Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Japbow on June 18, 2013, 12:12:15 am
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Oh boy, this ain't gonna be easy!
I've heard that ring violations with yew
aren't such a big deal as long as you
have consistent sapwood thickness, but...
It's hard to gauge how thick the sapwood
is when you can't see the heartwood below.
So...I'm not aiming for perfection, but I'm
gonna give ring chasing a shot here. It's
not particularly thin-ringed at about 10-12
rpi so I've got a little wood to work with, but
as you can see in the pics, the earlywood
ring border is super thin and hard to see
without perfect lighting. I worked on it for
about an hour last night and only got about
10 inches. I'm gonna go slow and it should
be done in a week or two.
Thanks for looking,
Japbow.
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looks like a really nice stave. you have your work cut out for you, but in the end you will be confident in a job well done. violation yew sapwood rings is no big deal in my experience as the wood is soft and doesnt splinter like heartwood. I commend you on your efforts, keep us posted.
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I added some arrows to show the
ring borders...
Cheers!
Japbow
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Piece of cake! Patience, good light, a dull straight draw knife and time will get u through it. I have chased many and many growth rings in very tight ringed yew sapwood with great successes. You can violate yew sap wood rings grossly but I use the rule of Like 85% on one ring and have never had a yew bow fail and have made over 100 yew self bows. Start at one end and chase one ring the full length and then start over again. I chase all my yew as I like thin sapwood. I have also made a fair share of yew heart wood self bows and get those on mostly one ring. Looking forward to seeing that a bow.
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I don't really think it matters too much on yew but if you want to chase rings that thin I would say go slow and use a scraper
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Thanks, YewArcher!
I've only got 2 rings to get through, but
what you're suggesting seems like it would
take a lot more time. What are the benefits
of doing it one ring at a time?
It's great ring-chasing practice as I'm a
new bowyer, but I'm simultaneously working
on several other bows. So, although I'm not
really in a hurry, my bowmaking time is limited
and I've got a lot of fish to fry, so to speak.
If you'd like to convince me, I'll definitely put
in the time....
Thanks!
Japbow.
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just a suggestion, but I would consider using a scraper to chase the rings since they are so tight. looks like you dont have too much sapwood to reduce, I try to get 3/8 to 1/4" of sapwood.
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Be prepared to be extemely frustrated.
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Jap, you're like all the rest of us. You'll have 4 to 10 bows at some stage of development all the time. And there's never enough time in the workshop. Just enjoy the ride. It's all about the journey not the destination. So many bows, so little time.
Good luck and enjoy.
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Those curls don't look like they were made with a scraper, and if you're successfully using a drawknife or spokeshave, etc, you ain't chasin' thin rings :)
I've chased them as thin as 60 rpi without a violation end to end. I'm currently removing the bark, sapwood and chasing osage rings on several character staves that are 20+ rpi. It's VERY dry and hard too. Meanwhile, I've got staves here with 3-4 rpi.... Why do I do this to myself? ::)
Keep us posted on your progress.
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Hey All!
I spent about an hour yesterday after work
on the yew stave and I'm making some decent
progress. I changed up my method a little bit...
I'm using my drawknife to get as close to the
earlywood ring border as I can and then I
change to my scraper. With my scraper, the
remaining thin layer of wood just above the
ring border seems to want to come off leaving
the shiny, smooth ring border! With a little care,
there should be no worry about violating the ring.
I'm surprised how well the scraper works. It's
kind of an unusual scraper though, not a typical
cabinet scraper. (which I do own but haven't been
able to burnish the edge with any success.)
I have also changed to the "one complete ring
at a time" method as YewArcher suggested. The
more I work on it, the better "feel" I'm getting
for the wood and the quicker my progress is.
Thanks for your comments and encouragement!
Here's some pics... Japbow
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I'm loving that japanese scraper. You're making great progress!
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Are you shure this is yew?? I don't think so
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Are you shure this is yew?? I don't think so
The heartwood doesn't look right... Maybe it's the lighting idk
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Sapwood looks like yew to me. Hard to tell from the pic, but I have seen heartwood about as light in color as it appears on that stave. It was high-elevation, but fast growing. Thick sapwood too. It really improved the bows performance to temper that light heartwood belly.
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It's definitely yew.
The heartwood in this stave is light in color
and density. Also, I cut the stave with a
coarse saw giving it a porous texture on the
end that makes it appear lighter than it
actually is.
It's Japanese Yew, (taxus cuspidata) or
perhaps some kind of yew hybrid. Of the yew
I've cut in Japan, it varies a lot in heartwood
color and density. I have similar sized staves
that have a BIG difference in weight. I chose
this stave I'm working on now because it has
zero twist and aside from one knot at one end
is completely clear. I definitely will be heat-
treating the belly as Carson suggested to
improve performance. One unfortunate
consistency I've found about Japanese Yew
is that the sapwood is quite thick, a half inch
or more. This is only my second yew bow, the
first one was a short 49 inch "d" profile bow
which was made from a branch because it had
a good sapwood thickness. If I'm gonna make
more yew bows I guess ring-chasing is gonna
be unavoidable...
Pekane: Japanese woodworking is a strange
world. Especially the woodworking tools. Lots
of old traditional styles and everything is
super EXPENSIVE! The cheapest draw knife
I found was about $200. The scraper is weird
but it was cheap and it works pretty well,
although it's a little noisy. I think the neighbors
suspect I may be killing cats!
Japbow.
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Wow you look to be doing fine, I will be watching your progress as I have also just got my first Yew stave. How long ago was your stave cut.
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Looks like you are doing a great job, but making a lot of work for yourself by not getting the bow roughed out or to floor tiller first. That way you have a lot less of it to do. You also have a clearer view of the sapwood thickness at each edge as the stave isn't so wide.
Del
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Thanks! So far, so good it seems, but when
it comes to YEW, Del the Cat speaks (writes)
and I listen ;) So, before I continue, I guess
I should get the stave closer to bow dimensions.
I'm planning on a flatbow style of equal parts
sapwood to heartwood with a 4 in handle and
2 in. fades...of course I'm heavily inspired
by Gordon's famous Yew build-along, but...
Hahaha! I can only dream of such greatness
at this point! At least I have lots of yew here
in Japan to practice my skills on.
(I also have mulberry, black locust, persimmon,
cherry, and several other local woods that I've
been experimenting on.)
BillBow: The stave was cut and split over a year
ago.
Thanks again for your interest!
Japbow.