Chasing a YEW ring.

[Japbow]

     Oh boy, this ain't gonna be easy!

      I've heard that ring violations with yew
      aren't such a big deal as long as you
      have consistent sapwood thickness, but...

      It's hard to gauge how thick the sapwood
      is when you can't see the heartwood below.

      So...I'm not aiming for perfection, but I'm
      gonna give ring chasing a shot here. It's
      not particularly thin-ringed at about 10-12
      rpi so I've got a little wood to work with, but
      as you can see in the pics, the earlywood
      ring border is super thin and hard to see
      without perfect lighting. I worked on it for
      about an hour last night and only got about
      10 inches. I'm gonna go slow and it should
       be done in a week or two.

      Thanks for looking,
      Japbow.
     

[juniper junkie]

looks like a really nice stave. you have your work cut out for you, but in the end you will be confident in a job well done. violation yew sapwood rings is no big deal in my experience as the wood is soft and doesnt splinter like heartwood. I commend you on your efforts, keep us posted.

[Japbow]

      I added some arrows to show the
      ring borders...

      Cheers!
      Japbow

[YewArcher]

Piece of cake! Patience, good light, a dull straight draw knife and time will get u through it. I have chased many and many growth rings in very tight ringed yew sapwood with great successes. You can violate yew sap wood rings grossly but I use the rule of Like 85% on one ring and have never had a yew bow fail and have made over 100 yew self bows. Start at one end and chase one ring the full length and then start over again. I chase all my yew as I like thin sapwood. I have also made a fair share of yew heart wood self bows and get those on mostly one ring. Looking forward to seeing that a bow.

[Youngboyer2(billyf)]

I don't really think it matters too much on yew but if you want to chase rings that thin I would say go slow and use a scraper

[Japbow]

      Thanks, YewArcher!

      I've only got 2 rings to get through, but
      what you're suggesting seems like it would
      take a lot more time. What are the benefits
      of doing it one ring at a time?

      It's great ring-chasing practice as I'm a
      new bowyer, but I'm simultaneously working
      on several other bows. So, although I'm not
      really in a hurry, my bowmaking time is limited
      and I've got a lot of fish to fry, so to speak.

      If you'd like to convince me, I'll definitely put
      in the time....

      Thanks!
      Japbow.

[juniper junkie]

just a suggestion, but I would consider using a scraper to chase the rings since they are so tight. looks like you dont have too much sapwood to reduce, I try to get 3/8 to 1/4" of sapwood.

[Bryce]

Be prepared to be extemely frustrated.

[hedgeapple]

Jap, you're like all the rest of us.  You'll have 4 to 10 bows at some stage of development all the time.  And there's never enough time in the workshop.  Just enjoy the ride.  It's all about the journey not the destination.  So many bows, so little time.

Good luck and enjoy.

[Dances with squirrels]

Those curls don't look like they were made with a scraper, and if you're successfully using a drawknife or spokeshave, etc, you ain't chasin' thin rings 

I've chased them as thin as 60 rpi without a violation end to end. I'm currently removing the bark, sapwood and chasing osage rings on several character staves that are 20+ rpi. It's VERY dry and hard too. Meanwhile, I've got staves here with 3-4 rpi.... Why do I do this to myself?   

Keep us posted on your progress.

[Japbow]

      Hey All!
   
      I spent about an hour yesterday after work
      on the yew stave and I'm making some decent
      progress. I changed up my method a little bit...

      I'm using my drawknife to get as close to the
      earlywood ring border as I can and then I
      change to my scraper. With my scraper, the
      remaining thin layer of wood just above the
      ring border seems to want to come off leaving
      the shiny, smooth ring border! With a little care,
      there should be no worry about violating the ring.
      I'm surprised how well the scraper works. It's
      kind of an unusual scraper though, not a typical
      cabinet scraper. (which I do own but haven't been
      able to burnish the edge with any success.)

      I have also changed to the "one complete ring
      at a time" method as YewArcher suggested. The
      more I work on it, the better "feel" I'm getting
      for the wood and the quicker my progress is.

      Thanks for your comments and encouragement!

      Here's some pics...                       Japbow

[Olanigw (Pekane)]

I'm loving that japanese scraper.  You're making great progress!

[simson]

Are you shure this is yew?? I don't think so

[Bryce]

Are you shure this is yew?? I don't think so

The heartwood doesn't look right... Maybe it's the lighting idk

[Carson (CMB)]

Sapwood looks like yew to me.  Hard to tell from the pic, but I have seen heartwood about as light in color as it appears on that stave.  It was high-elevation, but fast growing. Thick sapwood too.  It really improved the bows performance to temper that light heartwood belly.