Main Discussion Area > HowTo's and Build-a-longs
Winter project - Yew Recurve bow
Gordon:
It has been a while since I have made a significant contribution to this community so I thought I would post a build-a-long of my latest winter project. I’ve always wanted to make a yew recurve bow and I had the perfect stave that a friend had gifted to me several years ago. It is a clear piece with just the right length and width to make a short s bow.
Before I get started, here are the tools that I will use to take project from stave to floor tillered bow. From top to bottom: tape measure, chalk line, cabinet scraper, bowyer’s Edge (scraper), #49 Nicholson rasp, Microplane rasp, spoke shave, draw knife, hatchet.
Gordon:
The first thing I do is mark the high points on the crown down the length of the stave and draw a line connecting the marks. I do this because I want the high point of the crown to align with the center of the limbs along the bow’s length. This will help prevent the limbs from twisting to one side or the other when the finished bow is drawn.
Once I have the center line established, I use a flexible template (leather or cardboard) to mark the width of the bow. I leave it a bit wider than what I expect the maximum width of the finished bow. In this case I mark the width at 2” for a bow that I expect will be about 1 ¾” wide at the fades.
After marking the width along the length of the stave, I draw a line connecting the dots.
Gordon:
I use a hatchet to rough out the width and then a draw knife to finish the job.
And here is the stave cut to width. BTW, I can’t say enough good things about Keenan’s Stave Master bench. It is the perfect tool for doing this kind of work – thank you Keenan!
Gordon:
The sapwood on this stave is about ½”. I’m going to use a spoke shave to reduce the sapwood to about ¼”. Given that I’m going to back this bow, I’m not too concerned about violating rings.
After thinning the sapwood, I carefully smooth the back with 100 grit sandpaper and a block.
Gordon:
Now that I have width established, I use a chalk line to mark a straight line between the center of each end of the bow. I will then use this line to help me determine the optimal placement of the handle. The stave is not perfectly straight so ideally I want the center line to pass as close to the center of the handle as possible while naturally angling away from the arrow pass. I find that I shoot a bow best when the string bisects the handle’s center of mass. If the string is off-center then the bow tends to torque on release and my arrow slaps the riser. Also I like to make the limbs asymmetric. When I make the top limb slightly longer (1”-2”) than the lower limb, the bow will ride perfectly level in my hand when I am carrying it around.
Afer finding finding the optimal orientation, I make the handle 4” long with 2 ½” fades.
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