Del's Latest Knotty Yew ELB

[bowandarrow473]

Very good!

[Tillstave]

Del, Please help me contact other Bowyers here in the PNW. I'm not finding it easy to find others that are like you and I.

[JW_Halverson]

That English wood is useless. Can't see why you persist with it.   

Apparently Del is knot afraid to take a risky piece of wood to the tillering tree. But then, in his hands it's a measureable bit less risky than if I was messing with it.  Good work, Mr. The Cat.

[ravenbeak]

I was fortunate enough to see this one when it was still mid build in England a couple weeks ago.  It was just onto a short string at low brace and tips were still temporary.   I saw it on the tiller pulling 50lbs at maybe 19 inches,  the tricky part is,  we were standing maybe 5 or 6 feet away.   It has come a long ways since!   I have seen my share of yew longbows,  and those two knots had me sitting a little uneasy.  One would have been one thing,  but the matching one on the other side was almost two much.    I think you did well to leave that area a tad stiff. 

I have to give a big hats of to you Del,  you really do some amazing work with some borderline questionable wood,  and though that,  I think you a master of the making it work,  and fixing it before it breaks.  I really do enjoy seeing your work.


Great story behind the leather -  I did a bit of research and it sounds like a bunch of it was reindeer hide.  that is just too cool,  and the tips,  be it pale bison or yak look stunning.

all the best,
Jamie

[Del the cat]

Cheers Jamie,
I've added a pic to the original post showing the pair of knots from each side, for the benefit of those who haven't seen it first hand.
Del

[Pappy]

Very nice bow Del with what looks like a very challenging stave.
 Pappy

[Del the cat]

Very nice, love the contrast of yew sapwood and heartwood. Speaking of, I was looking at a big auction site at some yew staves and saw some staves that looked to me like mid-grade at about 45 plus shipping. Any suggestions on what to look for as far as sapwood thickness, ring ratio, etc? Thanks.

I think that ideally you want about 3/16" to 1/4" of sapwood.
I don't worry about ring count, a good clean layer of sapwood is the most important thing IMO, with no nasty blue grey discolouration, bug holes knots etc. A few pin knots through the back is no prob' and knots on the belly aren't too much of an issue.
Thicker sapwood can be reduced, but it's a bit of a pain trying to get it down evenly to somewhere near a single growth ring (it doesn't need to be exactly single ring, but it's a nice aim)
Del

[Del the cat]

Del, Please help me contact other Bowyers here in the PNW. I'm not finding it easy to find others that are like you and I.

Sorry, I'm in the UK, so I have no real idea about who is in the PNW.
This forum is the best place to be, maybe start a thread asking who is around.
Del

[Ruddy Darter]

Good going Del,
Great to see you prevailed through the problems to produce a crafty bow.
Love the 'Poldark' period leather hand wrap and really suits this longbow, the history of it is fascinating, comforting to know the crew made it to shore...be something warming to reflect on if ever an arrow were poorly loosed. 

Ruddy Darter.

[TimothyR]

Well done Dale!  Beautiful work!