Yew Longbow

[Gordon]

Even though I have been building my own bows for a few years now, I had never made a traditional yew longbow. The main reason for that is good yew wood is not easy to come by and I wanted to hone my skills before I began cutting into my small stash. For this first attempt I selected a set of sister billets that I had harvested from a buddies property in the high Cascades. It’s not prime yew – there were several knots and one dog-leg that I tried, unsuccessfully to heat out. But the rings were tight and the ratio of sapwood to heartwood was good. I spliced the billets at the handle using a Z-splice and made it 66” ntn. The limbs are 1 ¼” wide at the fades and taper evenly to ½” at the tips. The design is asymmetrical with the top limb 2” longer than the bottom.  I like an asymmetrical design because the bow balances better in the hand when being carried. It smoothly draws 60# @ 27” and delivers an arrow with a gentle and satisfying thump. The overlays are some sort of tropical hardwood and the handle is natural elk with a Strunk style wrap. The bow is finished with 9 coats of Tru-oil.

I’ve always been a bit envious of my friend’s traditional yew longbows, but now I finally have one I can call my own. Here are some pictures:

[medicinewheel]

hey gordon!  -  beatifull bow; tiller looks fantasic so do the tip and handle details! ...and the arrow, too.
frank

[cracker]

I think you can consider your skills properly honed now get to work on that primo stuff youve been hoarding.Ron

[Pappy]

Very nice Gordon,beautiful bow,well done ,all aspect's.
   Pappy

[Keenan]

 Absolutely beautiful Gordon.    There doesn't seem to be any wood or style that you can't master. Your attention to detail is top rate as always and love the contrast of the tips to sapwood. Tiller looks perfect, and the braced pic looks like it should grace the cover of one of the Bowyer Bibles.       Keenan

[cowboy]

She is a  beauty Gordon! Haven't seen ya post one in awhile - always a pleasure to look at .

[deerhunter97370]

Thats an incedible bow Gordon. Good Job as always. Joel

[OldBow]

You are the master at vine maple. Yew is one of my favorite woods partly to its beautiful color. How would you compare your new bow with the extraordinary vine maple bows you have made?
This bow is certainly a contender for October Self Bow of the Month.

[Hillbilly]

Fine looking weapon, Gordon, and as always, great tiller and detail/finish work. Where's the official full-draw hat?

[knightd]

Very !striking bow..!!!I realy like well all of it..

[Gordon]

Don, I don't know if yew will yield a better bow than vine maple when proper designs are employed, but I can certainly understand why many would favor it. I find the look of a longbow with deep and narrow limbs and an oval belly pleasing and such a design is just not practical with vine maple. Also clear yew is quite pleasant to work creating long satisfying curls when it is being scrapped. Of course, when it has knots, it behaves just like vine maple  The other thing I like about yew is that it requires no stain to being out the natural beauty of the wood - unlike vine maple. All that said, I still like vine maple because it is abundant (at least in this part of the country), it has character, and you can create incredibly powerful and durable bows from it.

Thank you all for your compliments.

[George Tsoukalas]

Great job, Gordon! Tiller is excellent. Jawge

[Bowbound]

Nice tips, a nice bow, i hope we will be seeing more of yew

[Pat B]

Very nice Gordon.    Pat

[Kegan]

Truly and undoubtdely a work of art and an inspiratin to all of us beginners .

I've always heard yew should be backed with rawhide or the like for durability's sake. Do you think it's really necessary?