Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: vyadha on April 17, 2013, 02:50:59 pm
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I was lucky enough to get 5 yew logs. 4 are 50" and 1 is 80".
I split them all and took the bark off the really green stuff. Ends are all sealed up. I might put some shellac on the debarked backs.
I live in Southern CA and the average humidity is 45%. The yew is from Oregon around 3500 ft elevation. 33-36 RPI.
has anyone ever tossed a yew stave in the back of a truck camper to speed the drying?
Ive never worked yew period and am curious what I should/can do with it.
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First off.....SEAL THE DEBARKED PIECES ASAP!!!! I like to leave the bark on yew,and you should for good reason.
It really doesn't favor well trying to speed dry yew and isn't worth it IMHO. If you do strap it down cus it has a nasty tenendency to deflex,twist,warp etc....it prefers to be slowly seasoned with the bark on...it just doesn't like rapid moisture loss IMHO...I've done it to a couple pieces and it just isn't worth the hassle...my two cents.
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I would've left the bark on as well. The sapwood holds alot of moisture. Seal the back with a couple coats of sealer or a wax. I agree with bluebird. Let it dry slow. Or rough one out and set it in the Corner for a few months.
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I just sealed them up with shellac. Thanks for the help. Theres so much info available on yew I got overwhelmed and confused.
I was hoping to have some workable yew by July. Looks like ill be a bit more patient.
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ill be a bit more patient.
Atta boy!
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Yes... be patient! Yew is valuable... treat it as such. If you try and force it, it often checks and/or turns into a pretzel. I just started working some yew staves that have been seasoning for 5 years. See my recent post 'Yew selfbow ELB.' That stave was 4 years old. Split your logs, leave the bark on, seal the ends, set them somewhere out of sight and WAIT!!
If you're itchin' to build a bow, find another wood that's ready. In my experience, yew will take a lot of set if it's too green, and it would be a shame to ruin what sounds like some good staves.
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You still have three and a half months to get that yew dry then. That should be enough, even without really quick drying. How quick should drying wood be to still qualify as quick drying? I dunno. But three months isn't quick drying in my book.
Rough the stave out somewhat. Not even CLOSE to bow shape, but just remove the bulk to make it THINNER, not narrower. Store indoors at, or slightly below, room temperature with a RH of 50-60% for two months. Then reduce to floor tillered dimensions and store the blank again at room temperature and RH 40-50% for one more month. Then continue making a bow, until you are halfway in the tillering process. Then put it aside again for two more weeks at room temp. and perhaps a slightly lower RH of around 40%. The wood should be dry by then, although some people might argue it won't exactly be seasoned/aged.
I strongly dislike speed/quick drying wood. Especially yew, which is so rare and precious. But if that wood needs to be dry in July, I think three and a half months should be enough to get you there, if you time the steps right and keep an eye on the wood. It should be enough time to get you there, but it's tricky. Possibly not worth the risk, but it's doable.
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Pretty much all the bows i have made from yew have been "fast dried".
As above reduced in stages to bow dimensions combined with storing in a warm room over the months.
Only tend to remove the bark mid way through the process. Bark seems far better than any sealant for the back and the ends sealed with pva. Never once had a stave check but living in the UK low RH tends not to be a problem. ::)
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quick drying yew for me was, a couple of months to calm down after the dramatic event of cutting, then splitting, then rough shaping, then some relaxing, than some more reduction. I think, if I remember correct the best I could do was 1 year, and thats cause I didn't want to push it. I will say its worth the wait though.
chuck
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Everything is now sporting a thick coat of shellac and sitting under my desk. Ill be watching the backs for the next few weeks. Kinda worried about checks now that i took off the bark.
I never thought Id make a yew bow because for whatever reason it didnt spark my interest. Funny how that changes when someone offers you some.
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The back is gonna get a little wrinkles. But oh well :)
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Yep, I tried fast drying yew once - bad idea. Yew is too valuable to take chances with shortcuts.
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I'd put at least 3 thick coats of shellac on the backs. Then follow I'd follow Dark Souls advice.
Hamish.
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I agree with what's been said. Put a couple more coats on there. I made the mistake of peeling the bark on some yew that had been already been sitting outside for a year. I put a coat of shellac on it but it wasn't enough. It still checked fairly badly. Still salvaged a nice bow from it but it wasn't the choice section of the wood and I easily could have lost the whole stave.
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Thanks
Ill put some more coats on in the morning and wait. Then Ill wait. Then Ill splice up some BL billets. Then Ill wait some more.
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Yep, I tried fast drying yew once - bad idea. Yew is too valuable to take chances with shortcuts.
X2
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I have a feeling you picked up some of the same yew I picked up at the chamberlain ranch shoot. What part of so cal are you in? I plan on splitting out my log some time this week and finsihing a couple of bows by september. I live in Torrance near LAX.
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Hey Steve, its casey who brought the teens to chamberlain. I'm in ojai. I ended up with quite a bit. Now I'm just concerned it may check.
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I split out a log 4 days ago that was sopping wet, still had green branches growing out of it. I took one of the less desirable staves off the deflex side and worked it into a bow, just removing the bark and taking to floor tiller. I didn't apply any sealers as it was pretty thin. The stave started off at 28 oz and 4 days later is now at 21 oz. So far no ill effects. I am still worried about the handle area checking but am starting to think by late next weel I will be able to finish it up. The moisture meter is reading at about 12% right bow, I like my yew around 8 or 9%. I am not recomending doing this but it seems to be working in this instance. I have tried this with plumb and it spit down the middle, osage and most white woods seem to be ok if I take them all the way down to floor tiller when wet.
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Here are some pics of the staves and billets. 2 weeks in and no checking so far.
The two on the left are from the same log, 50" and 77". The big one has almost 4" of reflex.
The two on the right are billets, 55" and 50". I have 2 more sets of billets that are 48".
Im pretty excited about these. I have quite a bit of sinew and no idea how to splice. Who knows what will happen when the wood is dry.
Steve, you gonna be at the Conejo shoot?
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u188/animalhands/staves_zps29a28b25.jpg)
(http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u188/animalhands/reflexedyew_zpsdc84cd3c.jpg)
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I plan on being there. I will finish up the yew bow at the meet.
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I've quick dried Yew in my dring box in just a few weeks. I took the opportunity while it was green to add some reflex. I just roughed out the bow from a green stave, sealed it up really good and put in in the hot box for a week. when I was finished working on it for the day i sealed it back up and put it back in the hot box.
Made some nice bows that way, it dry one too fast and it had some cracks in it.
Mark