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Winter project - Yew Recurve bow

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Gordon:
I rough out the bow’s thickness taper with a hatchet using the taper lines as my guide.



Here is the bow after the thickness taper has been roughed out.



Next I will use a draw knife and spoke shave to create taper lines.

Gordon:
The bow is now roughed out. I will now begin to floor tiller the bow so that the limbs will be thin enough to bend into recurves.  I start by running my fingers along the length of each limb looking for thick spots. I use a spoke shave and micro-plane to even the taper and start taking it down.

Gordon:
I keep removing wood and checking the bend and thickness until the limbs will bend enough to allow me to bend in the  recurves.



Once I get the limbs bending a bit, I use a setup I learned from this site for examining the bow’s tiller. I like this block setup more than using a long string because it better approximates the bend that you would see with a short string.  You can use a clamp to stand back and look at the bend, or I will push down on the handle with my hand and watch how the limbs bend in response.

Gordon:
Between wood removals I am checking for high and low spots. I mark them and take extra wood off from the high spots and less wood from the low spots.  As the limbs start to come around, I use my scraper tools so that I have very fine control over the wood removal.





The bowyer’s edge is particularly good for localized wood removal. I use the card scraper for even wood removal along the length of the limbs.

Gordon:
The stave was not straight so the limbs are somewhat out of alignment. I will now use steam heat to get the limb tips to align with the center of the handle.  Later when I have a short string on the bow, I will use dry heat on the limbs for making small adjustments to the string alignment. I start by steaming the handle area for about 45 minutes.



After the handle is good and pliable, I quickly transfer the bow to a press and bend the handle so the tips move in the desired direction.  You have to move the tips an extra amount because they will spring back about 1/3 of the way when you release the bow from the press.



Next up – bending in recurves.

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