Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Ed Brooks on July 11, 2013, 03:08:38 pm
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I got a Yew limb and a billet. The billet is bad with really old woodpecker marks, the limb has 3 spots up and down it. in the billet it looks like the pecker hit the heart wood, but the sap wood looks healed around the marks. Can I still make a self bow from this stave? Or will I need to take the sap off and put sinew on the heart? I haven't taken the bark off, this was cut last yr but still out side and the bark looks fresh cut in most places. Ed
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here are the pic i wasn't smart enough to put on the 1st post. Ed
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I'm thinking the piece in your right hand would make a fine hiking staff.
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Cracker. that is what the guy I got it from cut it for. I would like a bow from it. Ed
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I have seen some pretty gnarly yew riddled with sapsucker holes make fine unbacked bows.
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I have seen some pretty gnarly yew riddled with sapsucker holes make fine unbacked bows.
Same here.
My buddy pat in Alberta, his favorite yew bow is mostly woodpecker holes.
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Thanks for the feed back. Ed
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Ed,
I just finished a yew bow that was worse than yours. The holes went clear through the sapwood. (I'm sorry, I didn't take any pictures. ) I just took my drawshave and took all the woodpecker damaged sapwood off, sanded the back down smooth, and backed it all with silk, and glued on snakeskin. It turned out to be 50#, and shoots like a champ!
Dale
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This is a yew bow I built recently. It had black marks that John Strunk said was from woodpeckers. It has held together after lots of shooting.
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be careful of rot sections. the wood can heal from the woodpeckers, but there can be rot that breaks down the wood fibers, I have seen this with windshake which is dark streaks through the wood where a violent wind storm cracked the wood, rot can set in between these splits and the wood seperates, does not heal, and can split along these cracks. if the pecker section is in a highly stressed area such as mid-limb,and has a lot of dark area around them, then I would worry about building a bow from it, unless you are wanting to experiment. I would get it bending early and see how it reacts before spending too much time with it, no fun to spend a lot of time on something that can blow up on you.