Author Topic: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?  (Read 12522 times)

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Offline poplar600

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I've decided it'll be best to start getting my own yew staves and start the seasoning process. That way I can cut out the middle man and not pay silly $$ for my staves.

I've heard 8 months to 5 years.

All the best

Offline Del the cat

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2015, 12:58:29 pm »
A sensible sized stave will season in a year, it can be rouged down to approx size after 9 months.
Seasoning is more about air flow than heat.
Del
« Last Edit: December 05, 2015, 01:55:18 pm by Del the cat »
Health warning, these posts may contain traces of nut.

Offline wizardgoat

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2015, 01:28:52 pm »
You have access to yew and just realized now you should be cutting it?
Start lookin, it's tough to find the good stuff.
I season a year minimum before roughing out bows, and wait as long as I can before bending them.
Lots of guys season for years and years

Offline poplar600

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2015, 02:16:46 pm »
A sensible sided stave will season in a year, it can be rouged down to approx size after 9 months.
Seasoning is more about air flow than heat.
Del

I was thinking of splitting into halves, painting the ends and leaving for 12 months.

Offline Bryce

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2015, 08:55:11 pm »
There is a lot of dogma around 'dry' and 'seasoned' staves. But if you had a 'dry' stave versus a 'seasoned' stave (seasoned meaning years of hot and cold weather tempering the wood)
Then what would you choose? Bc I would choose a seasoned stave 10 times out of 10.
Clatskanie, Oregon

Offline poplar600

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2015, 04:55:31 pm »
Would rather choose the seasoned stave over the dry stave. 5 years to season?

Offline Bryce

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2015, 06:42:46 pm »
Would rather choose the seasoned stave over the dry stave. 5 years to season?
5 years is a good while. The best yew I ever worked was 65years seasoned.
Clatskanie, Oregon

Offline poplar600

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #7 on: December 03, 2015, 07:03:19 pm »
Would rather choose the seasoned stave over the dry stave. 5 years to season?
5 years is a good while. The best yew I ever worked was 65years seasoned.

Wow! Where did you get that?

Offline Bryce

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #8 on: December 04, 2015, 01:15:55 am »
A friend:D
Clatskanie, Oregon

Offline sumpitan

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2015, 01:47:25 pm »
Here's what Edward Frentz, Champion archer and author Robert Elmer's go-to-guy when it came to yew, had to say about how to season yew wood, back in 1926:

”There is no other way to season yew for bows so good as letting it dry naturally in the air, but the five years customary with English bowyers is by no means necessary. Leave the wood, with the bark on and the ends painted, for three or four months in a room where the sun cannot strike it and where there is no artificial heat. Then remove the bark, reduce the wood to nearly the size you want it, and leave it for another two or three months in a room that is warm but not artificially overheated, such as an attic in the summer. It will then be seasoned sufficiently to work.”

Bowyers of those days cut, seasoned and built yew bows by the thousands, as they were (almost) the only type of bow around, for any type of archery. Chief use of yew longbows then was target archery, practicing for and participating in the American Round and the York Round (Single and Double), ie. shooting up to 280 arrows at distances up to 100 yards in competition. High cast and very high durability (target bows would get shot thousands and thousands of times under all kinds of weather) were a necessity. A six month drying period was deemed perfect for that.

Tuukka

Offline WillS

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #10 on: December 05, 2015, 02:26:42 pm »
I think draw weight makes a big difference.  Pushing wood to it's absolute limits requires the wood to be ready, and personally I wouldn't make a bow much over 100lb with English yew that's been quick-dried.  I've done it before, and the results are always disappointing.

Offline poplar600

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #11 on: December 05, 2015, 03:13:10 pm »
I'm yet to work a truly nice yew stave that doesn't present too many problems.

I'm thinking of walking down the 'backed yew bow' route. Yew/hickory or ash

@WillS
How were the results disappointing? Too much set?

Offline poplar600

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #12 on: December 05, 2015, 03:16:18 pm »
I'll see if I can't find a few decent logs and split them, and work from there.

Offline WillS

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #13 on: December 05, 2015, 03:57:30 pm »
Yep, lots of set and even some chrysalling which is usually pretty rare with Yew (unless theres a tiller problem or pin knot that isnt treated properly) but I've come across it when wood hasn't been seasoned.  All over the belly evenly spaced.  Again, I'm talking about wood that is dry but was dried quickly.

I'd love to make a Yew laminate one day.  I've seen lots of really stunning bows made from two lams of Yew backed with elm or hickory.

Offline poplar600

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Re: How long does it take to season yew staves for these type of bows?
« Reply #14 on: December 09, 2015, 10:55:50 am »
Haven't been able to find any decent wood. Full of twist and large knots. Seen some nice standing trees, but can't cut them.