Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Easternarcher on November 17, 2013, 08:52:38 am
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Abut a year ago my brother on the West Coast shipped me a couple planks of rough sawn yew lumber he got from a friend.
The sap wood was mostly toast so I ripped it up into 1.75in. wide slats last night. It isn't the best...a fair number of smaller knots. some turned black.
I left the slats about 5/8in thick - flat sawn....
I'm wondering which to back it with....hickory, ash, maple or bamboo? I already have backing strips in all these woods. They may be a bit thick, A strong 3/16in.
For yew, is one any better than the other? I know maple may be down the list some...
Never worked yew before, so any help would be appreciated.
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Bamboo and yew is a wicked, wicked combo. Hickory is fine Im sure, ash as well.
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I built some cherry bows recently using hickory and maple backs. Hickory is known to be much stronger than maple but it made no difference in the bows at all. A while back I used some maple and ash to back some cherry and had the same results I could tell the difference. Most of the yew board bows I have backed with hickory or maple. One of my favorites was backed with red oak. Yew makes a great bellywood but it seems almost every hardwood backing I have used acts about the same.
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Maple backed yew is one of my all time favs. I've made flatbows, ELBs, and warbows up to 120# with maple backed yew. I'm going to even say that maple backed yew is better than self yew (gasp!).
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Bamboo backed yew is a thing of beauty 8)
As badger says there's several good choices and all will do well if done right...but my personal preference is bamboo for a few reasons,plus I think it just looks plain sexy and more aesthetically pleasing to my eye than the other plain woods used for backing
All comes down to personal preference basically
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Well, consensus here seems to say that they are all good backings, but maybe leaving ash toward the less popular.
hmmmm, I got enough sister slats to do one of each! :)
That would be fun......thanks folks.
for 50-55lbs, I'm guessing that half inch belly slats will be adequate?? and 1/8-3/16in. backings?
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Don't consider anything but bamboo
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Don't consider anything but bamboo
Bull!
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Don't consider anything but bamboo
Bull!
Hold on, guys. Let me go grab some popcorn. ;D
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Me too! ::)
I've seen several yew bows backed with ash and maple around here.
M.St. Louis built a nice one with ash baking if I recall.
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Lol I'm not saying it's a bad combo or it can't be done kids.
I'm saying bamboo puts them to shame.
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if it was me i would sinew back it...BUT,i LOVE TO SINEW BACK....this is just me...i have seen some bamboo backed yew and it is a great combo..john
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Don't consider anything but bamboo
I have a problem with statements like this. Broad generalizations like this just aren't true. There are many great backings and combos for yew, bamboo among them. If you'd have said: "Bamboo makes a great backing for yew, giving excellent performance" I wouldn't have a problem. First hand experience has told me there are many other good backing choices for yew. Bamboo is not the only choice to consider.
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Yup, I hear ya ADB.
Like I said....I have some nice maple backing strips and boo, as well as the other two mentioned.
The first two I try will be maple, then boo. in that order, cuz I'm curious now how maple and yew will perform for me.
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You'll get a resounding BAMBOO from me as well. Simply an awesome combination in so many ways. In fact, I'm about due for another one. I've made bamboo backed yew bows in various d/r and recurve profiles, regular and tri-lams. I also have a bamboo backed yew bow that Dean Torges made for me. Yep, one of my favorite combos.
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Don't consider anything but bamboo
I have a problem with statements like this. Broad generalizations like this just aren't true. There are many great backings and combos for yew, bamboo among them. If you'd have said: "Bamboo makes a great backing for yew, giving excellent performance" I wouldn't have a problem. First hand experience has told me there are many other good backing choices for yew. Bamboo is not the only choice to consider.
this gentleman was wondering which combo he should consider.
i never said those other materials didnt make good backings.
for me. bamboo is the only choice to consider. aint nothing better, still not saying that others wont work well.
so lets stop trying to pick fights because im really not into it.
If you'd have said: "Bamboo makes a great backing for yew, giving excellent performance" I wouldn't have a problem.
thats exactly what i was saying, just in fewer words.
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Not lookin' to pick a fight. I made my point. Say what yah mean.
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Seems like a single one letter word could have averted this disagreement entirely.
I "don't consider anything but bamboo."
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There yah go.
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Hahahaha too funny
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Aw man :-\....I got my popcorn and waited for the fireworks,but all i saw was sparklers >:( :laugh:
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We did a community BBY for St. Judes several years ago. It flat smoked an arrow and drew back sweet!
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Hey all!
I've been experimenting trying to make bamboo backing
strips from scratch and a couple are almost ready. My question
is: when backing Yew with bamboo, do you remove sapwood
and go bamboo/heartwood only or just apply the bamboo over
the sapwood? No shortage of bamboo here so I'm thinking
to get a belt sander to make backing strips a little easier to make.
(Not trying to hijack,I thought my question was relevant to the discussion.)
Japbow.
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Is the sapwood too damaged to salvage?
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The ones I've done were bamboo on yew heartwood slats.
I made a BBY in the exact same draw weight, length, and limb profile as a BBO and a laminated maple/fiberglass bow. I then went out and did a little flight shooting. The yew bow left the other two in the dust.
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Is the sapwood too damaged to salvage?
If you're asking me about the slats I have, then..yes, the sapwood was completely uh-salvageable...no question.
These 3in. thk planks had areas devoid of any sapwood. I think they were stored in a barn somewhere for quite awhile.
Hence, the backing choice question.
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Nah bro I was asking japbow.
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@Pinecone
Nope. All my Yew has intact sapwood. Yew's not so scarce
here, but do you think it would it be sacrilege to sacrifice
intact sapwood for a little bamboo?
Hmmm... I wonder if anyone's backed a bow with Yew
sapwood????!!!
Japbow
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I think del backed a yew bow with another staves yew sapwood.
And then boo backed the other naked stave.
If you want to sacrifice a perfectly good yew stave for bamboo backed that's fine.
But to answer the original question. Under usual circumstances bamboo backed yew bows are yew heartwood backed with, of course bamboo. The only thing to worry about really is the supplier of bamboo selling you the proper material. I get my moso bamboo from echo.
Let us know how it turns out :)
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I've got a nice yew sapwood backing strip....just waiting for the right belly to glue it to ;)
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@Pinecone
I think you may have missed that "by scratch" I meant
that I'm cutting my own bamboo and then curing it to
make backing strips. We just had the first frost so I'll
be going out this week for some.
@mikekeswick
uhhh...ya mean the right "back", right?
Got a pic?
Japbow.