60# low elevation yew longbow

[Badger]

     I had kind of a hard time bringing this bow into dmensions and draw weight that were within a reasonable mass figure. I also underestimated the thickness at the handle when I roughed it out and had to cut it down to 64" from 72" as I was getting too much bend in the handle. I ended up at 64" long, 60#@28",16.5 oz took about 1/2" set in each limb. I never have had a good eye for tiller on these longbows so I just do the best I can and "settle".  For the horn nocks I used black linen thread saturated in epoxy and then wrapped around the tips after they are shaped they need to be recoated with epoxy and then sanded to a nice finish. Bow is a little shocky and has decent cast behaves much better with a heavier arrow around 600 grains. Will try and do a finish on it after the Tenn Classic.

[Del the cat]

Wow! I thought that was workin' pretty hard, then I read you had to cut it down to 64" (gasp!)
No set! That's some impressive feat for that much bend .
It sorta looks like a slightly scaled down warbow, looks like its a normal length longbow drawing 32"  .
That's some pretty good tiller, but at that length you may be loosing some of the smoothness advantages of an ELB..I'll bet the cast is pretty punchy. I can see it's working a tad hard in the centre compared to some, but I've made 'em everywhere from like that to whip ended.
Just finishing a 60# myself it's about 70.5" ntn and that's scarey enough on the tiller.
Interesting take on the nocks, I find ELB horn nocks a right pain, but I've done enough to be getting a bit slicker at 'em now... still one of my least favourite bits
Nice work
Del
PS Just held a CD up in front of the screen, that is some great tiller.

[blackhawk]

Looks good enough to these eyes...your def bending full compass and as you know thats where your getting a lil thump in the hand upon release. Sometimes i like the lil thump you get with this type of tiller,it lets you know its alive with power. Just as long as its not too much

[Del the cat]

Looks good enough to these eyes...your def bending full compass and as you know thats where your getting a lil thump in the hand upon release. Sometimes i like the lil thump you get with this type of tiller,it lets you know its alive with power. Just as long as its not too much

Yeah that FD pic just makes you want to try it... (drool)
Del

[Badger]

  Here is a pic of the splice, first time I used this method. I built up the back with sawdust and glue so I had a flat surface exactly opposite the flat surface on the belly. I then glued a pattern to the surface and sawed it out with my bandsaw. I was alwasy afraid to bend a splice through the handle but gave this one a good workout when it was drawing 70# the handle was bending like crazy, made me feel better to know I can use a splice that is bending.

[Ian.]

Nice work, the ELB's are funny things to make, if you get the tiller perfect at brace you still have to keep taking wood off the tips to keep the tiller good, otherwise it will keep wanting to bend in the middle.

[Del the cat]

That's some impressive splicing, good to know it can take that sort of strain.
You don't seem to have too many knots in that Yew... If you want some more I can send you a bag full as I have plenty I don't need.
I have some Oregon Yew billets to play with later in the year so that isV reassuring.
Del

[blackhawk]

that is cool your getting that much bend thru the splice....i wonder if it would last long term for many years,and lots of shooting? ...only one way to know that and shoot the snot out of it. do you think it will have longevity with lots of use?

[Badger]

  I gave it a good work out at 70# @ 30" draw where the handle was bending a lot more than it is now, I am going to drop it down to 50# and give it to my grandson so it should last forever. I believe the war bow guys routinely splice war bows and work them through the handle.

[raghorns]

Very nice!

[ErictheViking]

impressively tight splice and gorgeous tiller. would like a close-up of those tips just for curiosity sake.

[Badger]

  Eric, I will post a photo of the tips when I finish them off.

[vinemaplebows]

Bummer was hoping it would make a nice longbow in the 70 inch range. Well, it looks great anyway!

[Bevan R.]

I wish I could settle for your eye of a tiller. Looks GREAT to me.

[DarkSoul]

Steve, great to see some of your work. You've been on Primitive Archer and Paleoplanet for quite some time, always helping others with valuable information. But now, since your retirement, we (finally) get to see some of your bows! Thanks for showing your work; it helps me in understanding your way of thinking.

This bow is somewhat bendy in the handle, but not bad. I've made a similar yew bow a while back, because the stave had too little heartwood in the handle area to get more of the limbs bending. It shot just fine with very little handshock (although it was only 35#). Made a very smooth and comfortable bow.
So how dense is this "low elevation" yew? Do you know the ringcount, or perhaps even the SG? I'm trying to get a better understanding between the relation ringcount--SG--performance of both English yew and Pacific yew.