Yew ELB
 

Ok, since Russ is havin so much fun, I figured I would start a thread. But the difference is my thread is going to take 2 months or more. Not a weekend.

Ok, I got this piece yew from a friend in WA state. Its not great. Alot of windshake damage.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Rough looking stuff.

RE: Yew ELB
 

After removing most of the bark, and studying the thing for like weeks, I found a design I liked and a clear path to draw my layout.

RE: Yew ELB
 

The design I decided on was the one in Tradbowyers bible vol 1.

70" long, 1" handle with 4" to the fades, with 1.25" fades, and pyamid to 5/8" tips. Bascially a ELB with slight working handle with rounded belly. Maybe a semi flat belly. Well see.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Ok, bandsaw time. Had a mishap and since one side of the stave was rounded and other flat, it twisted on me before I knew it. Lessson learned, make 4-6 cuts on when cutting the profile, and don't try to do it in 2!!!!!!!!!1

RE: Yew ELB
 

Here's after cutting the belly.

RE: Yew ELB
 

If you guys notice that sapwood is a tad thick. Little over 3/8". Thinking of thinning it.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Ok, here is the boo boo. About 70% up the limb, is when the stave twisted on me and I cut into the profile. I think if I leave it thick there, it will work out.

RE: Yew ELB
 

One more of the bad. Here is the back side.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Next, I got to decide how much to take off the limbs. Stuff works horribly. So far I don't like it. I can't draw knife the belly. It will dig in (bevel down of course) but then the grain lifts up in front of the blade and splinters up. Quick way to ruin a bad situation. The belly heart wood laughs at my ferriers rasp. Only thing that is effective is the good ole nicholson 49 rasp. And scraping. So I might have to thin down my belly wood with careful, I mean careful use of the bandsaw. Figured make my safety lines 1/4" longer than the "back" width. So the tip is 5/8" wide, so cut down with bandsaw 7/8". The fade is 1.25" wide, so cut down to 1.5". And down the rest scraping with my draw knife and card scrapers. But the trick with the bandsaw is to cut with the profile of the back. In other words, I can't make a straight cut from the fades to the tip to thin teh belly. I have to stay with the humps and bumps and knots.

I thought this stuff worked easier than osage, but I was dead wrong.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Slow and easy wins the race mate;)specially with a band saw.

What blade do you have in it?

Mine is a 6 tooth per inch I would have loved to get a 4 tooth per inch but none of the hardware stores carry the 4 tooth[:@]

RE: Yew ELB
 

I have a 4tooth/in 1/2 blade just for this. I hate it when I get a stave where one side, they left 80% of the material but the other side just enought for a bow. It sucks, the material that make the best bow is the most knarly and contrary. I learned alot on this cut however. But I think I can pull a bow out of it.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Cool keep us posted.

The Plywood riser bow went into the oven 1 1/2 hours ago;)

RE: Yew ELB
 

Holy cow, already???

RE: Yew ELB
 

I was gonna start it yesterday but it was too hot to be out in the shop when I got home[8D]

RE: Yew ELB
 

Looken good. You should be able to get a ELB out of it. ;)

RE: Yew ELB
 

Man, Lockout that bandsaw already! Yew isn't exactly easy (or cheap) to come by. [:-] Looks like you'll still be able to pull off an ELB. My limited experience with yew is that it works easily...too easily, as I'm accustomed to osage and nearly cut yew in half with a single scraper pass. Have you decided whether or not to thin the sapwood? I think 3/8" is right on the border. Really, I think it would be fine either way.Narrow those tips a little more before you get the horn nocks on. I love selfbow buildalongs. Can't wait to check in again to see what you've done!

RE: Yew ELB
 

I thought it would be easy to work too, butI find it much tougher than osage. Its like brittle or something. Only thing I can work it with it a 49 rasp. If you try to take a spokeshave or a draw knife to the belly, it will crack out pieces.

RE: Yew ELB
 

You need to get a good card scraper. It will make a world of difference.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Yea, I got some cabinet scrapers, they work ok, but the rasp seems to work better.

You said you use saw blades. Do you cut em in half or something and then sharpen them to get a burr?

RE: Yew ELB
 

Rasping my heart out for 1 hour. Didn't put a dent in it.:D Oh well, better than watching the boobtube I guess. One day I might get a bow.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Thats the key, get a good burr. If you get a good burr, you can curl off a lot of wood. And yes, i do make some scrapers from old tablesaw and radial armsaw blades. Cut them in to rectangles with my chop saw, then file them down and curl a burr on them.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Keep your head up. I broke about 8 to 10 bows getting the tillering thing down. Its not as easy as it looks. Youwill get it. This is why not everyone does it. :D

RE: Yew ELB
 

Kent, when you get a burr, do you just use a grinder? I was trying last night to make a burr with file. Do you file at 45degrees or even steeper like perpendiculuar to the edge of the metal?

RE: Yew ELB
 

Back at it today. Got the profile done and started floor tillering. Still can't put a tiller string on, but close. Took the sapwood down to 1/4" or less.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Got some ugly knots I gave a big berth too. This is also where I had my bandsaw incident. Figured I will be ok, leaving thick.

RE: Yew ELB
 

I had this knot in the fades right above the handle.

I started digging at it, and it was a full fledged hole now. Not sure what I am going to do about this. Maybe fill with superglue and sawdust.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Here's where it comes out on the "back".

RE: Yew ELB
 

Mark.

It's starting to look good.

Or maybe some epoxy and saw dust the epoxyshould be stronger than super glue.

RE: Yew ELB
 

I thought about that russ. Its in a working section of the limb, so it needs to flex. superglue ain't know for its flexin ability.

So how many bows did you finish this weekend?:D

RE: Yew ELB
 

Got the so called Plywood riser bow finished last night and went and test shot it this morning.

It's a toss up on what I am going to do next maybe make up a reflex form and do a reflex or make up a pronounced take down form and do a TD.

But for now I am enjoying a day off:D

RE: Yew ELB
 

No. You use a file to flatten the edge. You want it to be a perfectly square (45 degrees), or close. Then you lay the scraper flat and use a burnisher to start to smash a burr towards the edge you just flatened. Then you turn the scraper edge up. I like to hold mine in my vice. Then smooth the burr you just started in the wrong direction, back towards the big surface of the card and in the right direction. When you get a good one, it will cut nicely. Let me see if i can find a site to help explain the burr process. Its easier to see than to explain.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Dont use super glue. it wont work. A good gap filling epoxy will do the trick. Urac 185, Smooth on 40, Bow grip, some two ton epoxy,etc. etc.

Since this is a self bow, and i see violated grain, I can only assume this would be the belly? I would not worry about it until you do some tillering. You might not need to fill much. But if you are close to having it floor tillered, you might fill it and just reduce it down with the belly.

RE: Yew ELB
 

Here is a good video on turning a burr. He does it a little different than I do. His will probably work better than my way.

http://www.bobvila.com/RoughCutShow/Podcast_010.html

RE: Yew ELB
 

Ok, guys, not sure where to do now. I have the bow pretty well floor tillered. But when I try to put a long string on and pull back or bend, it wants to twist. Do you think I should remove more material from opposite side of the twist?