Holmegaard build along

[bootboy]

Very very nice job, mate.

[radius]

hey, i just rec'd a yew stave in the mail from Medicine Bow...you think Yew would make a good holmegaard?

[adb]

Yew as a Holmegaard? I suppose. I haven't tried one, but I guess it would work. Personally, I wouldn't waste a nice piece of yew on a Holmie... I'd probably make an ELB. Especially if you haven't made a Holmegaard before, it's pretty likely you'll break it.
Use osage, or better yet, a white wood for your first Holmie. Good luck!!

[radius]

Thing is...I don't have a "nice" piece of yew.  I have a 70" piece which is knotty, deflexed, not straight....elb is english long bow i guess?  I don't intend to break the bow!  God knows I've broken enough already.  My son broke one I made for him just the other day.  He shot it alot.  Then I made a new string for it...he was checking it out...and now the pieces of that bow are in the back of my truck.  I think if I take it slow and be careful, I can make it fly....lotta work though...

I am the guy from BC who PM'd you about your osage source...what is the address/website of that mill?

Thanks

[PK]

Ya think it would if the tips were fat, I was olways told that yew is weak at the tips, true?

[radius]

that's what i'm thinking.  yew is supposed to be very elastic, and so it should stand up well to having a shorter bending area.  If it has the thickened tips, then it will be nice and strong, and i'll put something over the tip to help the sapwood manage the stress of the string...i'm gonna try it!
[hey!  how do i post pictures on here?

[Dustybaer]

Yew as a Holmegaard? I suppose. I haven't tried one, but I guess it would work.

trust me, it works    the oldest holmis (about 10,000 years) were elm, because that soon after the ice-age, yew had not started growing in europe yet. later finds were yew (i think about 6,000 years old).  them prehistoric boys new good bow wood when they saw it.

[radius]

thanks!  now, what about posting pictures? 

Ack!  I wanna get to work on that stave, but I'm a contractor with an antsy client, so here I go on the Lord's Day to install some trim.
 

[radius]

okay, found time to work on the yew holmie...first time working with yew, actually (all my others have been hickory, ash, and the abominable red oak)

18 and a half inches of bending area each limb...10 inches cam...one limb bends fairly evenly and the other does not bend at all...the thing looks like a hockey stick...need to adjust it with heat :  straighten and reflex it, and then it will be good.

does anybody recurve the holmegaard tips?

[adb]

You don't have to recurve the Holmegaard tips. The string angle is already shallow, compared to conventional bows.

[radius]

but will recurving them make them more snappy to shoot, or increase poundage in a bow I seem to have made too light?

[adb]

Recurved tips will store more energy, therefore improving cast. However, I don't believe they will increase draw weight. Recurving Holmegaard tips would be difficult, if not impossible, considering the thickness of the tips. 

[radius]

welll, we'll see how she goes...this bow has a lot of work left to go before i can even tiller it:  it's deflexed and twisted in a big way....i have cut out the basic HOlmie pattern, and have the bending limbs between 5/16 and 7/16...that's good enough to steam bend it ... now i just need to find the time!

btw, how do i post pictures on here

[adb]

Well, I finally managed to completely finish this bow. Final tally: 55# @27", 66" OAL, 65" NTN. Prairie rattler snake skin backed. Strunk style handle wrap. Pin nocks, with yellow heart tip overlays.
With the original tiller, I was getting a fair bit of hand shock, so I lightened the tips, and added very thin tip overlays for safety.

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[adb]

More pics

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