Saturday 5 June 2010

Primitive Yew Bow

I've had a commission for a primitive bow, I have a piece of Yew split from the other side of the log in the previous entry which might just do the job. It's only 59" long and not quite as wide as I'd like, but it has loads of character, and being Yew should out perform the other wood I have available...so it's worth a try.
You can see the same wiggle in the pith line as the previous stave, and that there isn't much width of much heart wood to spare, but the fun is in the challenge.

The weather has been so glorious I took my workmate and tools outside and have been roughing it out off and on all morning. It's not a job to rush at when there's so little wood, so it's do a bit, stop and think and look at it, make a few pencil marks, have a cuppa... check my E-mail, then do a bit more. The stave has some natural deflex with a bit of reflex at the far end. I had intended to put a sharp little reflex near each tip (flip the tips as the guys on Primitive Archer would say) However there is a knot through the middle of the limb right where I would bend it and to attempt a tight bend would be foolhardy. What I shall do instead is to put a smoother reflex into the limb which I'm holding to match the natural curve in t'other. With a bow like this, it's all about working with the stave rather than fighting it.
Hmmm, I s'pose I should say what I'm aiming for?
Let's say 35-40pounds draw weight at 28", tested to 29". Tillered to bend through the handle to give an arc of a circle centered on the nock of the arrow at full draw.
I'm being a tad foolhardy here specifying that amount of detail but it will be interesting to see how close it comes.

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