[English Longbow] Hazel1919's First Yew Longbow

Hazel1919

New member
Hello,

Last year I cut a Yew branch and shaped a rough bow and left it to season for 1 year. The yew was growing near a river in cornwall, and the branch was growing no leaves. The tree itself was of medium size, and despite not being particularly high altitude, the branch I cut had lovely tight rings and a nice coloration difference between the heartwood and sapwood.

Here is the almost finished product. Please keep in mind that this is my first Yew longbow (one of many I hope in the near future). For that reason there are many imperfections.

The main imperfection being a giant knot that I have had to leave, protruding 1 cm or so. unfortunately, it is at this point, the branch decided to start growing in a different direction. Despite trying to steam it straight, the bow holds some flex the wrong way.

Also, the stave was twisted. It's a funny sort of twist. It is only in the middle that the twist occurs, the bow straightens out on both ends.

I have treated it with beeswax polish after burnishing. I have not measured it, but it's a big bow, perhaps 6'4"... perhaps too big.

I will be glad to hear what you think.

Hazel.
 

Attachments

D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
Hard to tell from the thumbnail pic.
If you post the pics on photo bucket or some such you can paste in the code for the pic into your post.
Congratulations, any working bow is something to be proud of.
Any idea of the draw weight?
You may find my 'Bowyers Diary' (just google it) useful as I post exactly what I do when making my bows (plenty of Yew longbows on there) including all the problems and fixes.
You can PM me for my E-mail address if you want as I'd love to be E-mailed the proper pics.
Del
 

Hazel1919

New member
Hi Del,

I have not measure the draw weight as of yet. I can bearly keep it at full draw for more than a couple of seconds though.

I am a MAJOR fan of the Bowyers Diary! :tearsofjo

Ok, let's try this photo bucket thing...

bow 1.jpg
 

Hazel1919

New member
I have an idea to perhaps help with my Deflex problem. First I would shorten the bow, then attach the horn nocks at a slight angle to counter the reflex of he bow. The picture attached explains much better.
nock idea.jpg
 

WillS

New member
I have an idea to perhaps help with my Deflex problem. First I would shorten the bow, then attach the horn nocks at a slight angle to counter the reflex of he bow. The picture attached explains much better.
View attachment 1919
Personally I'd leave the nock idea and work on the tiller, or call it done and start a new one! The right limb is far stiffer/heavier than the left, and this will cause some dangerous stresses and imbalance. There are also stiff areas on the left as well.

You say that you can't hold the bow at full draw for long, but with an uneven tiller the bow shouldn't be anywhere near full draw until its balanced and correct. Piking will only increase the draw weight, and setting the nocks at an angle will either just weaken them or have no effect at all. Ideally to help reduce deflex you want to flip the tips into recurves, but again I would focus on the tiller first!

Hope this doesn't come across as blunt and uncongratulatory - you've done a great job so far, it just needs some tweaking and it could be a really excellent bow!
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
Only just seen the pic of it drawn.
I don't think you don't have a 'deflex problem'... don't shorten it or mess about with nocks (at least not yet), that has all the hall marks of a 'problem creation exercise'
The tiller is pretty good :) The left limb is a whisker weak near the centre but is prob best left alone.
The main thing is the right limb is stiff, just take a whisker off with a fine rasp and or scraper over the outer 2/3 of the belly. Just a little mind.
As the right limb flexed a bit more it will take some of the excess load off the left limb. (You can see the right limb is pulling the whole bow up at the right like a see saw)
The key at this point is only ever take off half as much as you think... the moment you want to dive in and take more off step away and leave it to the morning. Take plenty of pics.
Truing up the tiller will only loose you a few pounds and will ensure a longer lasting bow with less set.
Once you have eased off the right limb, then maybe re-appraise the left limb, until then leave it alone.
You are very very close to a well tillered bow, a little tweaking and tuning will make a world of difference.
Del
BTW Hold a CD up against the pic to help you see the tiller shape.
 

WillS

New member
The tiller is pretty good :) The left limb is a whisker weak near the centre but is prob best left alone.
The main thing is the right limb is stiff, just take a whisker off with a fine rasp and or scraper over the outer 2/3 of the belly. Just a little mind.
I just looked again, and I may be completely wrong, but is there a hinge or at least the warnings of a hinge about 2 inches from the knot on the left limb, just to the left of where his foot is? It seems almost that the handle isn't bending at all, and it suddenly starts to move a lot just past that knot. I'd get the handle moving as that will change the shape of the right limb tiller.
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
I just looked again, and I may be completely wrong, but is there a hinge or at least the warnings of a hinge about 2 inches from the knot on the left limb, just to the left of where his foot is? It seems almost that the handle isn't bending at all, and it suddenly starts to move a lot just past that knot. I'd get the handle moving as that will change the shape of the right limb tiller.
I agree! BUT...
I was just proposing easing off the right limb first as that may help alleviate the problem.
Working on the weaker left limb first to take the load off the potential hinge will make everything look worse in the first instance, as it makes the weaker limb even weaker.
I see it as a balancing act. Always do the minimum, and only one limb at a time whilst keeping the overall tiller as even as possible..
And do whatever will help correct the maximum number of problems with the minimum amount of work/wood removal,
I was also trying to keep it simple and avoid 'mending it beyond repair' ;)
Del
 

Hazel1919

New member
Hi guys! Thanks for the analysis, really kind.

Here is a shot of the real knot, (you can't see it in the photos I've given because it's on the other side, but it is where the hinge starts). I'll try and get a few shots of it when I get it back to France in the next few days.



Here's the link to Photobucket bow5_zps9d331190.png photo by Hazel1919 | Photobucket


Tell me if it's not working. :)
 

WillS

New member
Del speaks real sense - I didn't take into account the initial effect working on the weaker limb would have. Don't worry about that knot, it should be fine. Bring the right limb round some more so it's more aesthetically pleasing, and then if need be try and get that stiff handle moving.

As Del said, sometimes you can mend beyond repair, and often taking a break or starting a completely new project can stop you doing something dangerous! If it was me, i think I'd sort out that right limb, then go and make a set of arrows or something, before coming back to work on the more finicky left limb.
 
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