Knots on a bow's back

[ajbruggink]

Hey guys,

I managed to lick the problems from my last post on the bow I'm working on thanks to your help but now I have a question about what I should do with a knot on the back. Half of me is telling me to just leave it, yew's strong enough to take it and there's a fair amount of wood surrounding it to reinforce it and the other half is contemplating a rawhide backing. I hope you can see the picture well. Your replies are greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
Aaron

[Pat B]

Aaron, if the rings are not violated at the knot you should be OK.  Rawhide backing is an option for insurance. Without seeing the stave in person it is hard to say for sure.

[BOWMAN53]

if anything, not following the grain around the knot better is a bigger issue than the knot itself.

[Del the cat]

That should be fine.
I'd look to see where it comes out on the belly. Pick out any loose unsound material and plug the belly.
On the back just leave the flow of the grain, you have plenty of good sapwood still to take the load.
If it worries you, then you can rasp out a shallow dip a bout 4" long and glue on a patch of sapwood from an offcut of yew. If you do this clean out any manky material and fill the hole with yew dust/epoxy mix first.
Here's an example :-
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/back-patch-and-tip-tidy.html
Del

[ajbruggink]

Thank you for the replies, now that I think about it its not that big of a deal.