Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: airkah on September 09, 2023, 07:21:54 pm
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Yew for me has always held a legendary status. It is the wood of English longbows 600 years ago, the wood of Saxton Pope and archers of his era and the wood of some pretty incredible bows I've seen from bowyers here. When I first started down this journey of making my own bow from close to a decade ago, I used red oak boards. I knew someday I wanted to try using yew myself, just to have that experience. I believe the fact that it takes longer than my lifetime for this wood to grow enough to make a useable stave means that the wood is owed a certain level of respect. For a couple years I had this yew stave in my house, but I just never felt like my skill level was high enough to actually make the caliber of bow I feel like this wood deserves. Honestly when I started this bow I still didn't feel like I was worthy. But, I had the realization that after my daughter was born, there was a good chance that life would get in the way and the stave would never become a bow. So I started slowly working on it. 7 months later, I'm finally finished.
The bow itself is made from a small diameter piece of 35 rpi yew. The final bow is 63 inches from nock to nock, a little under one and half inches wide out of the fades, tapering down to 3/8ths at the tip and pulling 42lbs at 28 inches. The tip overlays are black walnut and red elm and I finished the bow with several coats of tru-oil. With this bow I didn't really try to push the limits of what the wood was capable of, but it still came out as one of my better performers - My chronograph measures a 10 gpp arrow around 170fps. I'm hoping this bow will survive for decades to come.
(https://i.imgur.com/BdAXoVp.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/x5LqXO3.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/8B96Ds0.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/kZxQbH0.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/7Sz61do.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/hRJCsrP.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/V9CvfaM.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/kZRbk1z.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZoHLmrM.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/NJQ5xNJ.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/mkP6e8K.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/fJGIzUZ.jpg)
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Holy crap that looks amazing and the speed speaks for itself! the craftsmanship looks on point as well. You should be proud! I love the profile as well, one of my favorite.
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Well you can check that one off your bucket list. Well done Airkah. You certainly made that piece of yew proud.
I’m trying to remember. I’m thinking thats the third bow you’ve posted here?
I’m thinking it’s another winner.
And your little girl too.
Bjrogg
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That looks fantastic. I really like the slight reflex out of the fades giving it almost a 5 curve look. Reallt solid work.
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What Kidder said+1
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Good things come to those who wait and you have 2 fine examples of that phrase. Congrats to both. Yew is such a beautiful bow wood and you have certainly brought that beauty out with this bow. :OK
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Great looking bow Airkah. Really cute little girl too.
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Sleek - thank you! I've only ever made one bow rhat was faster than this.
Bjrogg - yeah its the 3rd bow I've posted here. I have another one that I just need to decide what I'm doing for a handle wrap and take some pictures and it's finished. I don't know when that will happen, but I promise I'll post it when I do.
Kidder and Hamish - the stave had that little bit of reflex in it naturally, so I centered the handle on it to give that effect. The tips I boiled the reflex in.
Pat B an Muskyman- thank you both! I agree they're both well worth the wait :)
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Looks great ! Enjoy
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Exceptional work. Congratulations!
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That bow looks very nice, congrats!
I started working a bit with yew last year and it does feel very special to make a bow from. But so are many bow woods to anyone who doesn´t have access to it. Someone who have loads of yew wish he also had good elm. The elm guy is dreaming about black locust. The black Locust bowyer is obsessing over dogwood, etc ad absurdum :D
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Wow. That’s a bow to be proud of. Very well done and very nice looking tiller. I think you did that piece of wood justice. Very nice indeed.
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That's a great looking bow!
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That is a beautiful bow. You definitely nailed it! Great job!
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Airkah. As many have said, Excellent work.
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Aksel - 100% agree with you. For ne, it is always fun to experiment with a new wood and see how it works.
Superdav95 - thabk you! I always obsess over the tiller, to the point I start to question everything so its nice to have soke confirmation it really does look good.
Piddler, Will B, TimBo, PASteve, Selfbowman- thank you guys so much. It always feels so amazing to hear from other bowyers that they like my bows.
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Nice bow. You did a fine job with that stave
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Nice bow and especially a cute little bugger you have there in your arms :)
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Great job on that one. I still haven’t tried yew either but it’s on the list for sure
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"I believe the fact that it takes longer than my lifetime for this wood to grow enough to make a useable stave means that the wood is owed a certain level of respect."
I completely understand where you are coming from. I lucked onto a piece of yew that Gilman Keasey cut and put up to cure long ago. I have sat on it for four years now and I am loathe to touch it with a tool until I have made a couple of successful billet bows or takedowns since that is ultimately what I will need to do with this wood. I feel I have no room for error and should have more than just a good idea what I am going to do, I should have a solid plan and the practice to pull it off.
It looks like you used your time wisely to work out a good plan for this one. It shows in the graceful lines and the performance numbers speak for themselves. Well done, well done indeed.
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That´s a really nice one!. Congratulations for the bow and for your little girl!.
You wrote it was a 35 rpi piece, but I don´t understand what it means.
Also, I imagine it is a pacific yew stave, not the Taxus baccata one, isn´t it?. Are these two woods performing similar?.
I´ve been noticing several yew bows finished with very rounded back and valley side edges. Is this something interesting specially for yew?.
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Nice. A lady's touch. Back in the day I shot bench rest with a 22-250 rem 40x that would shoot 1/4 inch groups with my hand load.. My wife never having shot much shot a .212 group with it one evening. I shot a 251 with it that evening. Some times their is nothing like a women's touch. Enjoy your bow.
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Beautiful bow all around, knocked that one out the park….
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Beautiful bow in all aspects, very nice work. Congrats on the new little girl also, bow and baby both beautiful. Pappy
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Marc - thank you so much! There are some people here that there approval really means a lot to me and you are one of them
Pearl Drums- thank you, yeah she's a good baby, I got really lucky.
JW- It sounds like you get into that same mindset I do. You've been doing this long enough, I'm so sure that it will end up coming out great.
Juan- yes it is pacific yew. I don't have firsthand knowledge, but my understanding is pacific yew abd european yew are somewhat similar.
Bassman -thank you!
Stixnstones- glad you think so, I was really worried I wouldn't when I started it.
Pappy- between the vow and the baby it has been a good year for me so far
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congrats,,nice bow,,nice speed,, :)