is the back one ring??? is it ok to do that with yew sapwood???
No it's not a continuous ring, and it's fine.
The back has been decrowned, but generally follows one ring down the centre.
Yew isn't as fussy as Osage and as long as the violations run along the bow, or at a shallow angle to the length of the bow it isn't a problem. I have them running across at an oblique angle or a V at some points.
I could have slavishly followed it down to one ring but then I'd have had thin areas of sapwood.
What I've done is fine, I've done similar on Yew longbows of a reasonable draw weight. See this thread, my post on page 2, there's a pic.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,28088.15.htmlFollowing a ring on Yew is the ideal, one has to be realistic, and sometimes you have to compromise to keep a decent balance of heartwood and sapwood.
Another reason for doing it like that is just to raise such questions as yours, I like the look of it too.
Have a look at my blog for more detail (link in one of my earlier posts on this thread)
Del