Author Topic: Ash backed yew  (Read 8060 times)

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Offline broad_head

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Ash backed yew
« on: March 12, 2008, 05:50:32 am »
Hi All
           Thought I would show you some pictures of my warbow. It was made from a yew billet given to me by a friend and backed with ash. The sapwood on the yew was no good and there were a few nasty knots that were all in the wrong places. I cut it in half and joined the two pieces at the handle with a simple lap joint with about 6 inches of contact, thought this would test the strength of resorcinol glue? The ash backing was cut from a billet using the outer crowned surface; this I thought would give it a self-bow look, and this again was joined near the handle with a lap joint. I didn’t think the bow would survive tillering due to the bad knots but it did. Having said this I noticed while photographing it a longitudinal crack from one of the knots, I am not sure if this is due to compression or not? I will keep an eye on it! Looking at the tiller it looks out, but I have noticed that I have not got the correct position of the handle on the tiller stick. Top limb was intentionally left stiff due to the large knots and unbraced there doesn’t appear to be any undue set.  The bow is 75 inches nock to nock and draws 80lb at 31 inches. The main objective of this exercise was to see if ash would make a suitable backing material for yew, as it is difficult to get hold of with nice sapwood. Using the natural outer of the ash gives the bow a more self-bow look rather than a flat piece of hickory.
       I had trouble getting all the photos on one post so have split them up onto separate ones.
                                                                                                                                        Peter (UK)


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Offline broad_head

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Re: Ash backed yew
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2008, 05:57:27 am »
More photos

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Offline broad_head

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Re: Ash backed yew
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2008, 06:05:22 am »
Yet more photos

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SimonUK

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Re: Ash backed yew
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2008, 09:01:20 am »
Wow, I'm totally impressed by the lack of set.  According to Yeomanbowman, this combination of woods is historically accurate from Tudor times (I think).

Hopefully someone will give you some good advice regarding those cracks ...I'm personally thinking dribble some superglue into them.

Offline Kviljo

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Re: Ash backed yew
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2008, 09:56:43 am »
I think you have been worrying too much about those knots :) Don't think it is necessary to leave them that proud, but of course, it is better to be safe than sorry. The cracks are just the wood drying. Thin superglue is a good advice.

Great bow though! And the amount of set is impressive - how much reflex did you glue it up with?

Nice work :)

Bishop

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Re: Ash backed yew
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2008, 11:09:24 am »
Peter
nice work, you have made those knots look like natural decorations. beautiful Bow.
Bishop

Offline Marc St Louis

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Re: Ash backed yew
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2008, 06:52:04 pm »
Yes with the Ash backing you could have taken the knots down and left the area just slightly stiff. Very nice though
Home of heat-treating, Corbeil, On.  Canada

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Offline Yeomanbowman

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Re: Ash backed yew
« Reply #7 on: March 12, 2008, 08:12:15 pm »
Yes Broadhead, Simon's right about backed Tudor bows.  I think they were of the recreational variety though as you could avoid inclement weather because the glue may have been a problem.
Just to add to the boys comments about the knot, I'd be inclined too fill the cracks with beeswax or fat after the the super glue to keep the water out.
A great job, what' the performace like?   

Offline broad_head

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Re: Ash backed yew
« Reply #8 on: March 13, 2008, 05:44:38 am »
Thanks for all you comments,
                                           You have made me feel a bit better about the cracks, I thought that they could be terminal, but as suggested I will fill them with super glue and beeswax.
     Kviljo the original reflex was about 2 inches, but this seemed to increase as I removed wood from the belly. I think it is now at about 1/2.
Yemanbowman the performance is not bad but I don't think it's going to be a record breaker at this length, should be good for the heavy arrows though.
                      Peter (UK)

nelly

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Re: Ash backed yew
« Reply #9 on: March 23, 2008, 06:27:22 pm »
Nice bow, as always.

The junior bow you made is still chucking them out at approaching 120fps. Do you fancy having a go at a specialist flight bow?  Let us know if the knots hold up on the latest masterpiece. 

Offline juniper junkie

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Re: Ash backed yew
« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2008, 02:43:45 am »
Nice looking bow there! ;D  looks like you got a couple more in the process. the stave on the right looks like it has a lot of bumps in it, should make a cool bow. I would definitely fill the cracks with thin superglue, keep doing it until it wont take any more. just wait a while between fills for the glue to dry, otherwise it will take a long time. if the crack continues, I would wrap with sinew.  best of luck with it.