Yew lamination advise

[buddyb]

It looks like I may have some yew laminations coming my way as a gift and I'm wondering how they would work in a recurve bow or if I should make a takedown longbow of Kenny's design or a ASL longbow? What color fiberglass, I know its kind of a personal thing but opinions would be appreciated.

Buddy

[KenH]

Yew works really well in a one piece recurve bow.  I was gifted some a couple years back and made a nice, short (50") recurve from it.  I used black glass on the belly and clear glass on the back to show off the beautiful almost red-cedar color of the wood.

[Bowjunkie]

Yes, very personal choices. Yew can be whatever you want.

Yew is warm and beautiful looking. Why cover it? Clear glass, or better yet, no glass for me. It makes a nice bamboo backed trilam deflex/reflex longbow or recurve too.

[Crooked Stic]

I just done a 3 piece longbow with Yew edge grain for core. Same stack compared to A-boo came out about 8-9 lbs. heavy. Seems a bit more snappy tho.

[Flem]

The classic with Yew would be a ASL or similar style longbow. It looks really good with Ivory or White color glass.

[buddyb]

I appreciate everyone's thoughts, keep them comng. I haven't ever worked with bamboo for a trilam. How would actionboo work for the back and belly or hickory?

 I'm still up in the air. I'm not sure how many laminations I'm receiving but it would be nice to make all three  styles. If it's a recurve it would be similar to this one here:

[fujimo]

i am unfortunate in that i dont live in osage country, but fortunate enough that i live in yew country!
i build all my bows from Yew!
self bows, board bows, and glass bows, i use yew cores ( the bland stuff) and prettier stuff under clear glass.
 i have built ELB's ( glass) HH bows, R/D  and recurve, even my 48" static tipped bow- all with yew exclusively.
 it has never failed me yet!
It has its own challenges, its "moves" a lot, it is  a tree that grows under incredible compression and tension forces, and can move after freshly sawn, so i always cut over size and trim.
but once in its final state- its stable and snappy!

[kennym]

Haven't made a bow with it , but have ground lams from it. It gives me a screaming headache even with dust collection running ...

[garyschuler]

So very true. Yes moved like a —-/ especially face grain. You can run stock thru jointer to flatten one edge and side then run thru a planer and it will still
move. When laying up you can alternate lams from side to side to deal with a little bow that most likely develop. Taping fresh run lams to a straight board will help with storage and never untape until you are ready to lay up a bow for final grinding. My favorite is edge grain and seems to make the most snappy bow.
The best yew is the high altitude mountain yew that gets 4” to 8” or so that grows along the coastal range in Wash and Ore. The stuff above 3000 feet. Nothing beats primo yew in my book. There is a reason it sells for $50.00 a pair for lams.
 You will go thru a bunch to get the best for bow lams. 🤓.

[buddyb]

Whew, those are expensive laminations.

[Flem]

It should be expensive. It's a rare and finite resource. A 5" Yew shrub/tree can be 150 yrs old, depending on location. This is what some pharmaceutical companies were doing in the 80' and 90'.

 

[jess stuart]

Have never used them, but have some lams all ground and ready to go.  Going to use them in a takedown longbow.  Should look cool under clear glass I like the copper color of them.

[buddyb]

Jess, I think I'm going to make one of each. You saw a picture of the yew over on Tradarchers. I'm still debating on color of glass....clear, black, brown or green and maybe white, not sure yet.

[jess stuart]

Buddy, I don't think any of those glass colors would look bad at all.  I don't use a lot of clear and when I do I usually prefer fairly tame veneers.  I think the yew will be great under clear, going to use Shedua and East I dia Rosewood in the riser.  Hope to get it started this week.

[buddyb]

Shedua and East India rosewood both look really good with yew. I did make a yew longbow with black glass and shedua once and it was a sharp looking bow. Can't wait to see your finished bow.

I have to build a takedown longbow form and a straight end longbow form yet.

[garyschuler]

I used to be able to get a permit to harvest yew in Forest Service land but taxol changes all that. Yew tres are male and female trees in that the female trees have flowering berries. The wood in a female tree is more darker red than the male tree. You will cut a bunch to get lams good enough to use.
I have found tree that have more than 150 rings per inch. These can be 400-500 yrs old and can he only 4” in diameter. Some people can be seriously affected by yew dust and wearing s mask is highly recommended.
It is no fun packing this stuff out of canyons as it is very heavy. Lowland yew is worthless for bow making as it has wide growth rings.

[Sam McMichael]

I have a very pretty ASL with yew limbs. The back is brown glass and the belly is clear. The riser is Brazilian Rosewood, really pretty. Yew makes great bows that are beautiful to look at. I'm not a bowyer, but I sure recognize pretty when I see it, and yew is pretty.

[buddyb]

Would anyone post some pics of the yew bows, please?

[hunting badger]

fujimo didn't you tell me at one time that yew usually comes in under weight if you used a normal stack for it? I think you told me you need to add another .010" to the stack to meet weight, is that correct or was I smoking something at the time??

[fujimo]

i will look at my papers, to see the exact figures again, but yes you do need to make the stack a bit thicker. IIRC it is around 10%

as to high country yew being tighter, i am not saying it isnt, but i have found its more the growing conditions that regulate the ring count, and for sure higher altitude makes for shorter and cooler seasons, and that is a significant factor, but proximity to water also has a huge effect, and quality of soil.
 Being an understory plant, the available light intensity has a significant effect as well.
 all i am saying is i have found super tight stuff down at sea level( or damn close to it) and looser stuff up at altitude.