Yew stave drying question

[JW_Halverson]

I bought a newly cut yew stave back in August. When it arrived here in South Dakota it weighed 2546 grams. I have been throwing it on the scale and writing down the weight as it is drying out. The weights and dates are below:

Sep 6     2546 g
Sep 12   2536 g
Sep 16   2534 g
Sep 24   2523 g
Sep 30   2521 g
Total weight loss: 25 grams, or 0.98 percent.

The stave is 65" long, 2 1/2" wide at the butt, 2" wide at the top. It is perfectly split down the middle with the pith of the branch showing almost all the way from end to end.

At the same time I am drying a black locust stave for about two weeks longer and it has lost 9.7 percent weight! The yew was double sealed on the ends at my request since I have such a low relative humidity here. I was afraid it would dry TOO fast and check.

My question is whether this danged little piece of yew is nearly dried out ALREADY??? Seriously. Look at the amounts of weight lost over the period of time and it reads like the bottom of a bell curve, like it is running out of moisture to lose! Could this stave be about ready to get out in the shop and get it's skinny butt to work?

[Pat B]

John, you can take the yew stave down to floor tiller stage without straining it. I'd do that and check the weight loss from that point until it stops loosing weight. At that point you could start tillering but look for and string follow. If it shows give it a bit more time to dry.

[Del the cat]

I've never done it by weight. I just give 'em 9 months minimum then reduce 'em. Start real work after a year.
Del

[Aksel]

I always do it by weight like you explain, but I live in a humid climate. But I always take the stave down to under 1000 g. first. then can I judge by feel if it is very wet or almost there and it will dry much quicker.

Yew do seem to dry and absorb moisture slower and if ends are sealed, even slower.

Another problem with yew is that it can be too wet and you can tiller it and finish it without it taking much set and you have a sluggish bow.

[willie]

it reads like the bottom of a bell curve,

could well be.
even if you knew when it was cut. that might not help much cause you dont really know how dry it was where the initial drying took place.

I would start my reduction and monitor closely for developing checks. be prepared to move it to a cooler location especially as winter approaches if you are working in a heated shop.

[superdav95]

I always do it by weight like you explain, but I live in a humid climate. But I always take the stave down to under 1000 g. first. then can I judge by feel if it is very wet or almost there and it will dry much quicker.

Yew do seem to dry and absorb moisture slower and if ends are sealed, even slower.

Another problem with yew is that it can be too wet and you can tiller it and finish it without it taking much set and you have a sluggish bow.

I’ve noticed this as well.  Most of the yew I have access to has been down 4-5 years.  We have higher relative humidity here.  Set is not always the biggest indicator for moisture.  I can apply a mild heat temper to a floor tillered bow and get better results in performance but I think too is the importance in high ring count in yew. These high ring count perform the best all things being equal.  I personally find these high ring count yew staves make better bows despite moisture being the same.  Another thing I’ve noticed is that yew does not like too much heat.  Especially dry heat.  I find it becomes brittle and can explode.  Sure other woods do this as well but I find that yew is more susceptible to getting too brittle.  If you use heat to correct twist and add reflex be sure to let it acclimate a few days to settle into atmospheric moisture.  Just my observations on yew anyway.  It great stuff when you get a good piece. 

[JW_Halverson]

I always do it by weight like you explain, but I live in a humid climate. But I always take the stave down to under 1000 g. first. then can I judge by feel if it is very wet or almost there and it will dry much quicker.

Yew do seem to dry and absorb moisture slower and if ends are sealed, even slower.

Another problem with yew is that it can be too wet and you can tiller it and finish it without it taking much set and you have a sluggish bow.

I’ve noticed this as well.  Most of the yew I have access to has been down 4-5 years.  We have higher relative humidity here.  Set is not always the biggest indicator for moisture.  I can apply a mild heat temper to a floor tillered bow and get better results in performance but I think too is the importance in high ring count in yew. These high ring count perform the best all things being equal.  I personally find these high ring count yew staves make better bows despite moisture being the same.  Another thing I’ve noticed is that yew does not like too much heat.  Especially dry heat.  I find it becomes brittle and can explode.  Sure other woods do this as well but I find that yew is more susceptible to getting too brittle.  If you use heat to correct twist and add reflex be sure to let it acclimate a few days to settle into atmospheric moisture.  Just my observations on yew anyway.  It great stuff when you get a good piece.

Not so sure this one is going to be a good piece, but at the price it was offered to me that fast became a secondary consideration. There is just enough wood here to make a nice bendy handle affair, perhaps with lightly flipped tips sort of like what Aksel posted recently.