So I got this yew stave...

[Stickhead]

This is my first Pacific yew stave, and I don't want to screw it up.  It's a real beauty I scored at the Classic - very straight and clean, 74" long, 3.5" wide, very tight growth rate rings, 1/4" sapwood.  I've taken off the bark, but that's all.

I suppose I could make two ELBs out of it if I had a mind to, but I don't.  I'd like to get a fairly heavy hunting Bow out of it, around 65-70# at 24".  (Yes, I have stubby arms.)  My go-to hunting bow design for osage is a pyramid self bow, around 62" ntn, starting about 1.5" wide at the fades, with slightly flipped tips.  My questions are:

1) Can I use these same dimensions for a yew self bow as I do with osage?

2) Should I remove any of the sapwood?

3) Is it risky not to back it?

4) Does it need tip overlays?

5) Will it respond well to dry heat bending?

Thanks for any advice!

...Tom

[DC]

This is my first Pacific yew stave, and I don't want to screw it up.  It's a real beauty I scored at the Classic - very straight and clean, 74" long, 3.5" wide, very tight growth rate rings, 1/4" sapwood.  I've taken off the bark, but that's all.

I suppose I could make two ELBs out of it if I had a mind to, but I don't.  I'd like to get a fairly heavy hunting Bow out of it, around 65-70# at 24".  (Yes, I have stubby arms.)  My go-to hunting bow design for osage is a pyramid self bow, around 62" ntn, starting about 1.5" wide at the fades, with slightly flipped tips.  My questions are:

1) Can I use these same dimensions for a yew self bow as I do with osage?

2) Should I remove any of the sapwood?

3) Is it risky not to back it?

4) Does it need tip overlays?

5) Will it respond well to dry heat bending?

Thanks for any advice!

...Tom

(1) I would say no but i haven't worked much Osage. Yew is a lot lighter and takes more wood to make a bow.

(2) No,1/4" is nice. I wouldn't have removed the bark. It pops right off when you floor tiller leaving you with a beautiful natural back, but that ship has sailed

(3) No, unless you messed up the back real bad.

(4) Yes, I would but I use skinny strings 8 strands of FF

(5) Not as well as Osage or BL, I generally use steam and then lock it in with the gun

[Bryce]

1) 1 1/8” - 1 1/4” for a D belly longbow and 1 1/2” for flatty

2) 1/4” is a solid amount. I usually reduce sapwood to 1/4”. If you violate the rings removing the bark or making the back a little bit more decrowned DONT WORRY ABOUT IT! Just sand and smooth out the back like any other bow. Think of the sapwood as like a strong laminate backing
(This bow below is 75# unbacked)







3) back it, unbacked. It’s really up to you. For bows over 70ish pounds I MIGHT back using goat or kangaroo rawhide Bc it’s really thin. Or silk if I’m just gonna cover it with some sort of skin.

4) yes. Like a lot of woods it just doesn’t look good with string dents around the nick area.


5) yes, depending on how much your after. I even taper the limbs to 1/2” at the ends. For flipped tips and soft to mild recurves you’ll be fine with a heat gun. If you want more. Boil for 30 mins and it becomes a wet noodle.


Have fun bud!

[BowEd]

That's a dandy buddy.Good luck with it.

[Stickhead]

Thanks for the good advice, guys!  Time to start carving!

[turmoiler]

If the stave is 3,5" wide why don't you split it in two pieces, one 1,5" and the other 2" and make a flatbow and a longbow?

[Bryce]

If the stave is 3,5" wide why don't you split it in two pieces, one 1,5" and the other 2" and make a flatbow and a longbow?

That would be awesome, but unfortunately saw blade width and the triangular taper of the stave would mean he would end up with two stave too narrow and not enough meat, nor a handle.

[Stickhead]

If the stave is 3,5" wide why don't you split it in two pieces, one 1,5" and the other 2" and make a flatbow and a longbow?

That would be awesome, but unfortunately saw blade width and the triangular taper of the stave would mean he would end up with two stave too narrow and not enough meat, nor a handle.

Yeah, that was my conclusion.  I just went down the middle where the best wood is, and didn’t push my luck.