Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: ravenbeak on June 24, 2015, 11:21:09 pm
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Hi guys,
Would greatly appreciate some feedback on this one.
I have worked quite a bit of yew and never come across this before. Any insights are appreciated.
I am finishing up longbow, about 55 lbs. The wood has great colour to it, but it has all of this patterning on the belly. I agree, they do look like the patterning that chrysals can show as, but they have been there since early on in the process and I kept thinking that I was going to work down through them, which never happened. Also the bow has taken very little to not set, and lastly, with a standard chrysal, when a drop of thin crazy glue is applied is is wicked up into the chrysal similar to a crack or drying check. That does not happen with these marks. They are along the whole belly of the bow. Is it possible to have figured wood?
This one has got me scratching my head. I am tempted to sand down the one coat of oil and try staining the bow to see if they show through or get hidden,
has any one seen anything like this?
thanks,
Jamie
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Hard for me to tell from the pics., plus I've never worked yew so I'm not familiar with the wood. They really don't looked like fissures or cracks so could just be wood figuring. Maybe someone else on here has seen then like that and can offer a more accurate opinion.
When I get 'em they are much more obvious and easy to identify as you can se in this example below. ;)
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Jamie, I've never seen a fret in any of the yew I've worked, but I gotta say those sure look frets I've seen in vine maple
Id probably try a dab of dye in the handle area, but I'd bet money they'd stand out even more.
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Yea....those are definitely frets.
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Very interesting. I was wondering if that is what I would hear.
Is it possible to have frets when the bow doesn't take any set. It is also quite long for the draw length.
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They look like chrysals, but I can't see why you'd get 'em on a 50# Yew bow unless it is V short, backed with steel ::), or has a ridiculously long draw.
Mind wood can be funny stuff.
Can you feel 'em if you run your fingernail across 'em?
I hate chrysals with a passion, and anything that looks like one usually is one >:(
Del
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I don't think so. I've chrysalled yew and it didn't look like that at all.
If they have been there since the beginning then how can they be chrysals?
The question is how far had the bow been bent when you spotted them. Also as you say for the bow to take no set then it isn't showing signs of being bent too far.
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Looks like sanding scratches to me, too even and consistent.
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I think his sanding technique is a bit better than that. ::)
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Unless you are sanding across the grain, which one should not do, those sure look like chrysals.
Are they localized, probably a tiller issue, or spread along the limb, which is a design issue? Jawge
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I thought the same thing as Eric... sanding scratches. The crosshatched pattern seems odd for chrysals... and on deep cored, round-bellied bows, sanding across the grain with good flexible paper, is a useful technique. Just had me wonderin.
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I guess it is the woodworker and son of a carpenter in me. Sanding across the grain has been a no-no since I was about 8 years old. :) Jawge
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Depends what stage you are at. A rasp is nothing more than coarse sandpaper and we all rasp across the grain. Using a coarse sandpaper on a block is fine across the grain for more aggressive reduction.
Bow making is not typical woodwork.
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Jawge, when I go across the grain, I mostly do it to affect or maintain the shape I want, always mindful of where I am in the process and coordinating that with sandpaper grit size. I only sand crossways when I have enough material left to sufficiently clean up even the tiniest scratch. When I get farther along, I then only sand with the grain.... oh, and I NEVER sand crossways on the bow's back.
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Thanks for the input
I don't think they are sanding scratches. I sanded lots hoping they would dissappear. I first noticed them when I dropped from the rasp down to the scraper.
Also you can not feel them with your fingernail and the scraper does not catch on them.
I will try to stain and see what happens
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Since this yew is probably from a logging show, is it possible that the log was strained by a yarder or cat long before you got it. Do you have a sister stave that you could compare it to?
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It is possible that it's the remnants of the rasp marks, they do travel a ways into the wood. Generally on a D section bow you will find chrysals on the crown of the limb and not so much on the sides
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Looks like tool marks to me. Were you wearing a watch or bracelet when working that could have marked it up as you were going along?
I'm picturing a velcro strap watch scratching it up right behind your sandpaper.
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They do look like chrysals to me also. How long is the bow, how far did you draw it? Yew will chrysal when very dry. I saw you live on Van Couver Island. I wouldn't expect it to be too dry there. Have you got a full draw photo?
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You can definitely have compression fractures and not have set. Some years back I cut a beautiful straight Mockernut hickory. I split out 6 staves,took them to bow dimension,cured them on a reflex form,then set out to build the bows. The first 5 staves I heat treated the belly,as I always do. All 5 developed CP's. The 6th stave I passed on the heat treating,and it made a good bow. Who knows what made this wood susceptible to chrysals, when wood taken in the same area never caused a problem. God Bless
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Since this yew is probably from a logging show, is it possible that the log was strained by a yarder or cat long before you got it. Do you have a sister stave that you could compare it to?
I had the same thought, except I was picturing a big fir or cedar deadfall whacking it on the way down and giving it a good bending over. Hard to wrap my mind around how that could really result in chrysal fractures throughout a wide band, but does seem plausible to my gut.
Each tree is as individual as we are in terms of both genetics and life histories.