Flip tips or not

[Muskyman]

I’ve got a yew bow I never really finished. It took some set but shoots okay. I’ve been thinking about flipping the tips on it. It’s been sitting around for about a year now. Is that a good or bad idea.
It’s about 72 inches long and about 50 lbs at 30 inches draw. Also thought about shortening it about 2 inches.

[mmattockx]

I’ve got a yew bow I never really finished. It took some set but shoots okay. I’ve been thinking about flipping the tips on it. It’s been sitting around for about a year now. Is that a good or bad idea.
It’s about 72 inches long and about 50 lbs at 30 inches draw. Also thought about shortening it about 2 inches.

Both flipping the tips and shortening it will add more strain and cause more set. Whether that is a problem or not is up to you.


Mark

[superdav95]

Just curious mike what was the original shape of this stave when you started?  Did you induce any backset or heat corrections in limbs?  It’s been my experience so far with yew that it will not hold heat induced backset as well as other woods.  Just my experience with it anyways.  If it were me I may just go with it and shorten it up a touch and heat flip the tips.  It doesn’t seem to hurt the performance really that I’ve noticed.  A little “set” with yew isn’t the end of the world.  Even if this stave started out pipe straight when you started with it and you ended up with the amount of set shown here you are in good shape.  I’ve had them shoot very well and still comparable as far as speed goes despite a little set.  Not all set is equal.  I know this statement may be controversial but just been my observation so far.  You have lots of length to work with.  When you shorten up and flip the tips you will have to adjust you tiller a bit to stay within your desired draw.  It will increase.   Best of luck with it.  Also be careful with the heat on the tips.  I use steam or oil with heat gun for slight flipped tips.  Heat up area first then add weight to begin the bend.   

[Muskyman]

I’d have to see if I could find pictures of it before I started working on it Dave but if I remember correctly it had a little deflex in at least one limb. I also seem to remember doing some bending on it but can’t remember where or how much. I think I’ll shoot it some more and see what happens and how it feels. Best I can recall it shoots good and has a pretty smooth draw.
Not going to panic about it   Was just sitting around thinking and thought about it. Think I’ll put a hundred or so shots through it and see how it does and then make a decision. Was just curious what guys on here though about the idea.

[Muskyman]

I went back through my posts on here and found the yew bow when I first started building it. It hasn’t taken as much set as I thought. Here’s a picture of it when I was working on it. Looks about the same to me.

[superdav95]

Ya it’s looking pretty similar to me too.  If you do go the flipped tip route just be mindful of the heat and consider steam so as to not risk over heating it.  Steam works really good as you know for yew.  If doing it dry for milder flipped tips heat up first then add little weight. I heat and keep moving the heat.  I heat sides and little on back little too. 

[Muskyman]

That was my thought too Dave. I pretty much use steam exclusively for my bending these days. I haven’t had much luck with dry heat, no patience. I might flip it but not shorten it. Still not 100 percent sure what I’ll do yet. If I do it I’ll post about it so anyone else that wants to try it can see what my results are.
Thanks for the advice.