yew bow: plug a knot hole or steam bend first?

[Aksel]

Hi all, it´s been ages ago since I posted here..

I am working on a yew self bow. I have taken it down to floor tillering dimensions and realised a knot half way down on one limb needs cleaning out and filling. I (think I) want to do that with sawdust and epoxy. I also need to steam that limb, not right on the knot hole but 4-5 inches to the side of it to straighten the bow, but which do I do first?

Cheers/Aksel

[bambule]

First boiling/steaming - any kind of water will soften the wood for the time in the steamingtube and the epoxy won‘t hold.
I had it in the past while flipping the tips on some overlays and they rip off after steaming…

Greetz
Cord

[Badger]

   I never understood the logic behind filling knot holes, does it actually help anything or is it just for appearance's sake?

[Aksel]

Bambule: Thanks for your reply, it makes sense.

Badger: I usually don´t bother but on this bow the knot goes trough the limb from the edge of the belly side, out through the side, only leaving the wood 3 mm thick. I have compensated leaving the wood both thicker and wider, but I have my doubts about this particular hole... Should have left more wood outside it. Do you argue that the epoxy plug won´t give any support? I have no clue myself, just wondering what I can do to reinforce..

Any other suggestions how to deal with this are welcome

[Del the cat]

   I never understood the logic behind filling knot holes, does it actually help anything or is it just for appearance's sake?

IMO an unfilled knot (on the belly) can become the site of a pinch or chrysal... it's not the actual knot as they are often harder than the parent wood, but they are often surrounded by a ring of bark or black manky material which has no compression resistance. The black manky stuff just collapses putting undue strain on the wood in that vicinity. Knots also sometimes conceal pockets of rot or manky material or even voids.
A clean hole is a different proposition as the wood flows around it and allowance can be made for the hole and no filling is needed.
Similary on the back of a bow, filling does nothing for the tension resistance.
Del

[simk]

In this case I would get rid of the problem by completly removing the knot and surrounding wood on the outer side of it. Yew bellywise can handle the additional stress of a slightly slimmer belly. But dont reduce width on the back of the bow by much. Imho. Good luck!

[bownarra]

What he said again haha ^
Get rid.

[Aksel]

Thanks team. I got rid of it and it will work I believe.