Draw weight Quandary

[Archeress]

hi all...I have a simple question..If you make a bow and it turns out at ...say...100 #..  Then at what point will it cease to be  100 # ?  After you have shot it in ?.  does it lose a few pounds in the intial settling in stages?.  Or do compensate for the loss by making it a little heavier than what you wanted  so it settles in at required weight?. 

[Archeress]

oh...we are talking Alpine Yew here.

[toomanyknots]

I think the general consensus is 3 to 5 lbs with shooting in, although I don't think I really experience near that much after final sanding and all. I don't have any experience with yew though either. Do you have pictures? I would love to see some,  .

[adb]

I've never had any bows (including warbows) lose weight after 'settling in.'

[Archeress]

more of a curiosity than anything really..i havent got around to weighing it after i have now fully shot it in.  just feels that my earlier efforts last week were somewhat feeble compared to what i am doing this week

[Del the cat]

I don't have any hard data especially on warbows but I'd suggest that it taking on set is probably the best indicator of lost weight.
Having said that the weight loss is prob going to be about 5# with maybe a max of 10# if it takes on say 3" of set.
This opinion is based on the first ever Yew ELB I made which was only 70" long, and had a rather stiff grip due to a big knot. It ended up being over drawn and taking 3" of set, but it still shoots well and only lost about 7#
A full length warbow isn't over stressed and shouldn't loose much unless it has problems.
IMO Yew is Yew is YEW,,, it more about the actual stave than any man made national boundaries
Del

[Archeress]

A yew is a yew is a yew...yep..this is true..

Anyway here are photos of my new Bow.  courtesy of Ben Perkins (Barebow Archery. )..Cant fault it..or the man himself.  great bow.  120 # @ 32.  2080 mm in length. 

[Archeress]

A close up of the belly.

[Del the cat]

Nice
It's irritatingly diffiscult to get good pics of loooong bows.
I find the sap wood just bleaches out in normal lighting and backgrounds (like grass)  ... I don't have the luxury of a studio...
You are a tease leaving that nock covered... you could at least give us boys a peek
Del
BTW. I find it hard to keep up to fitness, I can train up to 100# (any more would kill my left elbow), but the fitness drops off so quick if I don't keep at it. Mind it's my 62nd birthday over this holiday (Bah... humbug   )

[Archeress]

try this Del..this is 132# @32...the one i was struggling with but now am settling into it. 

Better photos.

[Archeress]

And here is the 120 without the nock cover.

[Del the cat]

Cheers
The Stratton has some nice character.
Del

[WillS]

That's a beauty Kel, Ben's very talented!

I could be wrong, but I think it has more to do with when the weight comes on to begin with.  If it has the typical qualities of a very good, well made IAY stave then the weight should come on fast, and feel heavier than it really is, and soften up as you roll the elbow down, unlike the alternative with lesser quality yew where the opposite is the case.  The bows with high early weight tend to shift the weight fairly quickly as they get shot in, whereas the other type tend to stay roughly the same. 

I believe that's one of the reasons the very high performance warbows are kept unbraced during a shoot, and only strung seconds before the shot and then unbraced straight after again.   I guess the nice thing about laminated warbows is that they feel like the really good IAY staves but don't lose performance as quickly.  Joe Gibbs told me at some point that he made a 160# Canadian yew warbow that lost 20# within a year or so.

How does it feel (not in draw weight but in terms of where the weight comes on) compared to Steve's bow?  He's quite well known for having early weight that softens as it gets towards full draw.

There's nothing wrong with either type (although the early weight bows tend to perform with more punch) but I'm pretty sure that depending on the type, one bow will shoot in and feel softer than the other.

[Archeress]

Well Wills..the stratton bow looks damned amazing..has a great feel..feels well balanced and is an absolute B**** to shoot.  I shall explain...i asked for a 115 # @ 32..I had to weigh it and did so with two different scales.  Also once with bow on top and string being drawn down and also other way around.  Initially i got 132 #..i was gobsmacked.  so i have been working it in last few months and it is currently at 127#.  Without getting into politics i can simply say that it is hard yakka to pull this Brutus.

Early stack is hard..

As for the Perkins stave..it is an easy draw.  I weighed it 1 hour ago and it was 119 pound.  Could be my scales.  who knows..dont really care..I have 2 IAY bows and i feel blessed.  So..it is an easier draw and sort of remains easy till the last couple inches really. Though having said that i am drawing it to almost 30 inches.  ..I sort of keep forgetting im a chicky LOL..so i am doing well.  This bow is a good stepping stone to the stratton bow.   

[WillS]

Yup early weight is a real pain, but the performance makes it worthwhile!  The trouble with the really dense IAY bows (providing they're made properly of course!) is that you can't judge how much progress you're making if you can't get the elbow up and back due to the early weight - it makes it a real challenge!  Just from looking at your photos you can see that Ben's bow is much less dense than Steve's - you almost can't see any heartwood rings on that Stratton bow it's so tight.  I'm sure Steve also keeps a good few tricks up his sleeve as well when it comes to making high performance bows, so his really top bows do stack HARD very early, more so than most other bowyers' work. 

I'm very envious of you, I have to say.  You have the ideal setup to get onto those monster Stratton bows, by using that beautiful new one.  Just think - you have a "training" bow made from Italian yew...!  I need to get back to Steve at some point and get myself a really peachy Italian stave.

G'luck with the progress, I reckon you'll be comfortable with Ben's bow pretty quickly, and should stand you in good stead for Steve's.