Backing yew lumber slats?

[Easternarcher]

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.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Bamboo and yew is a wicked, wicked combo. Hickory is fine Im sure, ash as well.

[Badger]

   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.

[adb]

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!).

[blackhawk]

Bamboo backed yew is a thing of beauty   

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

[Easternarcher]

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?

[Bryce]

Don't consider anything but bamboo

[adb]

Don't consider anything but bamboo

Bull!

[Weylin]

Don't consider anything but bamboo

Bull!

Hold on, guys. Let me go grab some popcorn. 

[Easternarcher]

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.

[Bryce]

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.

[Blacktail]

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

[adb]

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.

[Easternarcher]

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.

[Dances with squirrels]

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.