Disappointment

[DC]

I don't know how many of you remember this bow.It was a beautiful Yew branch that would not stop moving. I finely got is settled enough to post it in July
https://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,66179.0.html
I shot it for about a month and it seemed fine so it went in the back hall with the rest of them. After this little spell of low humidity I remembered it and took a look. Here's a picture. The string is out of line by 2 1/2" at the tip. I'm going to look and see if I can't resplice it but I just don't know if it's stopped moving. It's not a great picture but it's dark outside and I think you can see the alignment. I hung the piece of paper on the string so it shows better. Has anyone had a bow that just keeps moving no matter how long you wait?  It's one of my favourite pieces of wood so it's worth trying to fix it.

[dylanholderman]

honestly i have no idea, i've never had a bow do that before.
maybe just set aside for two or more years before doing more work to it so that it can settle down.

[bradsmith2010]

W ow,,..

[Badger]

  Yew is bad about that. It will often return to its shape after being corrected also.

[bownarra]

Me and a friend cut an unkown sapling years ago to make his first bow with. That thing moved like a snake. It only stopped after being tillered 3 times

[Limbit]

Mulberry always does that to me. The issue is the moisture change in the air. The stuff won't stop moving even after a heat treatment. Super frustrating. I split the wood then leave the wood the hell alone now for a few years until it turns dark brown. Then, I keep the profile really wide (especially the tips) to leave the wood plenty of room to move a little and tiller it in stages over a few months till the final profile pretty much is what it is without movement. I found if I add sinew, I need to do so very early on in the tillering process. The added moisture really throws it for a loop. I'm guessing this is just the white mulberry I use growing where I live cause I've never heard other people have this problem with red mulberry. Sad regardless. Such a pretty bow you had there. Maybe you can just steam the handle and bend the string alignment back? Worked for me in the past.

[bjrogg]

Yes I remember that one DC. Bummer. Is a interesting piece of wood, that I know you put a lot of effort into. Hope you can figure something out.


I've had wood that returned to its original shape. Not that just moved unpredictability.
Bjrogg

[Selfbowman]

DC yew will take heat pretty good. I once had a 80 pound Jim Fetro bow that I could not shoot . I called Jim and ask him about retiller and I think I flipped the tips . When asking him if yew liked heat he said he used heat on yew often. So you might just try some heat straightening. Arvin

[DC]

I gave this a lot of thought last night and it occurred to me that I got the stave last Sept but I don't know when it was cut. It may still be drying a bit although Yew usually dries pretty fast. This one, being a branch, is pretty dense and may be taking it's time. I'll go with Dylan's idea and leave it for a while, maybe not a year, but long enough to watch it. I may put it in a plastic tube with a wet rag to drive the MC up and see if it's stable at all. Re doing the splice without losing too much length is going to be a trick but I've got time to think about that. I have a plan of sorts

[sleek]

I gave this a lot of thought last night and it occurred to me that I got the stave last Sept but I don't know when it was cut. It may still be drying a bit although Yew usually dries pretty fast. This one, being a branch, is pretty dense and may be taking it's time. I'll go with Dylan's idea and leave it for a while, maybe not a year, but long enough to watch it. I may put it in a plastic tube with a wet rag to drive the MC up and see if it's stable at all. Re doing the splice without losing too much length is going to be a trick but I've got time to think about that. I have a plan of sorts

If you get sick of it, I will take care of it for you

[Weylin]

  Yew is bad about that. It will often return to its shape after being corrected also.

This is what I've learned the hard way. There are some things you can do well with heat and yew and there are some things you cant. recurves and reflex usually work well. removing natural deflex and correcting serious alignment issues usually dont work well. It just wants to creep back.

[bradsmith2010]

thats a beautiful bow,, I have seen you splice ,, given what they have said, splicing would probably fix it, though more work,, whats new,,,
I have a beautiful piece of yew I have been staring at for a year,, I am afraid of it,, even more now, I am not good at splicing,,
  please fix it so we can see it shoot,,,,,

dont you think  you could do a fish tail without loosing length,,?

[DC]

You lose the length in the realignment. You can cut a fishtail and just put it back together and only lose a 1/4" or so but when you have to change the alignment it doesn't go back together nicely so you have to re cut one or both sides. You can get away with only losing an inch or so but then the fades start to get too close together.

[Woodely]

It seems like a lot of yew is under tension.  And once its manipulated either with steam or whatever it just wants to return to its originated shape.  Memory is memory.  A few years back I had some board material its was a full 2 3/4" thick and 8" wide I ripped it, and it went sideways in a big way.  On  the other hand I have a yew bow built from a stave and I did not steam it and it 's kept its original shape during all seasons.

[bradsmith2010]

So does that mean u can do it