My first Yew Stave Project....

[Roy from Pa]

Thanks to a special friend from Bend, Oregon. I now have in my possession my first Yew Stave ever. I have been building nothing but BBO Bows for 10 years. So this will be uncharted waters for this ole boy, and any advice will be appreciated greatly.

The stave has natural deflex, as you can see from the pictures below.

 

 

The sap wood to heart wood ratio looks good to me as it is now. But what do I know? I am shooting for a 40 to 45 pound bow at 27.5 inches of draw. The stave right now it 70 inches long. I'm thinking a 66 inch bow is what I want.

 

 

[Roy from Pa]

Now I have two choices here in my opinion. Leave the natural deflex as it is, and induce reflex from the mid limbs out to the tips.

Or, heat the handle section and clamp the stave down flat to make it a straight stave, then do the reflex from mid limbs out.

I think I would be better off leaving the natural deflex alone, and adding the reflex from mid limb on out. Plus I love flipping the tips, which really doesn't have anything to do with adding reflex I guess.

Since it's a one piece stave, I could do a bend in the handle bow, heck it's already got that now I suppose:) But I have never done a bendy handle bow either! And at 40 to 45 pounds, I don't see the handle area getting all that much stress anyways being if I make it 66 inches long... And the way I layout my riser section, I keep what ever my flare width is, the same width out another 6 inches, then do my straight taper to the limb tips.

Now how wide should I make the flares, and how narrow should I make the tips? On BBO's I make the flares 1 1/4 and hold that out 6 more inches, then taper to 1/2 at the tips.

Anyway, that special friend in Bend, Oregon is Old Boy Keenan. Keenan, I can't thank you enough for such a great Yew Stave.. Roy

[Roy from Pa]

The bark missing on the back really threw me off. At first I thought he scored it across the back as I seen how straight the bark was cut off in places. So I asked him about it. Seems Yew bark is different and it breaks off like that from floor tillering the stave:) Told ya I was a dumb a$$ with Yew Staves:) Anyways I was amazed how I could peel the bark off with my finger nail...

 

[fujimo]

nice stave, you have so much experience with r/d bows, if it were my stave i would just reflex the limbs from midway and out. i personally would keep the belly flat- to help minimise set. remember the sap wood can be compromised and still work- unlike osage.
i used heat gun and cooking oil for all my bending, i like to make most my bows to bend through the handle- just reduces any stress at all in the limbs.
yew likes to stay at about 12% mc- dont let it dry out too much in your shop etc. it will become brittle and shatter.
on my most recent bow- as soon as i had the mc where i wanted it, i sealed the entire bow, and if i was going to not work it for a while- then i would re-seal the sides and belly again, right at the end i stripped off all the old verathane-with a cabinet scraper and sandpaper, and then finished it up.
i also heat treated the belly- that should help some- but remember- to NOT seal it afterwards so that it can re- hydrate. if you are in a super dry area- maybe store it in the bathroom while it rehydrates.
best of luck- i am sure there will be lots of input from alot of other folks here with a lot more experience than me.
cheers
wayne

[fujimo]

i made my last bow, 3/8 tips,a smidge over 1" wide handle, fades about 2" long and at the widest 1,1/4"- pyramid design.
 just what worked for me.

[Bowjunkie]

Roy, if you're going to make a bend-through handle, you won't HAVE flares and dips. A simple bend-through the handle flatbow/longbow tapers from the tips, right to full width at the handle. Dips and flares are incorporated into bows to stiffen the handle area and narrow the arrow pass, but you have to have enough wood, in depth, and width, to pull it off. I don't know if you have that with this bow. If there's not enough depth of wood in the handle area to make it considerably stiffer than the limbs just outside the handle area, then there's not enough to make dips, which in turn means that if you cut-in flares, you'll make it too weak there. So you may have to forget the flares and dips... or make them very, VERY subtle. How wide is it in the middle? How thick?

[Roy from Pa]

Your right on the no flares for a bendy Jeff. Never even thought about that last night when I wrote that:) It is 1 1/2 wide and 1 thick at the center of the stave.

[Black Mockingbird]

66" sounds good roy. Keep the 1 1/2" width all the way to mid limb,then start your taper to the nocks. So,no flares or dips. But do mark out a handle area measurements(4" handle,and 1 1/2" to each side of that).that's just so you know where not to scrape. With it being 1 " thick in the handle it'll prob be a slight bendy at best,and is prob your best option there with it.

On the shape I would put it over a form that gives ya an even 2" of reflex thru the whole stave. U can shellac the whole thing n steam it,or use oil n dry heat. Get that R/D laminate shape outta your head ole man,your making a yew longbow....lol.


Oh and one more thing,make sure you get a nice even floor tiller before you put it over a form in case ya didn't know.  

[Pat B]

Roy, this was the first yew bow I made a few years ago. It is just over 64"t/t, about 1 1/2" at the handle, bends through the handle and pulls 47#@26". This bow has only hand rubbed bear grease finish and Am. bison tip overlays.
 

 

 

 

 

...and the action shot...
 

[Keenan]

Roy, this is one that had about seven inches of natural deflex, so I just heated the mid limbs with oil and worked great for a nice R/D. I do recommend tip overlays as yew is soft.
 
 
 

[Roy from Pa]

WOW Keenan, that is sharp. I can see mine looking just like that..

[PEARL DRUMS]

First of all............trade it for some osage. Then get started on your first "yew" bow! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[fujimo]

keenen how much reflex did you put in to that bow, and how much did you lose during tillering and shooting- it sure is a beauty!

[Roy from Pa]

Don't worry Pearly Boy, I'm going to finish you a   BBO before I start on this Yew Stave:)

[Keenan]

Fujimo; I had the tips about 1.5"  past the handle and they settled just a hair under the  back of the handle after tillering her in. Should have gone a touch more in the middle on the heat bends.

[Roy from Pa]

Well Ole Roy Boy will take his 2.5" then:)

[Roy from Pa]

Have the stave cut out to bow shape, it's 1 3/8th wide at handle, tapered to 1 inch at mid limb, then  tapered to 5/8th at the tips for now.. When done I want the tips 1/2 wide. Right now it's about a 100 pound bow. So my question is, should I reduce wood from the belly or the back, or both? I don't know squat about making a yew bow:) Should I induce the reflex now at mid limb or wait till I get some more wood off? Is there a ratio of sap wood to heart wood I should follow? I want a round belly, correct?

 

 

 

Picture below is a video, click on it to watch video.

   

[Pat B]

Roy, start reducing the stave from the belly. It looks like you have the right amount of sapwood.
 I'd do like Keenan did in the bow he posted. That is gonna be a sweet shooting bow!

[Roy from Pa]

Rasped my butt off tonight:) Have some sort of bending going on. But I have a long way to go:) Want to get her bending a little more before I induce the reflex. It's still an 80 pound bow:) I need to get more  wood off closer to the handle.

   

   

[Keenan]

Looking good Roy. What do ya mean you have allot more to take off?    
 In all seriousness be carefull when she starts to drop weight it can sometimes happen fast.