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Yew Stave Just Arrived...

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mikekeswick:

--- Quote from: Del the cat on September 27, 2016, 03:03:29 am ---Just to offer an alternative viewpoint.
1. If the sapwood is 1/4" it will not need reducing, or maybe just a tad at the tips. Bear in mind a warbow is typically 1/2" diameter where the nock meets the limb, that would be 50% sapwood 50% heartwood.
2. The best way to avoid damaging the sapwood is to leave the bark on. I will start to crack off as the the bow is beginning to flex during tillering. The cracks will run across the back and if they are effectively a strain indicator which is a handy way of checking if the tiller is good. They will appear every 3" or so spaced equally if the bow is bending easilly. The sections of bark will fall off or can be easily picked off.
3. If you really want to remove it, just take off the top layer leaving a pinkish dusty layer which will take a pencil mark for marking out.
Del

--- End quote ---

100% agreed. There is no way even with years of experience that I would use a drawknife to remove the bark/cambium. A little deflex will not hurt the performance at all. Forget this straight bow thing! Let it be how it is, tillering won't be much harder and anyway get the practise in on your laminates first.

DC:
It may sound like a sacrilege but to get the last bits that don't pop off I scrape the outer bark off(down to the purple) and then spritz it with water. Let it soak for a minute or so and scrape it off with a dulled edge. The inner bark doesn't seem to have any waterproofness(word?) and mushes up so it scrapes off easily. I do a final pass with the little wire brush that comes with your Dremel tool.

markc324:
thanks for all of the replies, gents! It's production season at my office so I was pretty caught up with work, thus no time to tend to the yew stave nor checking the responses here.

I have the stave roughed out to a square shape. it is looking more like a "bow" now, but there's still a long way to go.

One thing that kind of bugs me is the color of the wood...it's really pale?!?! not the kind of color I was expecting such as white sap wood and yellow/orange/brown heart wood...
the color is rather like faded pink. there is even one section of the heartwood being so pale that it's the same color as the sapwood.

I reckon the color can be darken when exposed to UV sun light, but is it okay to leave it under the sun? will that reduce the moisture content too fast too much that it becomes brittle? will the color darken as it age? some input is greatly appreciated as always. I'll take some photos of it in the day time later.

thanks!

Mark

Del the cat:
It will darken a bit with age.
Del

markc324:
thanks Del. what makes me so confused is that when it was still a quartered log, the color was much more orangey, but the inside is really pale, and I thought perhaps it's because the outside was exposed to oxygen and weather. but then when I refer back to your videos, i noticed those stave you roughed out is equal color all the way through. How long has your woods been seasoned? is this an indication of an evidence that my wood has not been seasoned long enough (seller said 1 year)?

thanks

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