Questions for "yew" all.....

[Mark Baker]

Okay...I picked up a yew stave a couple weeks back.  Not too bad of a stave, fairly straight and only a couple pin nots.   The sapwood was fairly thick on it, and it had already been reduced dimensionally so that to retain as much heartwood as possible, I had to take off quite a bit of sapwood, leaving about a quarter inch or less thickness.  Problem I have is that I was not able to maintain a growth ring on the sapwood, so, for a narrow, deep limbed longbow design, I feel the need to back the sapwood.  

First question is, will a paper backing be sufficient, or will I need something more substantial?   I've only done a couple yew bows, and backed both with rawhide inthe past.....any thoughts?   I'm going for a mid-sixties weight, and have pretty good length, 68 inches or so, thus far.

Next question...I'd like to induce a bit of reflex...will yew take dry heat, or will steam be a better option?

[2treks]

Well That sounds like a nice piece of wood Mark.

I would stick with raw hide as you have used it before, and it will do the job without question.

With a 60#+ draw weight I would not chance it to anything but rawhide.

Dry heat should work fine,I always use a little oil to sink the heat into the wood. About 1"-1.5" of reflexed set is nice imho.
Good luck,
CTT

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Mark in my experience dry heat works but you lose a lot of the reflex right off the form. I like to use steam for yew. If it's not much reflex your looking for dry heat will be fine but for much more than a few inches steam is the way to go. That yew can get real brittle with dry heat.

[Black Mockingbird]

Violated sapwood is aok with yew as long as you followed the natural contours of how the back looked originally. But if you intend to hunt with it then slap some rawhide on it for protection against dinging it while in the bush.

[Mark Baker]

Thanks guys....I was thinking of using the heat gun, with a good saturation of veg oil....but may consider steam.  

I would like to hunt/shoot this some, so perhaps the rawhide - old reliable - is best....I just have never used a paper back, and was wondering "how good" it works.   With heavier weight bows, as we all know, little things become bigger issues and concerns.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Paper bags are for groceries Mark! Yew deserves better. Stick with rawhide.

[2treks]

I like olive oil Mark but crico has served me well more than once.

Missed you last weekend PD.

CTT

[Keenan]

Yew will tolerate ring violations if not to major in one spot. Like Mokingbird said follow the back as best as possible.  Another option instead of rawhide is fish skin backings. Strugeon, lingcod, halibut and several others are very tough. Or even python skin is very toughand beautiful!

[Mark Baker]

I've seen the python skins done firsthand, and would feel comfy using those.   I'm in no hurry on this one....but would like to get any "corrections" done so the wood will have time to settle back in.    I've got it floor tillered already.   Like said, I've done a couple yew bows, but this is perhaps the best stave I've had to work on thus far.

[Bowjunkie]

There's no need for oil when heating with a heat gun. I put crisco on the first bow I ever bent because I was told to. It made a mess, made no sense to me, and I wondered about applying dyes and finish to the same surface afterwards, so I never did it again. I've done dry heat bends without oil hundreds of times since and I've never had one single problem. Take your time heating the wood... allowing it time to sink into the center of the stave. Just because the outside surface is hot doesn't mean the center is.

Dry wood, dry heat. Wet wood, wet heat.

Seasoned yew will bend with dry heat. As was mentioned above, it springs back off the form a little more than say, osage, but it works well. Overdrying yew is a concern. It's easy to do, so if you heat it a lot, or for a long time, to make your bends, allow it to rest for a week or two to allow the moisture to balance out again.

Oh yeah, and I agree with Pearl Drums, I'd never put paper on a yew bow that needed a backing... rawhide or maybe sturgeon.

[Keenan]

I always use oil or cisco with dry heat to keep the wood from drying out as much. Just use a small amount on a rag warm the wood first, then  wipe on and you wont have a mess at all.Keeps it from becoming too dry. It only lays on the surface and a few scrapes will put you in clean wood.

[Mark Baker]

As I've said, it will have plenty of time to rest....hunting seasons are here, and I don't have time to build bows too much anyway.   Since I've already roughed out this bow, I wanted to get it set for final working over the winter.  

I've used heat plenty, with osage.   I've also boiled and steamed bow wood, so it's not my first rodeo....but I'm not one of those guys that bends everything into submission before attempting a bow.  This stave, however, needs just a bit of "tweak" to make it a good'n.  

Most of my past failures, I believe...and I'm talking "catastrophic" type failures....have been the result of dry heat application.  That and living in an already dry environment....so I like to use it sparingly, with plenty of "settle" time.   And yew...being one of the premier woods, but not one that I've done a lot with...I'd always heard did not like "dry"...so I was fishing for all of your experiences and opinions.  Thanks everyone!