More yew questions!

[Lee Lobbestael]

Ok so I got my yew billets spliced and glued with a v splice and 2ton epoxy. the pieces fit fairly well. Not perfect but I hope they will work. Added a 3/8" dowel through the splice for insurance.

while working the back down to 1/8" of sap wood I did create one tiny island of heart wood on one limb. Should I wrap this with sinew or will it be fine?

Also there is some twist to the stave that I will need to remove. Does yew respond well to direct heat like from a heat gun? or would I be better off steaming it or something?

[Bryce]

Leave the twist, back with rawhide.

[Lee Lobbestael]

Back the whole bow with rawhide because of a small island of heartwood? I would rather wrap this spot with sinew if necessary. It is a pea sized spot

[Bryce]

You cant tiller with sinew wrapped around it. Probably should have left more sapwood on.
And yes back the whole bow, better safe then sorry.
If there where pics we could give you a better diagnosis.

[Weylin]

You can tiller with sinew wrapped around it.

I'm assuming that you meant to say 'can't'. Not trying to be a smartass, I just wanted to make sure he didn't misunderstand what you were saying. If it was my bow I'd probably back it with rawhide as well. I'd sure hate to break a nice piece of yew. Some people back their yew bows with rawhide as a matter of course. Protects the soft sapwood from dings in the field.

[Del the cat]

It all depends why there's an island of heart wood.
I had one stave where the heartwood came up through the sap as a rige. I just left it alone as there was plenty of sapwood either side. It became a fine bow I christened it 'Ridgeback'
If it's just just 'cos you took off too much sapwood then you are better off patching it or backing it. I've added thin sap wood patches (4" long and pretty thin) over knots and such like, they can be blended it ok.
Here's a link to one of the early posts showing how the heart/sap runs on Ridgeback.
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/weird-heartsap-boundary-emails.html
You can follow through the whole build along, there was also some sideways bend happening at one point along the way so it's worth following it from start to finish.
I'd still urge you to err on the side of caution, I'm just pointing out that it's not always straight forward.
Pics would help, decent back and side views where the island is.
Del

[Lee Lobbestael]

Ok thanks guys. a patch of paper bag to hold it while tillering and then a sinew wrap after wouldn't do the trick? I just love the looks of an unbacked yew bow and would like to avoid covering it up

[WillS]

I just love the looks of an unbacked yew bow and would like to avoid covering it up

One of the things I quickly learned when I started making bows was that you hardly ever get a bow looking the way you wanted when you first start it. 

It's so much better to end up with a working bow, as it will last far longer and see you through much more, than if it looked nice but had a weak area.  If it needs sinew wraps, or complete backings to turn it from a pretty wallhanger into a fast, powerful working longbow, then let it speak to you and give it what it wants.  Also, you'll start to love the little "ugly" bits you end up with, as they become "character."  Knots, sinew wraps, patches... they are the reason we spend so long making self-bows, rather than having perfect, clean fiberglass type creations.

You might end up with a beautiful yew longbow at some point, with flawless sapwood, knot-free, dead straight profile and so on, but you'll probably shoot the character bows more often 

[dwardo]

Lets have some pictures. 

[Lee Lobbestael]

Thanks guys I will try to get pics tonight. Would like to know more about the sapwood patch Del. Also Bryce why leave the twist in? It is fairly severe. Will it correct itself during tillering?

[Keenan]

Yew will respond well to dry heat but it needs to be slow deep heat! also be sure to take it a little bit past what you want to end up with. Most people that are used to heating Osage are not used to the amount of spring back that yew has.

[Del the cat]

Thanks guys I will try to get pics tonight. Would like to know more about the sapwood patch Del. Also Bryce why leave the twist in? It is fairly severe. Will it correct itself during tillering?

Pic of sapwood patch ready to go on here.
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/2nd-stage-of-repair-and-dilemma.html
Also see this post and the subsequent one where I fill a knot which comes up through the sapwood and patch over it.
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/knot-work.html
Trawl through my blog there is plenty of useful stuff there. The main reason I do it is to provide this sort of info and as an aide memoire to me
Del

[Bryce]

Yes weylin I meant cant*** lol stupid auto correct

[Bryce]

Thanks guys I will try to get pics tonight. Would like to know more about the sapwood patch Del. Also Bryce why leave the twist in? It is fairly severe. Will it correct itself during tillering?

Bc the twist isn't really a problem other than aesthetics.  Check out dels twisted yew bow on his blog. Weylin also made a beautiful twisted yew.... Last year? And that was one heck of a bow.
Twist in yew is difficult to take out. You can try and tiller some of it out. But I usually just accept it.

[Del the cat]

Thanks guys I will try to get pics tonight. Would like to know more about the sapwood patch Del. Also Bryce why leave the twist in? It is fairly severe. Will it correct itself during tillering?

Bc the twist isn't really a problem other than aesthetics.  Check out dels twisted yew bow on his blog. Weylin also made a beautiful twisted yew.... Last year? And that was one heck of a bow.
Twist in yew is difficult to take out. You can try and tiller some of it out. But I usually just accept it.

Yup, here's the link to 'Twister'
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,28324.0.html
Tillering needs some care and the tips need leaving wide to allow string line adjustment to compensate for the twist. That's still my 'go to' bow.
Del