My grandsons liked the bow ,and they both wanted one, so I made one more that is a scaled down version from black locust again. It is 1 3/4 inches wide for half the length of the limbs, and then tapered to 5/8 at the tips with a cut in arrow shelf at 72 inches long. It is much more comfortable to shoot, and draws smooth, and shoots faster at the same draw length with the same arrow. Not the same as a meare heath bow. More like a flat bow. I did the leather work on it, so it looks some what similar to the original, and the boys won't know the difference. I will get one of my kids to shoot some pics. with the bows side by side. Del that is why I think if you don't have yew to make one with birch would be a good choice. A clean backed piece of birch with a carefully well heat treated belly should work just fine I would think. I heat treat birch as evenly as I can like any other wood, and if you heat treat on a form with clamps you will need to remove the clamps at some point ,and make sure those areas are also heat treated evenly, or it can easily crush in those areas. I learned that the hard way. Hawkdancer that may be true with yew wood. This black locust Wood is dense, and that may make a big difference. There is good reason why yew is a heavily sought after bow wood. I have not yet had a chance to work with it. Maybe some day before I croak. Thanks for the replies every one, and try your hand at one, and post your results.
