Agreed on bark. I never remove it, unless I am doing the rough it out first method. And agreed on 'cracks propagated from the exposed face' which is why I tend to avoid exposing any face at all (e.g. leaving in log form with the bark left on and the ends sealed).
Here's a thought when it comes to checking... Bow sized yew logs don't seem to have much of a 'pith.' In some woods, like fruitwoods, Oceanspray, Cascara, elderberry and others, when you're working with smaller diameter logs, the pith is a major drying factor. If you split a log (of these species), but do not remove wood down below the level of the pith, that stave will check, almost every time. And those checks are generally not the shallow, 'no-big-deal kind,' Instead they're the "I've just got some new firewood" kind.
So unless I plan on roughing the bow out right away, I dry these woods in log form with the bark on and the ends sealed. Yup it takes a bit longer, but at least I get a useable stave. If I rip it green, than I'm working to get it below the pith and at the point, why not just rough it out? And if I rough it out, I rarely get big checks. But I've got a method for that that involves plastic wrap and careful observation...
That being said, with Yew and other woods where the pith isn't a big old channel down the center of the stave, the bark on and rip it method might work fine. I'm just suspicious of it, and hate wasting good staves that I had to risk bodily harm to acquire.
Gabe
