Rune bow---full draw

[radius]

While my holmegaard is recovering from its day at the spa, i started working on a new one, straight up longbow style.  Last night, my buddy said he wants me to make a bow for his dad, with magic runes on it.  I said, "Okay, but magic runes are extra!"

Here's the start.  This is my first go at a bow like this...








this is fun!  At this point it is floor tillered, and i'm ready to sand it then get a string on there...

[Cromm]

Looking fine so far........

[radius]

hm...i've got it pulling a bit, but it torques in my hand because of the twist in the limb...gonna reduce it some more, then steam and change it...

[radius]

i had  a rune in mind for this bow, which i was sort of thinking about and picturing mentally while carving it.  On a break from the rasp, I googled runes and found the one i want.  Turns out, not only is it the first initial of my friend's dad (who's getting the bow) but it's meaning is Yew Tree.  Good medicine.

But the damn thing has a lot of twist!  The lower limb tip is turned about 90 degrees from the upper limb tip, so when i pull it it wants to turn.  I steamed it last night , but had a hard time getting the twist out of it.

What's the best way to remove twist?

thanks
radius

[George Tsoukalas]

I never had much luck either. I just learned how to deal with the twist. Which way is it twisting? Counteract the twist by removing wood from the other side of both limbs. Jawge

[radius]

ok Jawge, i'll give that a go...you see that line of knots down the back?  They're all good (minor nuisance) but just below the handle there's a big'un, and that's where it just veers off.  Should i remove wood from the opposite side of the knot area? 

Man, this yew is not easy!  Gonna be good, though!

[dragonman]

Good luck with that one!!! youre braver than me,

[radius]

ah, dude, board bows are definitely easier to tame...god i have a sloo of yew staves in the house, but not one is straight and knot free...yikes...lots of work, lots of work

[George Tsoukalas]

That is pretty severe on second thought. I once made a bow from a stave that twisted. Take your time. You can try to work with it like that. If it twists  to the left you can try to remove wood from the other or right side. Opposite of where it is twisting. It twists towards the weak side.  You won't take it all out. You may have more luck in removing the twist after getting the stave through floor tiller to make it thinner. I just saw you floor tillered it too. Do check the tiller from both sides. I think you said you wanted to make a longbow. Do you mean English longbow? I'd stick with a long flat bow. Sorry I can't help much from here. Jawge

[radius]

you think a flatbow would be more easier to work with, because of the twist?

[Adam Keiper]

The lighting in that pic makes it difficult to see how much twist there is.  But, to get the worst out, if you steam the whole stave for an hour and a half, you can pull it out and then QUICKLY clamp one end in a vise and then throw a big pipe wrench on the other.  Torque it like heck to straighten 'best you can, and use some rope to tie the pipe wrench off under stress.  You can do the same thing, too ,with dry heat, by working the limbs in sections and adding more torque as you go.  If it really has 90 degrees of twist, you're not going to get it all out, but you can probably get it to where it's manageable. 

[Marc St Louis]

Dry heat works well on Yew.  Just clamp the bow in a vise at the center and use a bar clamp at the tip.  Heat the wood and twist the bar clamp.  I think I wrote a tip on that in the latest issue of the magazine

[radius]

you mean like my 2' f-clamp?  that would have enough leverage, if i can make it stick...

[radius]

so Marc, that's dry heat with oil?  Is it safe to do that on a big knot?  Seems like it might make it brittle...the stave twists at a considerable knot...

[Marc St Louis]

Any type of clamp as long as you can apply a twisting motion to the wood.  Avoid heating areas that have knots especially big ones as they are resistant to heat bending.  No oil and heat slowly