Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: BowSlayer on August 10, 2013, 05:52:45 pm

Title: laminating yew?
Post by: BowSlayer on August 10, 2013, 05:52:45 pm
hey all, im back from a two week camp which was cool as they had some nice yew trees. and i was given a seasoned stave of elm or maple, not sure which from another guy who made bows. i got about 4 staves of yew split but then realised something. one was nearly all heartwood and one nearly all sap wood. so im thinking when theese are seasoned could i possibly make a "board" of heartwood and one of sap wood and laminate them together? have any of you guys done anything like this? i also started work on the seasoned stave and im currently heat straightening it. illl post it when it's done. thanks
Title: Re: laminating yew?
Post by: BOWMAN53 on August 10, 2013, 05:59:04 pm
Why ruin a perfectly good yew stave? your trying to do too much man, just make a bow.
Title: Re: laminating yew?
Post by: adb on August 10, 2013, 06:13:24 pm
Rawhide or sinew back heartwood. I also maple, ash and hickory back yew heartwood. Provides some of the best bows I make. But, as mentioned, do everything you can to get a bow from a yew stave.
Title: Re: laminating yew?
Post by: Del the cat on August 10, 2013, 06:18:15 pm
Yes it's very do-able.
A good trick is to take the sapwood and leave the unerbark surface in it's pristine state and work down the sapwood from the other side to form an evn thickness lamination. The other advantage is you can glue it up with a hint of reflex.
It takes a faur bit of work to get two clean flat mating surfaces but you could end up with a superb bow if you have the patience and skill.
Del
Title: Re: laminating yew?
Post by: AH on August 10, 2013, 08:21:06 pm
by "almost all heartwood" what do you mean? is there still a layer of sapwood there? if there is, I would just continue to make a self bow with that. With the tons of sapwood stave, maybe try cutting a backing strip of yew--I've never seen that, but I'm not saying it can't be done. that would be cool.
Four staves of yew...I wish I had that much :)
Title: Re: laminating yew?
Post by: Weylin on August 10, 2013, 09:13:32 pm
let's see some pics. We could probably give you better advice.  ;)
Title: Re: laminating yew?
Post by: BowSlayer on August 11, 2013, 04:04:53 am
by "almost all heartwood" what do you mean? is there still a layer of sapwood there? if there is, I would just continue to make a self bow with that. With the tons of sapwood stave, maybe try cutting a backing strip of yew--I've never seen that, but I'm not saying it can't be done. that would be cool.
Four staves of yew...I wish I had that much :)

There is about 2mm of sap wood and i accidently cut through it in some spots. I will try and get some pics later.  Thanks for the input everyone
Title: Re: laminating yew?
Post by: adb on August 11, 2013, 11:22:18 am
Cut through it when you were removing the bark?
Title: Re: laminating yew?
Post by: BowSlayer on August 11, 2013, 06:58:39 pm
Cut through it when you were removing the bark?

i started removing the bark with a knife and violated a ring which i knew would anoy me so i tried chasing a ring with a spokeshave and cut through it in places. lesson learnt