Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Del the cat on February 17, 2012, 10:35:03 am
-
You know how you are trying to tiller back to 28", you get to 26" and you know it's just a scrape or two and a bit of sanding/finishing and you're home?
My latest Yew ELB just doesn't want to come back those last few inches!
I've got the darned thing back to about 25.5" and I'm tinkering with it but it just doesn't seem to come back any further! I've been tweaking tiller, making a few tiny adjustments near the tips to get the string line good, fully expecting it to have found the next inch or two.
Nope she just sits there grinning at me!
At one point I decided the upper limb could work a bit more near the grip, I must've take acouple of mm off with rasp.
"That'll get it moving" I thought....nope... still short of 26" :o.
Now I know I'll break wind near it and all of a sudden it will be at 28" so I just though I should step away from the bow, make a cup of tea and talk to some guys who would understand.
Thanks for listening, I shall give myself a good talking to and get back to it. ;D
Del
-
Now that's some good thinking. :)
Pappy
-
Ok...let's talk del....soooo...im sure you've exercised it enough after each removal?....how about takin an arrow or two and marking them at 25" and shoot a couple dozen arrows at that draw?....and then let it sit braced for a couple hours?.....then see where your at? That's if you like the tiller where its at at 26".
-
;D
-
Ok...let's talk del....soooo...im sure you've exercised it enough after each removal?....how about takin an arrow or two and marking them at 25" and shoot a couple dozen arrows at that draw?....and then let it sit braced for a couple hours?.....then see where your at? That's if you like the tiller where its at at 26".
Good call, I've plunked a couple of heavy arrows out of it.
Yeah, a bit more exercising and fiddling and fettling will get it there.
Its a tricky sucker with a few swoops in and big knot through the lower limb... I'm just a bit twitchy anout screwing it up through rushing it.
Del
-
And sometimes its right to do what you did also when your pounding your head against a wall only being a couple inches away....you stopped,wiped the blood of your face n wall,and walked away. ;) :laugh:
-
I like the idea of leaving it braced for a few hours.
-
The greatest virtue in this game is patience!
-
The greatest virtue in this game is patience!
Sometimes I'll 'sweat' a bow by leaving it braced overnight.
-
I flexed and scraped got it back to 26.5" at 55#
Then this...
(http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp195/Del_the_Cat/Website%20stills/100_1902.jpg)
I recon the tiller was pretty good as it hasn't gone at one point, the whole thing has just gone Kabooom
It may have started at the knot...
-
Hey Del my absolute favorite tool at this point is my trusty sanding block with 80 grit on it. I can get the bow ready for final sanding and reduce draw weight at the same time. I have learned to do it this way otherwise I lose more draw weight when I do finally sand it.
-
Wait......nevermind. Good Lord that was quite break there. Never seen anything like it, of course I have never worked Yew.
-
Hey Del my absolute favorite tool at this point is my trusty sanding block with 80 grit on it. I can get the bow ready for final sanding and reduce draw weight at the same time. I have learned to do it this way otherwise I lose more draw weight when I do finally sand it.
Hmmm tad late for the sanding block ;)
yeah I'm pleased that it wasdn't a clean break on one of the features. I'll post a couple more pics later.
Del
-
Thats a break I cant blame on the bowyer!
-
Ouch...guess it didn't matter what you did,cus it didn't want to b a bow. :'(
-
Can u repeat the exact words here you used after she went ??? ::)
-
Bummer Del, sorry for your loss. Yew will often break into multiple pieces like that. I've had a few let go in the final few inches of tillering and have picked up splinters all over the shop. Had one piece stuck in the celling one time
-
Wooohooooo
Wish that would have been on video!
Not that I'm wishing it on anyone or anything but!
Sorry for your loss Mr. Dell
Guy
-
Of all bows to go boom, having it happen to a yew bow raises the sadness to different level.
-
Here are some pics, the near FD pic was at about 24", the right limb is a bit stiff and had been worked down a good bit since that pic. The iffy knot is on the left (lower) limb.
(http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp195/Del_the_Cat/Website%20stills/100_1901.jpg)
Iffy knot area taken a while back, before it was blended in and carefully smoothed.
(http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp195/Del_the_Cat/Website%20stills/100_1891.jpg)
Knot area after break, maybe it started here. there's plenty of sapwood there, but I think it was a stiff area and as I eased it of a tad, maybe that was enough to start the whole thing going bang. Interestingly, the break doesn't show on the belly where the knot shows through.
