Yew. (I think) YEAHHH!!!!

[WillS]

One thing that might be worth mentioning - the sapwood in the picture is really thick, so will definitely have to be reduced.  May be worth finding whatever you can to practice on before you do it on the actual stave.  It's not great quality yew, very coarse as BH mentioned so when chasing rings you will ideally want to follow one ring to avoid seeing the contrasting rings.

[WillS]

Edit - the reason I say it's best to follow one ring in this case is also down to tensile strength.  On most yew of higher density it's not too much of an issue as the rings are so close together that there's no problem.  But with yew this coarse any drastic violations might be a reason for failure so practice as much as you can on other woods (or find a way of chopping off bits you won't need and practicing on them)

[BowSlayer]

Wait a minute there youngling...what if we are all wrong?.. ...what if we all conspired to tell ya a big lie? ...how wood that make ya feel? 

yeah right.

Edit - the reason I say it's best to follow one ring in this case is also down to tensile strength.  On most yew of higher density it's not too much of an issue as the rings are so close together that there's no problem.  But with yew this coarse any drastic violations might be a reason for failure so practice as much as you can on other woods (or find a way of chopping off bits you won't need and practicing on them)

yeah i also plan on cuting some scraps of yew  with similar RPI to practice following rings.  thanks fo the great advice.

EDIT: when i go to cut some more i plan on taking a bandana to stop me inhaling the dust as i now have the sniffles im also taking refreshments as it is really warm here.

[Joec123able]

Lucky yew !

[Bryce]

Wait a minute there youngling...what if we are all wrong?.. ...what if we all conspired to tell ya a big lie? ...how wood that make ya feel? 

yeah right.

 

[BowSlayer]

Lucky yew !

Loving the Pun!

[adb]

Yes, indeedie... that's yew, but you have your work cut out for you getting a bow outta either one of those staves. Given your current skill level, you might wanna look for something bigger.

[BowSlayer]

Yes, indeedie... that's yew, but you have your work cut out for you getting a bow outta either one of those staves. Given your current skill level, you might wanna look for something bigger.

Well the staves still need time to season and del has offered to give me a stave and teach me how to rough out and splice billits. and I also plan to get some better wood tomorrow.  If I get a decent piece I might experiment and rough one out to near bow dimensions so that it can dry quicker.  Now before everyone jumps on me for that there is so much yew it is just an experiment, and if I do get a bow out of it then great. 

[Thesquirrelslinger]

How bout you send a piece over here and we learn together how to make a yew bow, slayer

[BowSlayer]

Yeah I am sending you a piece in our trade

[Del the cat]

With a piece like that, you can just chop away the excess from what is going to be the back, that will help it season. Also it will provide a weak point for any drying cracks to run out to. E.G the cracks radiate out from the centre on the easiest path, so if you have chopped away most of one half the cracks will go that way, leaving the other side good.
That may not make a longbow, but it woll make a nice primitive with the belly looking like a sandwich of sapwood with a filling of heart wood.
E.G. Basically half a log with the back left untouched or with rewduced sapwood. Nice and wide across a flat belly which has sapwood edges and a heart wood centre.
Sort of thing you can rough out with an axe or bandsaw quite quickly. It's the reducing the back in a sensitive manner that takes the time.
A Yew bow of that shape will be quick 
Del