Woodpecker holes in Yew

[Weylin]

I'm working on a new yew bow and it has one or two woodpecker holes in one limb.  I'm wondering if anyone has made an unbacked bow like this and had it survive. I know yew can handle a lot of anomalies on the back that other woods can't but maybe this is too much. I could go down past them if I needed without a lot of trouble. They aren't very deep. But the character that they add is pretty cool. What do you all think?

[soy]

Oh my!!!!!! That would look cool.....

[mikekeswick]

Are +you sure they are woodpecker holes? Was it dead standing wood? Woodpeckers will not try to make their nest unless the tree is already dead or diseased. Softer wood.

[Del the cat]

I'd say the sapwood is worse than useless. Rip it off on a bandsaw and back it with something.
The advantage of that is you will get an idea of what the heartwood beneath looks like.
I made the mistake of trying to make an ELB with Yew with some tiny bug holes in it.... BANG.
You can always paint the patern on...
Del

[Bryce]

The darn sap suckers! Those young peckers well peck at anything.

Weylin, I know a guy in Alberta who builds yew bows for a livin. I was talking to him one evening about a yew bow he had made that was nothing but woodpecker holes. He covered the back with ca glue and burnished it with an antler tine.
I would say give is a shot. If it doesn't work out. Hey! Yah got more wood jack.

If it comes down to it I'll be glad to take it off your hands 

[BowSlayer]

The darn sap suckers! Those young peckers well peck at anything.

Weylin, I know a guy in Alberta who builds yew bows for a livin. I was talking to him one evening about a yew bow he had made that was nothing but woodpecker holes. He covered the back with ca glue and burnished it with an antler tine.
I would say give is a shot. If it doesn't work out. Hey! Yah got more wood jack.

If it comes down to it I'll be glad to take it off your hands 

Burnished?

[dwardo]

I would clean it up some more and give it a sand. They only drill far enough to get at the sap so they shouldnt be too deep.

Worst case maybe just chase a ring or so to remove them, well as best as you can anyway.

[steelslinger]

I have one stave that has some damage like that, I will have to watch this one close.

[Weylin]

Thanks for all the replies. To be clear, they are sapsucker holes which only go down through a growth ring or two, I'm confident that the vast majority of the sapwood is sound. I cut the tree myself and I'm sure it was living, it wasn't a bird trying to make a nest.

Thanks for the anecdote, Bryce. That was the sort of thing I wanted to hear.


Del, I appreciate your caution and a healthy part of me shares it. I wonder though if the woodpecker holes are a bit different in nature than the bug damage which I assume happened after the tree was dead. With the woodpecker holes the tree was alive and therefore had the opportunity to heal around them somewhat. That, of course, could just be wishful thinking on my part but it sounds nice.

[mullet]

Weylin, I'd go for it, too. I don't think I'd cover the whole back of the bow with CA glue but I'd at least soak some of the thin super glue in each hole.

[Dan K]

My wife's bow is full of the same and shoots great. Lower draw weight though so not as much risk. I cleans it up and CA'd all the questionable damage, sanded to a 0000 steel wool and tru oil'd it. Turned out beautiful. If you lose it, there's more staves available. What dimensions and style are you thinking?

[adb]

Dirty little peckers ruinin' that yew! I'd take it off. Worth the effort.

[Dan K]

Oh yeah, get in with a pick and small file to clean out the cadmium. On mine, a lot of the wholes had heals over and were little dimples when I was done. Your a good bowyer, keep working it and go with your gut. Just remember I may be shooting that thing some day!

[adb]

There's cadmium in yew? I didn't know yew was rich in cadmium. It must be an awfully heavy stave! 

[Don Case]

Those young peckers well peck at anything.

Ah! The good old days, I remember them well!
(I couldn't pass it up)


Don