From: SteelyDan
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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Since my last yew selfbow mishap, I have been shaping another. This from an almost perfect yew stave that I have been saving.
Design was for a 66" longbow. Nothing fancy and hoping for around 45# or so. One limb had more reflex in it and I bent the other with heat to match. Some of that bend pulled out when I was tillering the bow.
Got it all done a couple of weeks ago and was very happy with the results. 45#@26".
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From: SteelyDan
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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I have shot it around 100 times or so....both lefty and righty. It shot great.
So an hour ago I convinced my wife to take some pictures of the bow at full draw...you know, to show you guys the great tiller job I did.
Got it a third way back and she let go..the top tip, about 5 inches down.
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From: Wayne Hess
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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Nice, good luck with Yew
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From: SteelyDan
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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Wife laughed...I hung my head.
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From: SteelyDan
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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If I didn't have bad luck.....
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From: SteelyDan
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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I would have no luck at all.
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From: Great Falls
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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Better luck next time, it looked pretty decent-
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From: Wudstix
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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Glad you didn't poke yourself.
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From: fdp
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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Is that the top limb close to where the knot is in the side that broke?
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From: SteelyDan
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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Yes, top limb. Wood is clean where it snapped.
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From: fdp
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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Take a look at that picture you posted of the side view profile leaning against the deer.
Do you see that hinge in the limb? It's right at just slightly outboard of the knot.
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From: Juancho
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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I saw that too. If it failed , it had to be there
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From: SteelyDan
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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Sadly, you could be right.
SD
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From: fdp
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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You can't have a hinge in a limb, it is going to fail there, it's just a matter of time.
It's tough to identify and work spots like that around knots, it takes practice and patience.
When you are working a limb like that look at it a lot of times from a lot of different angles and go slow.
Patience is your friend, and the ability to identify those spots will come.
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From: JHPope
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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Sorry for the mishap. But at least you showed the wife you're so strong. You should have just curled your arm and pointed to the bicep. Sorry again for the loss that would discourage anyone.
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From: Pa Steve
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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That really sucks! Sorry to see that happened. Like fdp said there was a weak spot and that caused the breakage.You are so close. Don't give up now, Colin. If it wasn't for that little mishap you would have had a shooter. Another lesson learned in the trials and tribulations of building selfbows. Good luck on your next build. Patience is your friend.
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From: SteelyDan
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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I have made a half dozen that have stood the test of time and use but I have had a very bad run of late!
SD
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From: fdp
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Date: 12-Apr-22 |
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I'll just tell ya' I've gotten a little over confident and cocky and too big a hurry a time or 2 and broke some bows I shouldn't have.
It happens.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 13-Apr-22 |
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I saw a potential pitfall in that picture with the red plaid shirt behind it. You can see the thin spot exactly where it broke. That, in conjunction with leaving the knot area thick was apparently just asking too much of the wood.
Tough call sometimes on whether to leave extra wood around a knot, and how, and how much.
It sucks to lose a bow, especially a yew bow, but to be honest, that's how lessons are best learned.
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From: Bjrogg
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Date: 13-Apr-22 |
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It’s definitely a learning moment. Agree with Jeff’s assessment.
fdp is right. You just can’t get in to much of a hurry when it’s time to finish up the tiller. Can’t have a hinge. Once stuff gets bending and the closer you get to finished. The less wood left that isn’t a bow.
Agree with Steve. Don’t give up.
Bjrogg
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From: Bassmaster
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Date: 14-Apr-22 |
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I have broken more than my share over the years. Just tried to get a stave out of dead wood Osage built vertical grain that left go at a knot. I did manage to get 6 bows from 2 small dead logs,so I am happy.Hang in their. What the guys said above.
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From: Dartwick
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Date: 14-Apr-22 |
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She was pretty while she lasted.
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From: tecum-tha
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Date: 14-Apr-22 |
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That is not an "engineering" disaster. There is no "engineering" in wooden bows really. And bow building quality yew is probably hardly out there anymore. I would try my hands at some fire-hardened hickory bows, cheaper and easier to work on with a probably higher success rate. I tiller all my bows with a belt sander, so it is quite a quick process. Works best with osage/ hickory /ash.
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 14-Apr-22 |
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Quality yew bow staves are indeed rare... and expensive if you do happen upon one.
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From: SteelyDan
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Date: 14-Apr-22 |
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I stand corrected...it was just a disaster.
Tillering with a belt sander? Can't wait to see what Jeff Durnell has to say about that.
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From: PEARL DRUMS
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Date: 14-Apr-22 |
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That stave appears to have been more than adequate. You just missed seeing a thin spot that gave up the ghost. That could have been a "board" straight beauty of a yew stave and a thin spot will still blow. You have built enough to know the few basic principals that have to be adhered to. You simply missed one, we all have and do.
I don't care much about how anybody tiller their bows. It's a winner if the limbs bend evenly and nicely, regardless of the approach taken. I'm an old school builder and use all hand tools after the bow is roughed out on my bandsaw. I like to have TOTAL control over everything I do henceforth.
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From: Bjrogg
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Date: 14-Apr-22 |
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I know people who use sander for tillering. I don’t have a problem with it if the end results are good.
I use hand tools myself. I just think they fit the job really well. The closer I get to finished the slower I go.
You can get away with leaving wood that isn’t a bow, but it’s hard to fix after you remove wood that was supposed to be a bow.
The closer to finished the harder it is to figure out where that wood is.
Bjrogg
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From: Jeff Durnell
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Date: 15-Apr-22 |
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Doesn't matter to me what anyone else uses to tiller their bows. Do what suits you.
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From: Runner
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Date: 15-Apr-22 |
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There certainly is engineering in wood bows, whether you realize it or not.
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From: George Tsoukalas
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Date: 15-Apr-22 |
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I rough my bows out with a belt sander. Once I go to the long string I use a scraper-like tool. But I don't think power tools should be used until you have at least 6 successful bows finished. Power tools remove zoom too much wood too fast. JMO. Jawge
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