knot on side of yew

[upstatenybowyer]

so there's a knot on the edge of a yew stave I've got. wondering how those of you who are familiar with yew would proceed. Although I left plenty of width in the location, I think it goes far enough in that removing it entirely would require taking away more width than I'd like.  thanks!

[Josh B]

How wide are you at the knot?  It probably angles down towards the center of the belly, so you probably won't be able to entirely remove it.  I would narrow the bow and try to get a good 1/4" of sapwood over the knot(looking from the side).  Hopefully that would remove some of the old rotten bark around the knot and give you a safe back. I would dope that knot heavily with superglue regardless.  You might find a rotten void in deeper that would need to be excavated and plugged, but that's Del's area of expertise.  I'm no yew expert by any means, but that's the approach I would use.  Josh

[Del the cat]

+1, like Josh said.
Prob' enough width for an ELB. I'd suggest picking out any loose stuff from around the knot and filling even though it may fall off the side of the bow later. Whatever you do don't touch the sapwood above it... it's the sapwood that is important. The sides and belly can be any old stuff  (slight exag' )
This post from my blog shows an extreme example of a knot on the side, but you'll notice the sapwood above it is nice and clean.
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/mystery-knot.html
Del

[wizardgoat]

How much width is there and where on the bow is it?

[wizardgoat]

Just noticed it's near the tip, narrow the bow and that knot will
end up a little deeper. Do like josh and Del said, I've gotten away with
some gnarly knots on the sides of yew bows

[upstatenybowyer]

The width at the knot is about 1 3/4" It's about midpoint between the fade and tip. The stave is 65" long. I was going for a static handle flatbow w/ static tips (Kinda like Gordon's winter project without the sinew). The width was going to taper from 2" at the fades to 1 3/4" mid-limb to 3/8" at the tips. I have no experience with ELBs.

How bout the width tapering to 1 1/2" or less mid-limb instead and employing Josh and Del's suggestions from there?

Del, I had no idea your blog existed. It's awesome!

[wizardgoat]

2" wide at the fades is quite wide. I'd recommend going 1.5" at the fades, and taper from there. That knot will disappear

[upstatenybowyer]

Here's the reason it's 2" wide at the fades. I've got this one filled w/ CA. When it's dry I thought I'd drill and plug with yew, grain running the same direction on the plug and stave.

[Josh B]

For future reference, DO NOT cut in the arrow pass before you have the bow at least 90% tillered.  When the bow is still taking a lot of effort to bend, you really stress the fade area.  When the arrow pass is already cut in, you run a high risk of splitting out your limb at that cut out area.  Since it's already there, be very gentle with the tillering.  Yes I have made that mistake...twice.    Josh

[upstatenybowyer]

Thanks Doc, I'll go very carefully. Another vital piece of info I would never have gotten without PA. Much appreciated

[Josh B]

Thanks Doc, I'll go very carefully. Another vital piece of info I would never have gotten without PA. Much appreciated

Nah...you would've eventually learned it the same way I did.  Lol!  Josh

[Springbuck]

Does the knot come out on the belly?  Belly pic where it comes out would be the most important view we could have.

[upstatenybowyer]

^ The knot does not come out of the belly. I followed exactly what Del did on his blog: excavated the knot, filled with epoxy and yew dust, waited until dry, drilled and plugged with yew (grain running in the same direction as the stave). I've got about 1/4" sapwood and 1/4" heartwood above the knot. With the width, I may just loose the thing all together when I start to remove thickness, but you can never be too sure. Here are pics