Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: wood_bandit99 on November 01, 2013, 09:46:08 pm
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I got a yew stave that was split right as it was cut down in the first of July 2013. It has been 4 months and I was wondering how long until I scrape the bark off? How bad does it check? I got a design for it too. Never working with it and hearing how soft it is I though I would go 64" or so ntn 6-8" handle, 1.75" @ fades, fading down to 1 1/4" or so 8" from tips. The sap going from .5" at handle, 1/4" at mid and 1/8" at tips. Does that sound too wide? How does that sound?
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what draw length/weight are you shooting for? Leave the bark on until you're ready to make a bow from it. Depending on how big the stave is I'd probably wait around a year. Don't be in a hurry or you'll just get lots of set from wet wood.
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I am shooting for 55-65# @ 26" it has 20+ gpi
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I'm not the yew-go-to-guy for sure but I've owned and operated a couple and have some staves. I cut down a tree this summer and made staves. I peeled the bark while the staves were green and none of the staves checked. I kept them in a cool basement over the summer and I wouldn't hesitate to make them into bows at any time. But with any bow I make, I look for moisture during floor tiller and determine how much more drying time I want before proceeding. I dry as I go.
As far as dimensions, I owned a 62" flatbow that was 55@27, stiff handle. It was high quality wood. yew is light so you can get away with longer bows, especially with an 8" handle. Personally, I would start out at least 66-68" with the rounded belly. Width wise you are fine. For 64" I would go flatbow and 2" wide for starters.
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I have taken fresh cut yew and worked it into a rough bow and then let it dry with no checking. That does not allow for seasoning obviously but the way I look at it is the bow will season as it ages just like it would have anyway. Yew dries very fast. In a warm dry place no more than 3 weeks it will be ready to finish. After 4 months yours has dried out somewhat allready. I would go ahead and start reducing it.
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I took badgers advice and took the bark off. Is it normal to have random dark spots on the sapwood? My sapwood is white then transitions to dark gray in areas without any knots or anything. How many growth rings can be violated? I violated quite a bit in some areas just because of the weird shape of the stave. How do you follow the grain if it is white on white? And along with the violated back confusing me? Can anybody help me or did I get a junk stave?
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Pics
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Well while we are waiting for badger I'll just say I think the dark spots are water spots and I wouldn't worry about it. You need to thin the sapwood anyway so just start making a bow out of that thing and see what you have when its time to start bending. If its not twisted its a good stave. If it has a low ring count you can heat treat it and make it better.
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if ya don't want it ill. have it :P i had this same problem when experimenting with yew it could be a bit of wood that isn't Heart or Sap. once i cut some yew and when i looked at the end the sap looked like it had a strip of heartwood in it.
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I have no idea what that dark spot is. I guess you could chance it. A lot of guys don't chase a ring on yew, they this the sapwood to a somewhat even thickness and then just build th ebow. I like to keep a solid growth ring. I use a scraper and a rasp and just slowly remove one ring at at ime until I have one ring. Almost like erasing because the rings are so thin. You really need to just take your time and clean the back up while it continues to dry.
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I've seen pinecone chase a 30 rpi stave once.Maybe he'll comment on here too.
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I had a yew stave that looked like that once, and it had been laying on the ground dead for a long time. Ended up being junk... the sapwood, anyway. I managed to salvage some of the heartwood.
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Does the dark spot look like it has a bit if blue to it?
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Yeah it is a little blue
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Rawhide back it.
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Rawhide back it.
+1 on that.
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Yeah it is a little blue
Sapwood fungus
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If there is any way to not back it I would go that route. Is there any way I can do that? Or do I need to back it? I just got it marked out according to the grain. And there will be a bunch of growth rings violated. What does that fungus do? It looks just a little bit blue in one area. Hopefully I can get it unbacked because it looks awesome
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Sorry dude. If you want a bow out if the wood you will have to back it, or watch it break. Up to you.
