help me with this hunk o yew

[sadiejane]

ok fellas, i have mentioned this before
but i really wanna make a bow outta this bit of yew and i feel really stuck
have had it nearly two yrs now and its still sitting
i read and read and read about making yew bows
start feeling like, ok, i can do this
pull out the wood and still have no clue where to start
i will shut up now and let yall take a look at it
thanks!!

[Dean Marlow]

I just finished a Yew bow a few weeks ago and boy I can't tell you on that piece. My piece was sawed out instead of split and didn't follow the grain. Yours has that dip running down the middle of makes me believe yours might have been sawed out also The way that dip runs make me believe that is the way the grain runs on it also.. Would you have enough wood left if you tried to split it right down that dip in the middle of the stave? I am not a Yew specialist so I will see what others say. Good luck. Dean

[sweeney3]

Yeesh.  Looks like a bugger to me.  While I appriciate and admire the skill it takes to get a bow out of a funky piece of wood, the brainwashed soldier in me still prefers balance and symetry, so I don't usually play with wood having much character.  Good luck to you though!

[tom sawyer]

My instinct would be to lay the bow out following the contour of the grain, then steam it straight.  You might be able to cheat it a little straighter on the dogleg end.

[vinemaplebows]

What kind of bow do you want to make?? How wide is the wood looks 3 1/2 to 4 inches wide?

[blackhawk]

Also what's the length of it? That wood determine for me what I wood do with it. If its around 6' I then wood make an elb or an american longbow strunk style. If you do have enough width to get two staves then it looks like maybe a short na sinew paddle bow from the one side that has some sap missing(just decrown the rest of the sap off),and the longbow from the other cleaner side. And don't worry if you get knots down on the side of a round belly with yew....it'll take it.

[Del the cat]

You seem to have plenty of width but not much length.
Maybe saw into billets (see pic) that will give you more length to play with whilst retaining the width in the centre.
I know it won't be following the grain, but it's Yew and it just wants you to make it into a bow.
You may need to guide it on a curve through the bandsaw, but it might just give you more room to find find two decent limbs.
I have a log like that (but without the bend, and that's how I'm planning to tackle it)
the red lines aren't very good, but hopefully it might give you an idea of how to maybe find two limbs in there.
Del

[sadiejane]

thanks guys
the stave is about 4" wide and about 53" long.
did consider when i received this stave to split in half
but some of those knots run in such a way im not sure it could be done successfully
and may leave me with only one usable bit of wood and possibly wide enough
so thought given its dimensions that a flatish sorta paddle style bow would be in order
someone suggested i just basically make a board outta it and go from there
im expecting to sinew this bow, whatever it may be

[blackhawk]

Its hard to tell from pics alone if you can get billets out of that or not. If you can then get billets from it,if not then make your west coast na bow out of it. With all those knots,and the better wood looks like its atop the stave and not the sides,whereas if you cut it for billets those sides that aren't as nice wood be your back. Tough call without actually seeing that one in person for me.

[tom sawyer]

If you could saw it in half you'd only need 40" billets, you could potentially avoid the dogleg end entirely and make an ELB.  Knots in an ELB aren't typically a big problem, I've seen warbows with knots on edges.

[Marc St Louis]

It is hard to tell from pictures but from what I can see your stave has a sideways bend in it. That being the case I would be tempted to cut off the outer 1/3 of the stave, the part facing the blade on your tablesaw in the first picture.  Then I would turn what remains clockwise.  This would have the effect of straightening the piece out so that it would have some reflex to it rather than a sideways bend.

Hope you understand what I mean

[Keenan]

My advice is differing from most but here it is and I have dealt with allot of yew. First off,  I never try to split yew. It will not follow nor dose it have to follow the longitudinal grains as with Osage or most hard woods.  Yew bends easy with heat and correcting a side bend is very easy once the bow is roughed out.  If you try to cut a straight bow out of a bent stave you will certainly have major grain run off.  Just lay out the bow by following the crown of the back as best you can. Take a pencil and mark out the crown full length then cut out the bow by leaving a good inch on each side of the limb.  If when laying it out you see a major not or problem close to the edge. then adjust you lines accordingly.  I have made several good bows with staves just like that. Pick the cleanest part and go for it. 
 The stave looks like it may have a slight twist in it so try to follow the back ridge accordingly. You can take twist out of yew with heat,,,Did one just yesterday that had major twist.  Hope this helps

[vinemaplebows]

I go a step further, and shoot for 2 bow staves. I would carefully mark 2 inches from each edge, YES your line will curve with the stave....cut it like that, and straighten both. That stave is twisted, and splitting is out in my mind!

Brian

[Bryce]

I go a step further, and shoot for 2 bow staves. I would carefully mark 2 inches from each edge, YES your line will curve with the stave....cut it like that, and straighten both. That stave is twisted, and splitting is out in my mind!

Brian

i agree there is 2 staves in there.

[Marc St Louis]

There are 2 staves if he wants to make narrow limb bows but if he wants to make a paddle bow then he will have to settle for 1