Is there enough Yew here

[Dean Marlow]

Here is one of my Yew staves I received on here in a trade and  need some advice from some of you Yew boys on here. I am wanting to make a stiff handled flat bow out of it someday 66" long. As you can see there is not a-lot of wood to work with when it comes to thickness and width. I figured I could glue on an extra handle piece as it is only about an inch thick where the handle will be. The width is what I am wondering about. It will be only about 1- 1/2" wide when I square up the sides to get enough wood. Can Yew handle that width at 50lb. at 28"? It is real good quality Yew. Dean

[Keenan]

Dean that ring count looks great. Also a lenticular cross section limb shape is great for yew and your sapwood ratio is perfect. Just scrape the bark of and start scraping the belly edges to roll them into the sap and you will have the perfect cross section profile for a yew flatbow.  I think you are going to have enough wood there without adding on if you do a bend through the handle flat bow. Should hit 50-60 easy with that ring count.

[Elktracker]

Dean that ring count looks great. Also a lenticular cross section limb shape is great for yew and your sapwood ratio is perfect. Just scrape the bark of and start scraping the belly edges to roll them into the sap and you will have the perfect cross section profile for a yew flatbow.  I think you are going to have enough wood there without adding on if you do a bend through the handle flat bow. Should hit 50-60 easy with that ring count.

+1 on this

[bcbull]

great piece of yew dean i see 3 ways to make that one the first is as keenan says the other is bend it in the middle and curve the tips make it into a static recurve like marc st louis does  and the 3 rd is chop it in half make a butiful take down with it  that piece has a lotta possiblitys  keep in mind yew is like osage it doesnt take a lot to make a good bow same as osage  brock

[Dean Marlow]

Alright then I am feeling a-lot better now. I have little experience with Yew but new it was a good piece. I will seal the ends and put it up to dry. Dean

[bcbull]

dean seal the end s get it in house put it up in the rafters  u dont wanna let it freeze  come july bring er to mojam well see what we can do with it brock

[HoBow]

dean seal the end s get it in house put it up in the rafters  u dont wanna let it freeze  come july bring er to mojam well see what we can do with it brock

When you say you don't want it to freeze- is this because it is still green?  I've never worried to much about letting my staves get cold (in the garage).

[mikekeswick]

Plenty of width but remember yew has low bend resistance eg. it's not very stiif for it's thickness. So leave plenty extra thickness when roughing it out. 80lbs wouldn't be out of the question to my eyes.

[HickoryBill]

Looking good...I'd floor tiller it and let her dry out.I'd say you got plenty of wood there for a good bow.

[coaster500]

Dean that little piece of Yew is going to spoil you...  use about 10% of the hand pressure with tools to remove wood. Stuff works like butter and can scare ya pretty quick