Yew Bow Help

[Pat B]

With the bevel down you will have better control with your drawknife.     Pat

[bigcountry]

With the bevel down you will have better control with your drawknife.     Pat

Oh yea, I always use the bevel down on any wood.  But here's what I notice at least my yew stave.  Never seen this on hickory or osage.  When it cuts in, it acts like a wedge (like when splitting a stave) and instead of cutting the yew after 1/4", it lifts up thru the grain wood in front of it and causes problems. Kinda like my yew is very dry or splits easy.  Maybe my drawknife is too thick.  Just never worked with wood like this. 

I have patience.  just trying to find the right tool for the job.  Looks like I am stuck to rasping.

[YewArcher]

Big,

LOL.....as a bowyer you will spend more time rasping then doing anything else. Embrace it, love it and become one with the rasp.   

With a 49 and 50 you can take a bow from 1/4 splt to just about finished. Allot of guys do just that becase they do not have bandsaws. You will be amazed at how much wood you can remove with a #49.

SJM

[bigcountry]

Little update.  I have rasped and rasped until I can't rasp anymore.  I got the profile, thined the sapwood, and rounded the belly.  Starting to bend a tad.  I haven't put a long tiller string on yet.  But I came across this.  I dug at it, and couldn't believe the hole. 

Should I fill it it with super glue and saw dust?  Or just fill it with superglue.  Its in a critical place.  Right above handle area into fades.  This bow with have a semi working handle.



Here is the "back" where this hole comes out.

[bigcountry]

Had some ugly knots.  I just gave them a wide berth until I can figure out what to do with them.  Not sure if should dig these out and fill with something or just leave em alone.

[bigcountry]

So, here's where I am at.  Getting excited to get past floor tiller. 

[Pat B]

I would dig out what you can of the pithy stuff in the hole add a bit of super glue and sawdust let that set and do another layer and so on until it is filled. Take it a little at a time so all of the saw dust is well saturated and let it set hard before adding more.
   On the belly you shouldn't have to worry about leaving the surrounding wood proud but do on the sides. I also add super glue to all knots whether they need it or not.     Pat

[bigcountry]

Thanks Pat.  Could I also use epoxy and sawdust since this is in the working part of the fade?

[Ryano]

If your draw knife is gouging try working it the other direction. A draw knife will always try to follow the natural grain dips and dives in the wood. Yew is a very soft wood and I have found it works easily with a good sharp scraper.

[sailordad]

The 3 best tools for working yew are drawknife (used properly it will removes small almsot tranparent shavings of wood), Cabinet scraper and 36 grit sand paper. I usually tiller my yew bows with just sandpaper. Its a finicky wood that looses weight real fast.

The trick with the draw knie is to have it very sharp and use it very very lightly.

Osage = rasps

Yew = sharp drawknife

SJM

thats sounds like good advise, i'll have to remember it.

i have a pretty nice yew stave that i plan on working come winter time


                                                                       tim

[Pat B]

I think the only way to get epoxy to work would be to heat the bow and epoxy so it will flow. I have never used epoxy for this but plenty of folks have. I like super glue because it is thin and gets into small places without having to manipulate it with heat.   Pat

[bigcountry]

If your draw knife is gouging try working it the other direction. A draw knife will always try to follow the natural grain dips and dives in the wood. Yew is a very soft wood and I have found it works easily with a good sharp scraper.

I keep hearing that yew is very soft, but this stuff was tougher to work than osage or hickory.  It laughed at my ferriers rasp, and my nicholson 49 was the only thing I found to put a dent in it.  It was like very hard and brittle.  It was so hard and brittle that when you used a draw knife, and cut in, it would start lifting ahead of the blade.

[bigcountry]

I think the only way to get epoxy to work would be to heat the bow and epoxy so it will flow. I have never used epoxy for this but plenty of folks have. I like super glue because it is thin and gets into small places without having to manipulate it with heat.   Pat

Thanks again Pat.  I didn't know if superglue would flex or be brittle and break after some time.

I didn't understand what you meant in another reply when talking about the knots.  You said, "On the belly you shouldn't have to worry about leaving the surrounding wood proud but do on the sides".  Do you mean, I should just rasp the knots down on the belly but give them alot of woods on the side of the bow?  I figured they would be weak points.  I guess I will see them as stiff places when I tiller.

[Ryano]

If your draw knife is gouging try working it the other direction. A draw knife will always try to follow the natural grain dips and dives in the wood. Yew is a very soft wood and I have found it works easily with a good sharp scraper.

I keep hearing that yew is very soft, but this stuff was tougher to work than osage or hickory.  It laughed at my ferriers rasp, and my nicholson 49 was the only thing I found to put a dent in it.  It was like very hard and brittle.  It was so hard and brittle that when you used a draw knife, and cut in, it would start lifting ahead of the blade.

Is your stave still green? It will pack up most rasps in a hurry if its green. I havent found any wood, even the hardest woods like seasoned hickory that I couldnt work with my fariers rasp. After all it was designed to cut horse's hooves.

[Pat B]

I guess you will leave a little "meat" around a larger knot on the belly just so it doesn't over stress there but if you leave too much around the knot the area, on either side of the knot will be more susceptible to over stressing.(   )     A evenly bending limb is more important. The stresses are shared by the entire limb. That is why I add super glue to most knots to help support the knot and surrounding wood.
   I have not dealt with an area as long as your knot is so I don't know as a fact it will work. This is how I would handle the problem. Experimentation is a part of the process of wood bow building.    Pat