Also the other 'features' of the bow have remained intact... So although I can't say exactly where it started, I can see some of the points where it didn't start.
(http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp195/Del_the_Cat/Website%20stills/100_1903.jpg)
Pic showing another area where it went for no obvious reason.
(http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp195/Del_the_Cat/Website%20stills/100_1904.jpg)
Thanks for the sympathy guys... It's the first Yew ELB I've had go bang... a good thing to get out of the way.
I think I was lucky with the knots on my 90# warbow, so I feel I was due a blow up!
Del
-
I think your assesment is correct del. That break at that knot is more atrocious than the rest of the breaks. Kind of like when a piece a glass gets hit and cracked...the worst spot is at the point of impact,and then the stresses wave out from there. That's my take on it at least.
-
I love the color of that stuff Del. Some day I want to try to break my own YEW ELB.
-
Here's an angled cross section of that knot as close to the break as I could get a clean cut.
It shows there is plenty of good sapwood and the knot is pretty sound. But I s'pose any discontinuity is a weak point.
(http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp195/Del_the_Cat/Website%20stills/100_1905.jpg)
Del
-
That knot is also the high spot meaning it was working overtime.
-
PM me with your address and I will send you some sinew. Maybe you can rescue that one from the dust bin.
-
Ooooh, Ooouuucccchhhh! Was reading the post, frame by frame then the shattered pic come up. Sorry for your loss, Del. I think I felt that one from here.
Matt
-
Hide glue and some sinew patches! You'll make a shooter out of this one yet!
Sorry, I shouldn't tease. That has got to be the Gosh Awfullest blow out I've yet seen!
-
All the kings horses and all the kings men,
Couldn't put that one together again ;D
Thanks for the offer of sinew JW... I think ::)
Del
-
Sad to see that Del. It sure did come apart. The one I blew up was violent too. Maybe that's why I've been so slow with the other stave?
George
-
That stinks :-[ but I did get a chuckle when pearls suggested sanding ...and than back to feeling your loss did not see that coming :-[
-
Sad to see that Del. It sure did come apart. The one I blew up was violent too. Maybe that's why I've been so slow with the other stave?
George
Yeah it's funny how it didn't feel quite right.
I wouldn't normally be posting on here with 2" to go, so I think it shows something wan't quite right.
Funny to have it go while the thread was up and running... It would have been good to see it blow on a high speed video.
It was a pretty short stave and I had it V narrow and deep, perhaps that, and the knots was jut getting a bit greedy.
I've been looking at the pieces and it's uncanny how symetrical the breaks are down each limb, almost mirror image.
So, other than it exploding, I did a great job of tillering ::)
Del
-
I would agree. That's the best tillered broken bow I've ever seen.... 8)
George
-
I used to know this short girl !....................... ::) ' Frank
-
Something about yew....it makes amazing bows and amazing grenades....and the difference is ever so slight!
After the 4-plug knotfiller I had you up on a pretty high pedestal, Del. After this failed attempt I see you have just a normal super-human stature. I hope I have time to cancel my "Del the Cat for President" tee-shirt order.
-
Del I am sorry to see this beauty broken... I have never seen breakage like this one except when I brake overdry wood in company where I work. Are you sure it wasn't too dry...?
-
Del I am sorry to see this beauty broken... I have never seen breakage like this one except when I brake overdry wood in company where I work. Are you sure it wasn't too dry...?
Yeah, it does look V dry, but I've known the wood from when it was cut. 'Too dry' isn't a problem in the UK usually.
It's from the same batch of Yew as the 90# bow and stored in identical conditions.
UPDATE:-
I've put my moisture meter onto the inside where it broke and it was only about 7%!!! But on the outer sapwood it was about 13% (which is pretty typical where I live.
Weird.. I shall test some of the other bits.
Some of the other Yew in my garage shows very fry heart wood...dunno if it's the cold dry weather we've had this last few weeks. Othe wood in there seems fine... weird^n
Del
-
The last yew longbow i made blew into just as many bits as yours whilst stringing and after a few years of use. My guess was way too dry.
Sorry for your loss, sucks butt at that draw when only a few inches off.
-
Sorry for the loss Del That was some really pretty Yew......
Wow that one went BIG!!