Author Topic: Yew buildalong  (Read 23118 times)

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Offline fishfinder401

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  • noel laflamme noellaf2@cox.net
Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #15 on: September 18, 2011, 11:56:17 am »
del, don't keep quite, its good to see people have the same idea on what to do as i do, by the way, the knots are around the mid to upper limb area
noel
warbows and fishing, what else is there to do?
modern technology only takes you so far, remove electricity and then what

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #16 on: September 18, 2011, 07:17:15 pm »
What I meant about taking your time, is when, not if, but when something goes wrong, which is bound to happen every now and again, don't be like me. Ill go out to the woods, take me 8 hours to cut and split out a big old tree, almost kill myself in the process, split into chunks big enough for me to carry to the van, and then season them for a year. Yadda yadda. Put over a year into a stave, and then one thing goes wrong while tillering and I get frustrated and ruin it in my frustration. It's best to take it slow and if you get worked up or are having a trouble spot, sit it in the corner for a while. You know what I mean. Take your time.
"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline fishfinder401

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Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #17 on: September 18, 2011, 08:07:30 pm »
i will, i was so careful when removing the bark i used a tiny knife and did it flake b flake till i could see wood, i guess it also good i work late in the night? erly morning, soif i get to something like that i can just go to bed and sleep of the frustration and think.
thanks
noel
warbows and fishing, what else is there to do?
modern technology only takes you so far, remove electricity and then what

Offline fishfinder401

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  • noel laflamme noellaf2@cox.net
Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #18 on: September 21, 2011, 12:33:03 am »
sorry for lack of pictures and progress, ive just benn taking a little of after school, and didn't remeber the camera, the firt is the main knot i left mid limb, second is what is left of the lager knot that was on the side, then the next one is of a small grain dig in at of course the part i thought was already to narrow,. the next is what the stave looks like de barked, and the last is dedicated to toomanyknots, try to guess why ;) again sorry for the lack of progression, yesterday it looked like only a debarked stave, but today it all f a sudden appeared, im sure other know what i mean
thanks
noel
warbows and fishing, what else is there to do?
modern technology only takes you so far, remove electricity and then what

Offline Del the cat

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Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #19 on: September 21, 2011, 05:18:28 am »
Looking good.
I always find there are some knots where you just can't tell if they will disappear or still be there in the final bow.
In your last pic there's one going across the limb which looks a bit iffy, like it will probably need to stay.
Although I'm often surprised how what I thought was a 'problem knots' often ends up disappearing as the bow is worked down.
The sap layer looks nice, not too thick, hopefully you'll be able to leave it whole.
Del
« Last Edit: September 21, 2011, 05:22:30 am by Del the cat »
Health warning, these posts may contain traces of nut.

Offline fishfinder401

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Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #20 on: September 21, 2011, 09:51:21 pm »
i was just cleaning the back a little and noticed that because of the rings being so tight, i accidentally violated the back in a few areas the size of a finger nail, is this ok for yew, i only have experience with woods like Osage where you dare not violate a ring
thanks
noel
warbows and fishing, what else is there to do?
modern technology only takes you so far, remove electricity and then what

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #21 on: September 22, 2011, 12:02:49 am »
I think I have heard nidrinir say it is ok, but I really don't remember for sure. I would like to know too as I have always been curious...
"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline fishfinder401

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Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #22 on: September 22, 2011, 12:14:26 am »
i thought i hear that somewhere, but wanted to make sure :-\
warbows and fishing, what else is there to do?
modern technology only takes you so far, remove electricity and then what

Offline RyanY

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Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #23 on: September 22, 2011, 12:47:04 am »
I've heard that as well but I'm not sure where. Because yew is so tight ringed it can take that kind of violation as long as it's not straight across. I've made maple bows with some island violation that worked out just fine. If its the size of a fingernail I wouldn't see any reason to worry.

Offline Del the cat

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    • Derek Hutchison Native Wood Self Bows
Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #24 on: September 22, 2011, 05:46:09 am »
Yew isn't so fussy about violating rings on the back. Obviously do it as little as possible and preferably in areas where it isn't so important.
E.G On my big old fave Yew ELB I had to remove a fair bit of sap wood at one point, the rest of the back is just the underbark surface.
The Yew primitive I'm working on now is being decroned in parts for the same reason.
Have a look at my Bowyers Diary there's a pic.
I'll post a pic of the ELB tip if, just hang on a minute!.

Not the best pic... conventional wisdom would say that back was horrific and would fail. I've had that bow for about 30 years and it's been back to 90# at 31.5" on occaision.
That is actually mid limb!!! There is a big dip in the sap wood there and not much heart, so I relieved the sapwood, see pic below.

Given the choice I felt going through 8 sap rings whas better than having a thin point in the heart wood.
There is a fair bit of sapwood taken off at one tip too, for the same reasons.
Maybe I'm just lucky, but with a stave you just have to go with your gut...
Hope this sets your mind at ease a tad  :)
Del
BTW, that's the bow on my home page if you want to see it at at full draw (google Delsbows)
« Last Edit: September 22, 2011, 06:15:44 am by Del the cat »
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Offline fishfinder401

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Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #25 on: September 22, 2011, 05:58:38 pm »
thanks everyone, that does make me feel better, and by the way Del, i have looked at your site many times, i hope my bow turns out as good as yours ;)
thanks
noel
warbows and fishing, what else is there to do?
modern technology only takes you so far, remove electricity and then what

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #26 on: September 22, 2011, 11:31:52 pm »
Yes thank you del, thats good to know!
"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

mikekeswick

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Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #27 on: September 23, 2011, 05:30:31 am »
Lucky man! That's a nice stave.
Yeah yew sapwood can handle minor violations.
I've seen some yew bow where people haven't followed a ring anywhere eg. just cut through the sapwood rings to leave a flat surface....i'm not recommending that but it can be done....

Offline Gus

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Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #28 on: September 23, 2011, 06:30:12 pm »
Excellent Thread Y'all!

I've got two yew staves, one top notch and one third rate (problem child) that are ready to go standing in the corner of my office.
Been studying them for about four months now, along with a couple of Pacific Dogwood 1st's.

The wood is ready to go but the butcher isn't... :)

I'll be watching and hopefully learning.

-gus
"I taught him archery everyday, and when he got good at it he throw an arrow at me."

Conroe, TX

Offline fishfinder401

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  • noel laflamme noellaf2@cox.net
Re: Yew buildalong
« Reply #29 on: October 01, 2011, 09:59:10 pm »
sorry for the long wait, here are some pics of the little progress iv'e made, i have it bending a little on the floor tiller, the handle areas is bending nice, but i need to take more off mid limb and maybe the tips, i made the decision  that i will go with double side knocks out of antler
sorry, i didn't get any floor tiller pics, but it would have almost been non noticeable.
thanks for looking
noel
warbows and fishing, what else is there to do?
modern technology only takes you so far, remove electricity and then what