Del's Character Yew ELB

[Del the cat]

I got the bow finished, a few tricky moments with splits and cracks, but I've shot over 100 arrows through it taking the arrow right to the tip of the pile. It's 71" ntn and measured 44# @ 28". It took a whisker of string follow after a mornings shooting but recovered to a bit of natural reflex/backset.
The English Yew stave was given to me by one of my friends, it had apparently been lying in a barn for 8 years, it had been split from a log, and it was very narrow in places with splits and cracks running into the wood. First shot at full draw there was tic  and a small crack opened up on the corner of side/back... it was at a very shallow angle and more of a splinter than a serious crack. I flexed the bow, flooded it with low viscosity CA, clamped it and left it 24hrs... whew, it was fine .
The grip had a huge bulge on the back and was slightly concave across the width, I built it up with leather and glue which was rasped to shape before the black leather grip (from an old motorcycle jacket) was added.
Del

[Dances with squirrels]

Perfect. Challenging. One of a kind. My favorite kind of bow.

[bjrogg]

Yew just broke all the rules with that one Mr Cat. Very impressive and it certainly is a beautiful bow.

Bjrogg

[simson]

yeeew, that's a stick.  Oh no, a boa constrictor is coming out of the bush (2. pic).
Super work, Del. Congrats, that bow is a looker for sure.

Any chance for mor pics?

[Del the cat]

yeeew, that's a stick.  Oh no, a boa constrictor is coming out of the bush (2. pic).
Super work, Del. Congrats, that bow is a looker for sure.

Any chance for mor pics?

Cheers, yes I'll get some more pics when the sun isn't quite so bright... it's tricky to get good shots.
Ha! Sun has gone in
I'm not sure what the weird black mark is... looks a bit like a scorch mark, but I scraped into it a bit and it didn't feel crunchy...
Del

[Marc St Louis]

Looks pretty darn good, also looks like you had to fill in some knots.  Challenging piece of wood

[Hamish]

Yew beauty! Awesome.

[Stixnstones]

That thing just brought a smile to my face, just fantastic work on such a challenging stave. Awesome!

[bentstick54]

Now thats a bow. Not to many people would have seen a bow in that stave. Excellent job on your part.
Your fellow archers look like they have some doubt though as they’re standing back just in case LOL.

[gifford]

Now that was a challenging stave, excellent problem solving with the whoop-de-dos and fissures. Thanks for sharing the pics of this bow.

[rps3]

Now thats quite a bow. Thanks for sharing.

[Hawkdancer]

That is quite esoteric, to say the least!  A very interesting piece of talent!
Hawkdancer

[Parnell]

A real beauty, Del.  Really like the wiggle and full draw picture.

[PaSteve]

Very nicely done. Looks great Del.

[PeteC]

It's beautiful. Great job with a gnarly piece of yew. God Bless