.60.html

Keep us posted Pat. 

          J. D. Duff

[Pat B]

Thanks everyone. I feel better about violating the sapwood. And thanks Josh. I will use your Mary Rose post for referance. I'm looking forward to this experience. Yew is totally differant from what I'm used to so it ought to be interesting.  And Josh, I did have an ERC ELB blow at full draw a few years ago. That was quite exciting!   to say the least.    Later,   Pat

[mamba]

80 OR 90# -----Pat have you been lifting weights or eating Weaties?

[Pat B]

Ray, I sure won't be shooting this bow. I have a hard time with half that weight. LOL  The guy I'm gonna give it to should be able to pull it.    Pat

[Little John]

Good luck Pat, looking forward to seeing this bow .     Kenneth

[Pat B]

Thanks Kenneth. I'm gonna take this one "slow and easy" for sure.      Pat

[Hillbilly]

Looking forward to seeing it. 90#!!- whatcha tryin' to do, make a bow that you can shoot at me across Cold Mountain with?
 

[Coo-wah-chobee]

 I'll be interested to watch this-have only built one yew bow and nothing like what you are planning...........................

[Pat B]

I've been working slowly on this yew bow. Finally have it bending a bit. With a tight tiller string it is at 75#@18"(about brace height). The top limb(left) is still a bit stiff but even with plenty of exercising between wood removal the bend doesn't seem to register.  I will probably settle on 100# or a bit less when done but I won't be able to shoot it. I will probably have to build a bracing jig to get it braced.
   Here are a few pics:

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[Hillbilly]

Looking good so far, but you may have to hook the tillering rope to your truck bumper before long........