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New Yew in progress

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lebhuntfish:
Nice stave, I know nothing about these so I'll be keeping my eyes on this. Can't wait to see the rest! Patrick

Newindian:
Hard to tell in the pictures but beware of bargain staves that have been sawed straight

WillS:
That looks like a medicine bow woods stave... Which means it won't be remotely seasoned.  If you got it from Dave, don't start bending it for a good month or two.  And as NewIndian said, check the grain.  He likes to bandsaw everything.

Looks nice though, should be a good bow once it's dry!

Edit: By the way, those don't look like drying checks.  It's hard to see from the photos, but based on where they are in the stave (drying checks are usually at the ends) and how that particular one looks, I'd say that's a wind shake.  They can be bad news (which may be why the stave was so cheap?) as they tend to go right down to the core of the branch/trunk.  Fill it with superglue before you carry on, and pray they don't go too deep. 

AH:
Roughed out the front profile with a hatchet, and started on the thickness taper. It's still pretty hefty.
The wind shakes, if that's what they are (which seems to be the case after some internet research and examining) seem to get tighter as I remove more wood, which is somewhat encouraging...im hoping they don't go very deep. There is, however, one side with a rather deep and large wind shake which im a bit worried about. I'll fill it up with superglue and hope I can just pull off what happened here: http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=47625.0

Regarding seasoning, the wood is definately dry. It's crisp, and according to the seller was seasoned for two years. (i hope)
the grain does run straight and true, which is also a relief.

WillS:
Yep, those are shakes.  Glue and luck are your only options.  If you can clamp the shake closed, do so and use a good 2 part epoxy.  If you can't (using sensible force) then just fill with superglue.  I had an ash bow that was FULL of them - all over the sides, through the belly and super deep.  Some were clamped and epoxy filled, and some I superglued.  Worked out ok in the end.

Edit: doh! Just realised you used that exact bow in your link!

Out of interest, was it medicine bow woods you got the stave from?  "Burl Quilt" on eBay?  If it was (and it does look like his) you're very lucky if it's truely seasoned.  He sells them dry, but not seasoned.  The time he says they've been drying for is usually rubbish, but you might have got lucky.  He's a Russian roulette stave seller ;)

Anyway, it's looking very nice! Looking forward to seeing the finished bow!

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