Tri Lam

[bow101]

Thinking of making a Tri lam for my next project.  I have some yew, and gonna buy either Red/White oak or Maple.  Should I use use the yew as the center lam.....  The yew I have is like Rock hard......

[Dances with squirrels]

I would go with a backing piece of maple and two lams of yew... which will give kind of the classic yew look... with the maple looking like the yew's sapwood.

[Pat B]

The yew is strong in compression so it would be a good belly wood. Dances has a good suggestion but you could also do a maple backed yew without doing a tri-lam.

[Roy]

I would go with the tri lam. Tri lam bows take on such a nice deflex/reflex profile. So much sexier than just two sections glued together. Here is an Osage, Osage, and Boo tri lam I am working on now. I flipped the tips with heat on both Osage lams before glue up.

[bow101]

Thanks for the info guys.  Ok this is what I'm looking at now, today I was cutting some lam material. Old scrap lying around.

Belly = Yew
Core= White oak X2
Back= Douglas fir

Total 4 lams, have to use 4 to get the thickness, its what I have.........   will that work......?

[Cardboard_Duck]

Just do the opposite of what Roy tells you and you'll be fine, I think he's finally hit the senile stage in his life

[bubby]

white oak is almost unbreakable, I wouldn't sandwich it, you can do what you want but if it was me i'd go maple yew and try and get a sap wood look, if you want to do a tri lam put some epe, walnut or even osage in the middle and get some nice color, go to all that effort ya might as well get a shooter that is pretty

[Roy]

I'm not familiar with Douglas fir for a backing, I'm thinking no.

Hey Ducker Boy, ya just made the thumpin list son:)

[bow101]

I'm not familiar with Douglas fir for a backing, I'm thinking no.

Hey Ducker Boy, ya just made the thumpin list son:)

There is Pro bow builder on another site and he swears by it.  He made a few takedown bows using DF, which is my plan as well.
Any whooo my question was again; use Yew on the Belly as Pat B recommended.?

[Roy]

Yes on yew belly, take pictures and keep us posted.

[twisted hickory]

I would go with the tri lam. Tri lam bows take on such a nice deflex/reflex profile. So much sexier than just two sections glued together. Here is an Osage, Osage, and Boo tri lam I am working on now. I flipped the tips with heat on both Osage lams before glue up.

Roy,
Just curious whats the unstrung profile look like? Picts?
Thanks,
Greg

[Roy]

Here ya go TH.......

[adb]

I've used yew as both mid-lam and belly wood in tri-lams. If you use yew as your core, make it thin... 1/4" or less. I also would NOT use fir as a backing. The white oak or maple will be much better.

I really like maple backed yew. It's probably one of my favourites. I've had good success with it, even with warbows up to 115#.

[Zion]

I've heard of people using the bottom sides of fir branches for the compression (belly) of the bow with birch backs. Seems like a good lightweight combo to me, might be something to think about.

[vinemaplebows]

The guy is full of crap......Douglas fir is worthless for backing, and not much use in belly wood either. Doug fir heartwood "can" make a bow, but there are way to many choices here on the west coast to mess with fir. Old growth will make good arrows, not bows. Exceptions would be under glass. Still don't see a point.

If you have yew, and oak .....yew would be the belly, oak the back in my opinion.

VMB