Ozbow

Hi again Neil, I just did a quick search for "taxus baccata bark" euro yew, most of the pic's are like I described smooth or large scaly sections. There was however one(and only one among many) with very similar bark to the timber in your photo's. I still don't think its yew at least not b...

Nice timber, but definitely not yew (European or Pacific) . The bark on the edges is shaggy and fibrous. Yew is smooth barked, or has large , smooth scaly sections depending on age. The rough sawn fibres look too coarse, maybe a juniper or cedar or cypress. Not really the proper colour with clear de...

How heavy are these puppies going to be?
Hamish.

Interesting experiment. Are you going to sinew back it? It would give you a few extra pounds
Hamish.

Nice find. If you want it for bows, your best bet will be to back slats with hickory, provided the grain is still relatively straight and clear of knots. How much to pay, it really depends on how suitable the pieces are for bows. If its too knotty, or twisted its not worth buying, leave it for a fur...

The heating results worked well, the bow looks good. Using a water based glue for the backing can reintroduce moisture into hickory. Hickory has a reputation for taking excessive set due to moisture, though 1 & 3/4" of set is in the acceptable range. I have bought hickory for bows from Otto...

I haven't tried it, but I would be fairly confident those industrial strength glues would be up to the task of stopping delamination from dry heat. As it will be backed it shouldn't matter about becoming too brittle/dry in tension either.

I generally seal the entire outside of any osage with 2 coats of pva if it has been sawn. You can probably get away without doing it if you are in a cool, mild climate, and store the wood carefully. Sealing just means that extra bit of insurance, especially during spring/summer, when the temperature...

You remove the sapwood when they have been split(sawn in your case, hopefully you were able to follow the grain), into staves. Always put a coat of pva glue or two on the back of the stave after the sap has been removed otherwise you will get checks.

Pretty challenging pieces of wood. There are potential bows in there if you are dedicated and patient enough. I would cut into billets lengths. For wood like this I always split into quarters, to make sure the grain stays intact along the length. In the early days I have overlooked or junked many ch...

Gee man, you don't have to rub my face in it
Cool, they look pretty primo quality. You will be busy for a while.
Hamish.

Looking good Daryl. I would hesitate against making any changes in tiller because you used the average of the billets natural reflex before backing with the boo. It is more of a self bow backed with boo, rather than one made from tapered belly lam's, so you get a little natural variation from one li...

You can mill the bulk of the boo down with an electric handplane, then change to a sharp block plane. Very precise results but requires a very sharp plane blade, re sharpening. If you choose planing you will need a long strip of rubber to lie flat on the bench. This allows the crown of the boo to be...

Very cool! Risky, but the guy obviously new what he was doing with the wedges, still I would not have tried that.

Nice stave.

Very cool!

H'mm very interesting, Was it the top or bottom limb that blew? Looks to be a little knot on the lower limb. You and Nick must have some pretty good shoulders. Mine start to ache just thinking about tillering a 100lber let alone shooting one.
Hamish.

Hi Andy, For dimensions I also meant width and depth at the handle. I'd expect a 100lb hardwood bow to be a lot narrower than a yew warbow, or either wider and flatter, shallower in the handle area. Did you get any pictures at brace height or drawn before it broke? That was a pretty catastrophic bre...

Hi Andy, What were the dimensions for that one?
Hamish.

Urac and resorcinol are hard to get in small quantities, have a short shelf life. Excellent glues though and they don't need to be heat set(but can be of course). Titebond 3 is available and cheaper. Long shelf life, excellent for laminating, Techniglue pretty darn good for most bow making applicati...

That guy is not just a bowyer he is a bow artiste!

Had to check out the bowyer's website. Holy crap, there are some nice bows there. Expensive but the materials and craftsmanship are about as good as it gets.
Hamish.

ooh... pretty. ooh... very expensive.
Lucky man.
Hamish.

Hey Dennis, I pretty much agree with the overwhelming majority most of what you said, and I would definitely trust your experience. Its mainly other people whom I don't know how knowledgeable they are regarding bows. I don't think the wood degrades by itself just because of age either. I think its m...

Not really sure about risking any old bow by testing. Those old osage bows though, I would trust them with my life, the quality of workmanship and condition of the wood looked pretty perfect. I wouldn't do the same with yew, mainly because unless it was stored exceptionally well, most of the old yew...

Sweet bows! They look like they could have been made yesterday. Dennis is a fortunate man.
Hamish.

Hi Morg's, Yep you got to take it easy. Tour riders are massively drugged up and younger. I think cycling is probably good for you, several low intensity sessions, trying to avoid lactic acid build up. Make exercise feel enjoyable. If you feel pain your doing it wrong. You don't want sore muscles le...

Beautiful! How much was it?
Hamish

Is that spotted gum or ironbark? I find they can chrysal as often as not for no good reason, despite a decent tiller. Just temperamental, unless it was overstrained earlier in the tillering process. I'd be surprised if the chrysal got worse, unless you increase the draw length. A 78" long bow r...

Like Daryl said it depends upon what type of bow you want to make. If its a very short sinew backed Indian type bow, bandsaw off the sapwood and give it to me to use as a backing. Most injun bows that are sinewed don't use the sapwood. I have heard that when the sinew dries and pulls into a reflex i...