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Author Topic: Pacific Yew Flatbow  (Read 10393 times)

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Offline Weylin

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Pacific Yew Flatbow
« on: May 16, 2011, 06:38:43 pm »
I had the great fortune of spending all weekend working one-on-one with John Strunk to make this bow. So to be clear from the get go, I had a lot of help from Mr. Strunk and couldn't have done it with out him. If you ever get the chance to work with him I highly recommend it, he is a top notch bowyer and a very friendly person. This is a Pacific Yew flat self bow. It is 50# at 25" and 64" nock to nock. It was an interesting peice of wood with some dips, twists and knots. challenging at times but a good bow to learn from for my first go. We had to do some steam bending to correct some natural follow, flip the tips and correct some lateral deviations that occured after flipping the tips. All in all it was a great experience and I'm really excited to go out and shoot some arrows through it. I couldn't shoot on the day that I finished it because it was pouring rain all day in Tillamook. Big surprise there... Here are some pictures unbraced, braced and at full draw. I'd love to hear what you think. Thanks for taking the time to check it out.






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Offline cowboy

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  • Paul Wolfe. Springtown, TX
Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2011, 06:43:32 pm »
Nice job Weylin! I noticed that Strunk style handle wrap before I read your story - now I know why :).
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HatchA

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2011, 07:52:02 pm »
Quote from: cowboy on May 16, 2011, 06:43:32 pm
I noticed that Strunk style handle wrap before I read your story

Hahaha...  SNAP!!  :)

Beautiful looking bow!  'cept for the strike plate bein' on the "wrong side" ;);D
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Offline Elktracker

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2011, 07:55:05 pm »
Great looking bow! I live in Tillamook and John got me started building bows he is a great guy and even greater teacher! Rain in Tillamook ??? really? ;D Nice job bow looks real nice! was it a stave or billets?
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my friends think my shops a mess, my wife thinks I have too much bow wood, my neighbors think im redneck white trash and they may all be right on the money!!

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Offline medicinewheel

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #4 on: May 16, 2011, 08:14:35 pm »
Very nice bow...!
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Offline Weylin

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #5 on: May 16, 2011, 08:17:17 pm »
Thanks for the kind words everyone. Yeah, the hand wrap is definitely a Strunk handwrap through and through. it's a really attractive design, that I have seen on other's bows who have worked with him. I'm glad I was able to incorporate into this one.
@ HatchA, haha, yeah. I took the picture by myself with the timer on the camera, It's a left handed bow but I clearly wasnt' paying good attention as I rushed across the room to pose.  :D
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Offline Blacktail

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #6 on: May 16, 2011, 08:25:59 pm »
john strunk and yew bow...WOW..what a great combo...that is some nice work...and a wealth of info you got...are you hooked now...LOL..john
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Offline Weylin

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #7 on: May 16, 2011, 08:58:47 pm »
I figured since I was under his supervision I'd go for broke and do a yew bow since I'd be too scared to mess one up on my own. And I did indeed get a wealth of information, I feel MUCH more confident about tackling my own bows now. We even had time to finish a Hickory flatbow that I had started years before and never finished. And I'm definitely hooked. I'm trying to come up with a way that I can go out into the Cascades and cut my own yew wood. Does anyone have any experience doing that? I'm not so sure the National forest service would be to excited about that.
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Offline ErictheViking

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #8 on: May 16, 2011, 09:38:17 pm »
beautiful bow there. Love yew and the style. you are a lucky man to have Mr Strunk teach you what he knows, going to be hard to top that one now. Congrats
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Offline El Destructo

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #9 on: May 16, 2011, 10:04:12 pm »
Sweet Bow....I wih I lived closer to Him...I have two Yew Staves that have been in the Shop for 5 years now...too afraid to ruin one!
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Offline gstoneberg

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #10 on: May 16, 2011, 10:24:02 pm »
Beautiful bow.  I learned from John Strunk too, what a great guy to get instruction from!  Even after all these years, if I had the opportunity to spend more time with him I would in a heartbeat.

George
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St Paul, TX

blackhawk

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #11 on: May 16, 2011, 10:35:58 pm »
Very nice....about cutting yew I have no experience but I talked personally to Jim Fetrow about harvesting my own. And he said once you actually find a worthy tree(a chore in of its self) then you go to the national forest service and you and a forest ranger go to the site of the tree you located. And if he deems it ok then you cut it down and haul it out that same day. Good luck. I've thought about taking a vacation out there to harvest some n play in the cascades.

You might wanna learn how to properly select a tree. Lots of yew trees but few make great bows.
« Last Edit: May 16, 2011, 10:40:46 pm by blackhawk »
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Offline Gaur

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #12 on: May 16, 2011, 10:36:38 pm »
Great looking bow.  congrats on that and nice you got to spend some time with a master. 
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Offline adb

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #13 on: May 19, 2011, 12:34:24 am »
You are one lucky SOB having JS help you through a yew ELB build. I wish!
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Offline Weylin

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Re: Pacific Yew Flatbow
« Reply #14 on: May 19, 2011, 01:54:58 am »
Thanks for the compliments everyone. I decided that the string follow was bugging me enough to do something about it. The stave had some natural string follow to start with and I think the bow took a bit more during tillering. the bow came in a bit under the desired weight, [it is about 40-45# and I was hoping for 50-55#] So today I decided to heat temper the belly with a heat gun and bend out the string follow. You'd laugh if you saw my jerry rigged contraption for inducing the bend but in the end it did the trick, as precarious as it was. The end result was pleasing, the string follow is gone and there is a tiny bit of reflex in limbs. I'm giving it a few days to rehydrate and then the true test will come when I string it back up and start working it. hopefully the induced reflex will stay put and I wont have to take too much wood back off to re-establish a good tiller.
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