Got my first Yew Stave.

[BillBow]

I just got my first Yew Stave, English Yew grown in Derbyshire. It has been air drying for just 2 months so I imagine I am going to have a long wait before I can see what I have got.
I believe I can start now "Finding the back of the bow" (removing the bark and following one ring in the sapwood)  is that correct.
The stave is about 5" x 5" and 7' 3" long, so I think there could be two bows in there but I won't know till I remove the bark.
Any advice will be very welcome.

[Pappy]

You will get better advice from others on yew ,but that looks like one fine stave to me.
   Pappy

[WillS]

That was a good eBay find I got a couple more of those from her as well.  When I went to see them, I remember that stave.  If it were me personally, I wouldn't try for two.  If you think about the final shape and depth of a bow within that stave, if you put two side by side you'll end up with no thickness on each edge. Whack a single bow down the middle.

It's nice quality, go slow and take your time and have fun in 3 years when it's ready!

[blackhawk]

I wouldn't try for two either..ID TRY FOR FOUR!!! No joke...IF its 5x5 n still 4" wide down by the belly end,and IF you can layout two self bows on top,you then should be able to saw out a belly split,and then saw that in half lenghtwise for two belly cores for backed bows...even if you can only get one top(but you should still easily get two)you still should be able to get the two belly core splits for backed bows...

But I'd set that beauty aside and let it season properly for a few years before touching that,and in the meantime sharpen your game to where you are confident enough and can easily see what I see

[WillS]

Without wanting to dampen spirits, I've seen that stave in person, and although it may be just 5" deep and wide (I measured 4" deep on it once you remove the bottom of the triangular belly cut), it was cut on such a chamfer that you can only get one full thickness longbow down the middle.  It's English yew as well, so not as dense as Italian/American and needs a slightly wider profile for a warbow (I assume by the OPs other posts that's his interest, plus it was advertised as a warbow stave)

I think going for more than one would be a tad greedy, and run the risk of ruining a potential bow.  All personal opinion of course, but I couldn't find two bows in there when I saw it.  I'm no expert though, and may have been erring on the side of caution. 

If you wanna make a warbow, I'd go for one.  If you're looking for light weight longbows you may just be able to squeeze two side by side, but make certain there's enough thickness in both handle areas without the sides angling in too much on the stave.

This is what the rest of the guy's staves look like, with two bows laid out in cross section



The chamfer is pretty steep so you run into the risk of losing two, rather than gaining one.

[BillBow]

Thanks for the advice so far guys, I'm not greedy so will be perfectly happy with one bow from the stave, but just didn't want to be wastful if there was two in there.
The other thing I was asking, is it OK to remove the bark and reduce the sapwood down to the required thickness now, or should I wait two/three years before touching anything.

[Bryce]

There is deffinatly 2 WLB in that stave. No 'if' 'and' or 'buts' about it. Saw it straight down the middle, and it will dry faster.
You don't need to wait 3 years either. 1 year is sufficient.
Many ppl let there yew sit for a minimum of 6 years and turn the stave every 6 months. It's thought that through the warm summers and cold winter that the air going in and out of the stave 'tempers' the wood and evens out the resins. giving the wood more spring. Which I find this to be without a doubt, true.

Just depends on how long you want to wait to make this thing into a bow, or two.

[Tom Leemans]

I know if it were yaller wood, there'd be 2 bows for sure.   If you were making pony bows, there's be more! If you are looking for war bow weight, you may want to play it conservative. I believe I'd have 2 pieces of that pie though, assuming it's not riddled with knots. Yew is so pretty, it's hard to resist getting your money's worth.

Any chance you could post a pic of both ends?

[Del the cat]

Trawl through my 'Bowyers Diary' (google it), there is plenty of advice and build alongs of Yew ELBs on there.

Just realised how fresh it is...
IMO don't remove the bark, just paint the ends and leave it for 9 months, then start roughing it down a little now and then so that after 12 months it's ready to start flexing on the tiller.

I would recommend laying out the one 'best bow' you can... IF the offcut/offcuts make a another bow or a kids bow then that's a bonus. Don't get greedy and try for two and end up with two underweight bows.
Don't stress too much on following a ring on the back until it's roughed out and/or floor tillered. It's fiddly work and if you leave it later there is less width to worry about. Rough it down to 1/4" or whatever you fancy, but err on the asfe side. watch out as the heart sap boundary isn't always the same each side of the satve and doesn't necessarilly follow a ring.
I do it in stages as the bow progresses, it would drive you mad to try and follow a ring on the whole of that stave.
Del
If it was a 5x5" square, then yes two bows , but it's a quadrant, and unless you want a V narrow belly I'd play safe.

[Slackbunny]

That looks really really nice. I'm sooo jealous right now. I can't wait to see what you do with it.

[adb]

If that stave was mine (and I have a couple just like it), I'd leave the bark on, set it aside in a nice cool well ventilated area of my shop, and let it season for about 2 years. There would easily be two big warbows in there if you do it right, and you're interested in that sort of thing.

[burn em up chuck]

  i concoure, yew in my opinion is easy to work if your patient. one exceptional bow is better than two ok bows. practice on other bows until this stave is ready. by the way beautiful stave.

                                                                  chuck

[Joec123able]

Sorry I don't know much about yew but I wanna ask, what's the difference between English yew and pacific yew Is it just the region it grows in ?

[adb]

Different species.

[Joec123able]

Different species.

Ok thanks