Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: sonny on April 25, 2007, 11:16:29 am
-
how thick should one leave the sapwood on a yew flatbow ??
right now it's about 1/4", maybe slightly more. truth is I hate to mess with it as the back is clean, freshly debarked,,giving me the impression that it should be left as is. my concern is that the sapwood is too thick and there won't be much heartwood left as I tiller it........
-
1/4" is perfect. I wouldn't mess with it.
-
I have had bad luck with yew. ;) Everybody is shaking their heads YES. I have been reading everything I can find about Yew. Some say not to worry to much about it. Others say to take it down to 1/16" of sapwood. After the experience I have had I'll be going with the 1/16" rule from now on. Justin
-
i've used 3/16-1/4 thickness with yew sapwood with not problems. if the weight of the bow will be less than 60#, i would go with 3/16. if the sapwood is 1/4 after debarking i doubt if i would do any more.
-
Ahhh! Heck, go ahead and take it all off and then sinew back it!!! Make a nice little Hupa or Yurok style bow. Weighs less than a pound and really flings em!
-
yea well I wanna make one or two of those as well but the stick I have right now has been roughed out as a long flatbow. matter of fact it's floor tillered so close that it won't take much to get a string on it.....
the thought has crossed my mind to make a recurve from it but I don't wanna screw it up, though it seems I've read that yew takes bends easily enough.
-
What are the dimensions of your stave? Pat
-
Don't forget to wear your respirator or at the very least a dust mask wen sanding yew. It can cause all kinds of respiratory problems in some folks and even lung specialists have trouble diagnosing the problem unless you tell them you were working yew (this goes for many exotic woods)
-
it's been roughed out to 71" long, 1-1/2" wide just out of the fades, pyramid taper to 5/8" tips.
the grip was left deep, limbs thinned to 5/8" thick or so.