bending yew: wet heat or dry?

[radius]

i got some yew staves now, and eventually i'll want to recurve some tips...is it safer with yew to use steam or dry heat? 

thanks

[burn em up chuck]

steam, just be careful don't crush the wood when clamping.

                                                 chuck

[bigcountry]

i got some yew staves now, and eventually i'll want to recurve some tips...is it safer with yew to use steam or dry heat? 

thanks

I used dry heat with yew.  But I was bending at the handle.  Its so dry anyway.  But recurving tips takes a lot of heat.  Not sure. 

[adb]

Steam.

[Gordon]

Definitely steam with yew.

[ravenbeak]

i used to steam but i've switched to dry.

build a caul where you can hook the tip in and hang a small weight from the other end.  apply just enough heat to move it the amount you need.   saves alot of time steaming and waiting to lose the excess moisture.

i use steam for bending through the handle to align the tips

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

I had pretty decent results with dry heat by clamping the tips and hanging weights, but you gotta make sure you get the bending done by applying heat to the sides,..... than when the banding as occured fix it by heating the belly, pretty safe this way

[radius]

ok then, thanks everybody!

looks like we have a consensus:  both ways work