Yew Flatbow

[Gordon]

Last fall I was hunting with Keenan in Central Oregon. On the last evening I went into my tipi and was surprised to find a bow stave laying across my sleeping bag.  It was yew wood and judging from the tight growth rings it had been harvested at high elevation.  But unfortunately it had several inches of natural deflex and some really gnarly looking knots and bumps. I grabbed the stave and wandered to the campfire where Keenan was sitting.  We sat quietly for a while and finally I looked at Keenan and asked him if he really expected me to make a bow from this stave.  Keenan reached over and handed me the most drop dead gorgeous yew bow I had ever set eyes upon.  I held the bow and then looked at Keenan and asked him where it came from. He was quiet for a moment, then a sly smile came across his face and he said that it came from a sister of the stave that I was holding. Well obviously that changed everything and I would have to somehow make a bow out of this rather homely stave.

The bow that I made is 60” ntn and pulls 55# @ 27”.  I took out some of the deflex near the handle and flipped the tips to give it more of an r/d profile.  I left the limbs a bit wide (1.5”) and made the belly just slightly elliptical to prevent as much set as possible. The tip overlays are black wood and the handle area is built up with yew and blood wood laminations. The handle is dyed elk-hide with a Strunk style wrap.  Total mass is 18.5 ounces.  It turns out that Keenan was right - don't pass up staves just because they are deflexed. There are some good bows in that wood!

Here is a link to the bow that Keenan made from the sister stave.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,17111.0.html

And here are pictures of my bow:

[mullet]

  That, is one, COOL looking bow, Gordon. Fantastic, as usual.

[sulphur]

i am absolutely blown away!!  i havent been on here much lately.   Glad i got to see this one.   the character of that bow is amazing.  i think you have out done yourself.

[hammertime]

WOW!that's about all I can say-WOW,well I guess I can add that that's a really nice lookin bow,definatly one to treasure-Hammertime

[medicinewheel]

WOW Gordon! - This one is absolutely beautiful!

[Grunt]

Nice to see a Master's work.

[HickoryBill]

I love the way Yew looks, sapwood and heartwood. Beautiful bow as always.

[Cameroo]

Um... WOW?!!

[beetlebailey1977]

I agree WOW!!!  That is a awesome bow.  You did some great work on that for sure.  I really like the Strunk style handle wrap.

[Sparrow]

Beautiful bow !  (One of a kind).  Hows it shoot ?   You obviously have great skill.  Thanks for sharing  '  Frank

[Bullitt]

Speechless!

[gstoneberg]

That is exquisite.   George

[Gordon]

Thank you Eddie.

Thank you for the nice compliment Sulphur.

Thank you Hammertime.

Thank you Frank. I always appreciate your encouraging words.

Thank you Grunt.

Thank you Bill. I love the way yew looks also.

Thank you Cameroo.

Thank you Scott.

Thank you for the nice words Bettle.

Thank you Sparrow - it shoots very well. Thank you for the compliment.

Thank you Bullit.

Thank you George. I appreciate it.

[ken75]

now that is a work of art... and a bom winner !!

[Lemos]

WOW thats to cool !! I want to see that one up close