Heck if I know- My first with yew.

[radius]

is that yew shredding all over your carpet!!!  haha

[Mar]

You think this glue is good enuf? I glued my string board on edge to make it long enuf and I was amazed at how strong the bond is. It is made by Loctite.

[Mar]

is that yew shredding all over your carpet!!!  haha

What you mean shredding...it's growing, taking over man. Eyeballing another stave to start on another, from the same knotty log but better. Plus I'm still trying to get motivated to finish my board bow...Yes I need that one done also so I can say I made that...unless it blows then I have wood for something else.

[juniper junkie]

get some C/A glue from a hobby store, it is the same as superglue, they have different thickneses and also a kicker that sets it instantly. get the thin glue and keep filling the knots, you can sand the glue off the surface. I would still back it with rawhide, just for added insurance. but I dont like to do a lot of hard work just to watch it break it is looking good..

[George Tsoukalas]

Mar, it should be fine. I'm just used to making longer bows. Tiller carefully. I would definitely let the handle bend. A bend in the handle bow should do ok at 67 in. I would also make the nock 1/2 inch from the ends. Thank you for the kind words.

[radius]

yew WANTS to bend.  you can get away with a stiff-handled bow as short as 57" as i described earlier.  Get your heat gun out:  it might not even take much set if you belly-temper it TOWARD THE END of the tiller process.

[George Tsoukalas]

Mar, I am hunting this year with a bend in the handle hickory bow that is 60" ntn for my 26 in draw so the yew stave should be capable enough for you. Jawge

[Mar]

I'm getting to the stage where I'm almost afraid to carry on in fear that I might screw it up but I have lots of yew, few more staves that have rotten sapwood so I can do more chasing. I would like to keep this one barebacked but we'll see. Had super glue so doing the knots.

So what shape would be best out of this picture? Flat and rectangular it's not but should it be like a long bow?

[radius]

top left.

"narrow and deep"

[Mar]

So overlaying my tips, I need to flatten a spot to glue them on. That would be violating the rings but does it really matter?

[radius]

it doesn't matter at all.  rasp it flat, glue em on, and giver.

[George Tsoukalas]

Well, if it were my stave I'd go with a flatbow. ELB's need more length. IMHO. Take my opinion with a grain of salt. I've only only built yew flatbows. Jawge

[radius]

Well, if it were my stave I'd go with a flatbow. ELB's need more length. IMHO. Take my opinion with a grain of salt. I've only only built yew flatbows. Jawge

what i found so far, Jawge, was that you can build d-shaped (d-ish!) yew longbows that bend all the way through out of short staves, you know, over 60 but definitely under 68...and get hard slamming bows with mega stopping power.  But i like the flatbows too!

Scott

[George Tsoukalas]

radius, my concern was his draw length coupled with the length of the stave but I think you have more experience with yew than I do. Jawge

[radius]

maybe, i've only made a dozen or so.   But i find it REALLY wants to bend.   You can whale on these sticks and they just keep bending! 

Maybe our rule of thumb  (draw length x2 plus 8" for handle and fades)  doesn't apply to yew?  It's gotta stand out in order to deserve its reputation.  My stiff-handled yew 57" bow deflexed considerably toward the archer.  But even so, it pulls 52# @28" and the arrows are really fast!

Let's see what he can do!