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I will back it because I don't want to possibly ruin something so expensive and rare (for me) but I am pissed cuz it would have looked sooooooo cool. What kind of rawhide? I was thinking getting it from tandy's. I also saw on a thing that tandy's had clarified calfskin. What/how would I get that? ALSO where do I get more quality yew on a regular basis? This stuff is magical crap!
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I will back it because I don't want to possibly ruin something so expensive and rare (for me) but I am pissed cuz it would have looked sooooooo cool. What kind of rawhide? I was thinking getting it from tandy's. I also saw on a thing that tandy's had clarified calfskin. What/how would I get that? ALSO where do I get more quality yew on a regular basis? This stuff is magical crap!
Good choice. More yew will come along.
Carson @ Echo Archery has rawhide and premo yew staves.
It's where I get 90% of my stuff.
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My bow is going to have a bunch of humps and random valleys in the middle of the bow along with knots that would be holes. Cn I rawhide back over that or am I going to have to cut it out?
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I will back it because I don't want to possibly ruin something so expensive and rare (for me) but I am pissed cuz it would have looked sooooooo cool. What kind of rawhide? I was thinking getting it from tandy's. I also saw on a thing that tandy's had clarified calfskin. What/how would I get that? ALSO where do I get more quality yew on a regular basis? This stuff is magical crap!
Good choice. More yew will come along.
Carson @ Echo Archery has rawhide and premo yew staves.
It's where I get 90% of my stuff.
Me too.
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My bow is going to have a bunch of humps and random valleys in the middle of the bow along with knots that would be holes. Cn I rawhide back over that or am I going to have to cut it out?
Yes. Clean it up nice and rough it up with a hacksaw blade it something. Ace bandage it. Good to go.
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So I have to cut through the humps and vallies and even it out a bit?
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Remove the sapwood, and sinew back the heartwood.
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there is not very much heartwood. i would have to do rawhide backed sapwood and if that doesnt work, than i did all i could. the main bulk of that is in the handle and fade area. just little streaks are in in the working limb. hopefully it works!
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i am going to post pictures in about a week to give an update on the bow. how long does it take to dry the rawhide and what glue?
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I have a yew bow that has the blue steaks in one limb. I don't think that is your problem, the violations are. If you thin the sapwood evenly you might reduce those violations and either not need to back or use the rawhide for insurance. If you are going to continue to worry about it all then you'd be wise to remove the sapwood and sinew back as already mentioned. If there's not enough heartwood for sinew backing then there's probably not enough for sapwood backing.
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I will back it because I don't want to possibly ruin something so expensive and rare (for me) but I am pissed cuz it would have looked sooooooo cool. What kind of rawhide? I was thinking getting it from tandy's. I also saw on a thing that tandy's had clarified calfskin. What/how would I get that? ALSO where do I get more quality yew on a regular basis? This stuff is magical crap!
Good choice. More yew will come along.
Carson @ Echo Archery has rawhide and premo yew staves.
It's where I get 90% of my stuff.
Me too.
Yep. Echo Archery has a collection of staves for every one. Their pacific yew is the best around.
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How many violations can it have? you guys have to realize i have never worked with this stuff. i have about a half inch of sapwood and i will cut it out then get the many violations down to a few. i have never worked with this stuff so any help would be awesome. i am going to rawhide back this one because i am scared of it snapping. next time how do i minimize the violations? scraper? i am going to get some more staves soon because this stuff is nice to work. definitely easier than osage!
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As many violation as you want. As long as there feathered out nicely they won't present a problem. Plus with the rawhide, your in the clear. The only thing that would break the bow after that is bad tillering.
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Ok that makes me feel a lot better and helps me a ton. Thanks Bryce! I will put on some pics when I glue it up
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I have a yew bow that has the blue steaks in one limb. I don't think that is your problem, the violations are. If you thin the sapwood evenly you might reduce those violations and either not need to back or use the rawhide for insurance. If you are going to continue to worry about it all then you'd be wise to remove the sapwood and sinew back as already mentioned. If there's not enough heartwood for sinew backing then there's probably not enough for sapwood backing.
Steve is right here...I have a bow to back it up. :)