Here are some pics, the near FD pic was at about 24", the right limb is a bit stiff and had been worked down a good bit since that pic. The iffy knot is on the left (lower) limb.
Iffy knot area taken a while back, before it was blended in and carefully smoothed.
Knot area after break, maybe it started here. there's plenty of sapwood there, but I think it was a stiff area and as I eased it of a tad, maybe that was enough to start the whole thing going bang. Interestingly, the break doesn't show on the belly where the knot shows through.
Also the other 'features' of the bow have remained intact... So although I can't say exactly where it started, I can see some of the points where it
didn't start.
Pic showing another area where it went for no obvious reason.
Thanks for the sympathy guys... It's the first Yew ELB I've had go bang... a good thing to get out of the way.
I think I was lucky with the knots on my 90# warbow, so I feel I was due a blow up!
Del