Is this yew any good?

[woodenwonder]

I just got this yew stave from a wood dealer on ebay. It’s my first yew stave and I didn’t spend too much, and I wasn’t expecting a lot. It dose has a high ring count (over 40 rpi) but a lot of knots as well. Like the one at 43" from the end.

I’m not afraid of a good challenge, but I was wondering if this is too knotty? And should I ask the seller for a refund?

If the consensus is it a bad stave, I will ask the seller for a refund, if not, I will try to make a lightweight bow out of it.

What do you all think?
 
Gary

[YewArcher]

Whats the over all diminsions on that stave? Lenght, width, depth and sap wood diminsion?

[adb]

Looks to me like you have your work cut out for you!! You've got knots all right, and big ones. Looks like you'll have to do some heat correction as well. Go for it... if the wood was cheap. You'll probably learn a lot along the way.

[woodenwonder]

It measures about 1 3/4" w. x 1 1/2" thick at the "0" end, and about 2 1/4" w. x 1 3/4" t. at the end at 72". The knot at the 3" mark goes all the way through, I would have to cut it short and make a 68 or 69" bow. That would put the major knot about 5" above(or below) dead center. It seemed like the sapwood was about 1/2" thick.

[YewArcher]

Have you made any other bows yet?

[uhu]

Hi Woodenwonder,

this yew ist not bad at all. It might be very tricky in working on. You should confess your experience in working on yew to yewarcher. If it is not that great, you should lay this stave aside for a couple of yewbows and start with easier ones.

If you are experienced enough, you could achieve a very rare and knotty specimen with a lot of character. I think a drawweight of 50 - 60# might be well o.k.

The outline could be elb medieval style bending in the Hand, so that the length of 69" won`t matter too much at a drawlength of 27 - 28".

If it was my stave, I would not cut it instant.
I would rough it out, steam bend it even and after drying then begin to take away flakes from the belly till it comes around in compass by floortillering.

I would choose a centered handle section an the limb with the knot in der tip could be the lower one. When it comes out, that the knot is too weak, you could change the center to 1 1/2" to the top section and can awoid the knot by shortening within another 1 1/2" either on top and down.

You could think for a durchman either. Drilling the knot out and gluing in a dowel might be well ok.

So you don`t have to risk length in the beginning, and changes in Tiller will be neglectable, that way too.
If the knot figures out as harmless, you have saved 3" of length, that will perhaps be precious for durability.

Good luck and enjoy your stave

uhu

[woodenwonder]

Thanks for your replies.
I'm working on my 5th bow attempt right now. Two of them were from staves. One broke and the other turned out too weak. But I've learned a lot, and I know a lot about wood working.
By "cheap" I mean this stave was about $70 with shipping. So, it wasn't "cheap cheap."
Is there anything special about steaming yew?

Gary

[YewArcher]

uhu gives good advise.

I do not think its a bad piece of yew by the looks of the pics. However it does lok chalenging for a beginer. Biggest reasons being the knots and the depth of the sap wood. 1/2" of sap wood is a bot much for a 50-60# bow.....meaning that by the time you tiller it the majority of your outer 1/2 of the limbs will be sap wood (moare or less). meaning that you should probably chase that ap wood down to about 3/8" ormaybe a tad less. Lost will say that you do not need to have a pristine ring on the back of a yew bow and I would agree to an extent. On the bows that I chase it is very hard to get a 100% single ring, so I shoot for about 85-90% of the back being consistant with a few run throughs. This is acceptable in yew.

70$ to me does not seem like a cheap stave. It would be my inclination to say set it aside but then again being challenged is how you learn this fine art.

You can get a nice bow out of it no doubt. Post up some pics of your progress and we can help you on your way.

SJM

[woodenwonder]

YewArcher thanks for the advice. I will set it aside for now. I have a couple bows ahead of it anyway.

When I get started, I post my progress and get you'all help.

Gary

[shamus]

40 RPI is good. Is there any discoloration in the sapwood? Bluish streaks, things like that? Is there a CLEAR demarcation between the sap and heartwood?

The stave has been sawed out, so the grain may have not been followed. The color also seems a bit light, but that could be the picture.

Like I said, the stave has been sawed out and you haven’t any extra wood to "flow" around the knots as you lay the bow out. Knots can be negotiated around and compensated for when you have the wood to do it. The guy who sent you the stave cut all the extra wood off. Not good. 

Yew takes heat pretty well. I'd use steam over dry heat only because it's harder to bugger things up with steam. 30 minutes of steaming per 1" thickness…stick to bending the handle and tips if possible. Heat once, bend once. If it needs  second bend, heat it again.

More thoughts on yew: http://analogperiphery.blogspot.com/2008/06/evaluating-yew-wood.html