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Author Topic: 15 mile yew  (Read 11793 times)

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Offline Pat B

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15 mile yew
« on: July 08, 2008, 10:13:29 am »
 A few years ago Don (Old Bow) sent me a yew log that he hauled out of the Montana wilderness on his bicycle.  8)  Shortly after I received it it began to check badly. I set it in the corner and not too long ago I pulled it out and following the checks I got 3 staves out of it. This bow was born from the best of the 3 staves.   She is 65" t/t, pulls 50#@26", bends through the 1 14" handle and shoots surprisingly well with very little hand shock. She will be one of my hunting bows this fall. 8)
   As you can see, this bow has issues...knots, twists, hoop-tee-dos, etc but the gods were on my side! I did not use any heat to make adjustments but instead worked the stave to compensate for her imperfections. I did however use copious amounts of super glue in some knots and most of the voids.  The finish on her is just hand rubbed bear fat...about 6 coats so far.
   Because of the thin rings of this stave some violations of the sap wood are apparent on the back but so far that doesn't seem to matter. The heart wood grain is incredibly beautiful with the hand rubbed oil finish. The tip overlays are water buffalo I got from Thomas (can't remember his last name ::) ) and the handle wrap is hemp cordage from Wally World.  I don't have full draw pics yet but plan to this afternoon.   Enjoy!         Pat

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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Pat B

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2008, 10:15:22 am »
...and a few more. More this evening! ;)

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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline broad_head

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2008, 10:22:41 am »
Hi Pat
         What a great bow, love all the knots. You have made an excellent bow out of a difficult stave.
                                                                                                                                        Good hunting!
                                                                                                                                                             Peter(UK)
                                                                                                                                       
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Offline Pat B

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2008, 10:27:12 am »
Thanks Peter. I love the challenge of a difficult stave. Yew lends itself to these character type bows from what I can tell from this one. Generally yew is too delicate for me but this stave has enough knots to make it tougher! ;D  Pat
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Ryano

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2008, 10:31:03 am »
Looks good Pat. The tiller looks good. I think I would have shaved it down around that one knot a little bit more, but I guess if theres no hand shock its not a problem.  ;D
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Offline Dano

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2008, 10:36:15 am »
Nicely done Pat. Nothing like a character bow to build up your patience.  ;)
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Offline Keenan

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #6 on: July 08, 2008, 10:51:38 am »
 Awesome Pat, you done well.  Those knots give it alot of character. At first I thought the same about the big upper knot near the tip, but hard to tell from a pic if you could have gone inside it. The tips and overall profile look great for not useing any heat for corrections. Congratulations.   

 After looking again I doubt that you could have removed that knot. I think you made a good call.  Just for curiosity what kind of ring count did it have?Keenan
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Offline shamus

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #7 on: July 08, 2008, 11:04:54 am »
That took skill to pull off. Nice job!

When I first saw the knot on the upper limb, I thought I would have dipped in the width profile to avoid it. But then I saw on the belly side that the knot goes into the belly nearly halfway (the knot bisects the limb at an angle, not straight through). Given that, you had to include the knot in the limb, and you apparently found a successful way to do it.

A very interesting bow, indeed.
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Offline OldBow

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #8 on: July 08, 2008, 11:07:43 am »
Yew Rule, Pat
Picture is what log looked like in the beginning:

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Offline Pappy

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2008, 11:20:32 am »
Nice job Pat on what looks like a very challenging stave.Don't you just love them character
staves. :) Looks like a meat maker to me.  :)
   Pappy
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Offline Pat B

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #10 on: July 08, 2008, 11:28:29 am »
Without Don's effort, this bow would still be in the wilderness of Montana. Thanks again, Don.
  Keenan, I'd tell you what the ring count is but my eyes aren't that good, anymore.  ::) On one of the tips I counted( ???) about 17 rings in 3/8".
  I did what I had to do around the knots to make it work. Some knots went straight through but others went across the stave.  On the top limb you will see what looks like a hinge about 1/2 way out. It might be more apparent with the full draw pic later. That area was fairly thin after splitting the stave and the hinge appeared after I thought the tiller was complete. I had to remove wood from either side of that area and then reduce the bottom limb to accommodate the loss of weight in the upper limb. I'll continue to watch that area just in case.
   Thanks guys. This was a fun stave to work on. Everyone needs to challenge themselves with a stave like this. It makes for a good teaching aid! :o  ;D       Pat
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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Hillbilly

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2008, 11:48:28 am »
Sweet bow, Pat-I likes 'em gnarly.
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Offline Ryano

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2008, 11:49:37 am »
Well that knot makes a good string keeper anyways..... ;)
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Offline Pat B

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2008, 12:03:39 pm »
It does make a good string keeper! ;)  I left the branch in that knot a bit proud...about 1/4" long and that and the bulge around it works great to keep the string up on the limb.  ;D

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Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes!    Pat Brennan  Brevard, NC

Offline Justin Snyder

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Re: 15 mile yew
« Reply #14 on: July 08, 2008, 01:33:41 pm »
Nice work Pat. That baby has a few knots doesn't it. Justin
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