4. Tape measure time

No manual labor today apart from sanding away the excess epoxy resin, and that with a drill and sanding disc. This was in preparation to carefully measuring the bow stave and marking it out according to the instructions on the Traditional Bowyer's Bible. I want to get this right so it is very important that i take my time and measure everything down to the millimeter.

Diagram from The TBB showing the bow dimensions that i will be following

The first thing to establish was the line down the middle of the bow. I have gathered that the easiest and best way to do this is to hang a string through the middle of the stave tips, and then carefully follow the sting with a pencil.

Apologies for the grainy picture but you get the idea

Secondly, it is necessary to mark the center line of the bow and thus establish the top limb and bottom limb. As one of the billets i used is slightly longer than the other (37 inches and 39 1/2 inches) I was wondering how to make it work, but fortunately it works just fine. In fact, once all the lines had been drawn according to the diagram above, it was clear that this stave fits the template very neatly.

Handle area with lines drawn according to diagram above

The centre is the point where the arrow will pass. The handle area (4", 1" above and 3" below centre), is almost entirely covering the splice. The bottom limb (shown pointing towards us) is thus an inch and a quarter shorter than the top limb. This is quite satisfactory, and hopefully this weekend we can begin reducing wood. Good night!

3. Removing the bandages

I was tempted to do this yesterday, but I thought an extra day to let the glue set real firm couldn't hurt. After all, I've never used this epoxy (or any epoxy for that matter) before, and I don't know how it works.
So today, with considerable impatience and expectation, i unclamped the join and removed the "bandage" to see if my work had indeed been a masterpiece or a frankenstein's monster.

I am pleased to report that the billets are holding together! The glue is hard as a rock and has filled up all around the splice and into the gaps quite nicely.

That clear stuff is the epoxy which has completely filled all the gaps between billets

The idea of wrapping the splice with the rubber band seemed to work well as it held the glue in place while it was setting, and at the same time the rubber band came off easily enough.
I daresay this will hold quite a considerable amount of pressure. I would still feel more happy if i could put a rawhide backing in the handle area, but that is a matter we will deal with at a later time.

The "back set". Not sure if you can see it from this picture though

As you can see from the last picture, the billets have been glued with perhaps 1 inch of back set, which will aid later on when the bow will start to "follow the string". Are you following me?

The next step will be to carefully review the measurements for this type of bow as indicated in the Traditional Bowyer's Bible, and then draw these on the back of the stave accordingly, as accurately as possible. That's all for today...

2. Gluing up the billets

Is it gluing or glueing?

It's a messy business it is! I'm very thankful the Z splice had already been cut for me, (AND the billets debarked, thanks again Carson...) because if i was to do it myself, with a hand saw, I would have ruined the billets.

Heeding the advice of experts, I'll introduce some back set or reflex, to counter string follow later on, as the stave is being tillered (like i know what i'm talking about). The first thing that puzzles me is that if the billets are glued up with a few degrees of reflex, will that increase the gaps in the splice, on the belly side of the bow? I assume the glue will fill it all up. Be positive! The worst that can happen is that the gluing doesn't work and i have to start again.

Does reflexing compromise the proper fit of the splice?

*Note to myself. Using an epoxy resin with slow hardener. Never used this before. I tested it on some cheap piece of wood and I don't much like it, but I'm going to go ahead anyway*

Firstly, it's best to sand the splice surfaces to improve adhesion, wipe them clean with alcohol, and as they dry, prepare the epoxy mix.

Applying the glue. The Wife's muffin paper cups are very useful for mixing epoxy.

Applying the glue is very messy as it's dripping everywhere, it's not like white wood glue that sticks to the surface a lot more. Anyway, glue was applied very generously all over the splice surfaces on both billets then clamping one billet firmly to the table, the other was pressed into the splice, firmly, and at the required angle. I've got spring clamps handy to help me keep the billets in place.
I can see there are still gaps in the splice, so the rest of the glue was poured into them, then wrapped a large elastic band around the splice and clamped it all down with a C-clamp.

As it's fairly cold, i might leave it there 2-3 days just to be safe.
Today's post is not particularly interesting to read; I won't bother double checking it. Out!

1. Getting all my S together

We just came back from a great target archery shoot. I moved "up" to a 30# at 28" recurve, which doesn't sound like much, it probably isn't, but it was hard work. Hard to believe?

Anyway, the Yew bow. I've got all I need now. I have gathered everything on the table and taken a picture.

Inventory:

1) two very nice and straight Pacific Yew billets, very kindly sent to me by Carson at Echo Archery in Oregon (www.echoarchery.com) whose professionalism and courtesy are outstanding.
2) two buffalo horns, and two fastflight strings (also from Echo). Dammit, i forgot rawhide, I'll have to find it here somehow. Good luck with that.
3) 2 part epoxy resin to glue the billets and maybe also the horn nocks.
4) Drawknife, spokeshave, stanley surform, files and rasps, cabinet scrapers, sandpaper, danish oil.
5) The Traditional Bowyer's Bible.

I guess that's it. The only thing I've decided as far as design is concerned is that it'll be a stiff handle longbow design, that being because it's not a single stave. That's about it. I'll let the wood guide me as to everything else. I'll aim for 40 pounds at 30 inches, which is just above my draw length.

Oh, by the way. Readers, if there are any. Should you have any suggestions, advice... It is more than welcome. It's probably what will make the difference between success and failure.

Have I forgotten anything?

Before the beginning

It always starts with an idea that won't go away.

To begin with... I have been practising archery for about a month now, so I am certainly a beginner archer. I have also been attempting to craft bows since January 2013, and yesterday was my first success, more or less. That means I am also a beginner bowyer.
However i've wanted to be an archer and a bowyer for a long time. It's one of my little fixations, but unlike many others that came and went, emptying my pockets and leaving me with little to show for it, this one stayed with me.
Perhaps because this was my own idea, all mine, and i've grown it and consolidated it in my head for years without ever doing anything about it. So now it's time.
My first four bow attempts were failures. It's standard, I had already accepted it even before starting. With the first one I had no idea what i was doing (although i thought i did)... which reminds me that i still have no idea. Anyway, yesterday I finally built a bow that works (the fifth one), a bamboo-ironbark 2-laminate, 40# at 28". It works. I shot an arrow at a table and it buried itself in the sucker and wouldn't come out.

But all this is before the real beginning.
This blog's purpose is to document what i've always wanted to do since the start; that is, to build a self Yew longbow. My own Yew longbow. Now, finally, i can. I've got the yew, i've got the tools, the will and the time. I am using a blog so that should i like to go back to this in a few years, and amuse myself with the mistakes I will undoubtedly make day by day, i can do so. I can also receive comments from any readers with more experience, who will be able to advise me and answer my questions. I am hoping so, not counting on it.

Self yew longbow, because it is what the legends are made of. It is history, tradition, nature, beauty, and a touch of magic all in one. What other material can claim the properties of Yew- a sapwood that is elastic and strong in tension and a heartwood resistant to compression, all in one, light but tough? What other bow has decided the outcome of entire battles? It is as though the yew tree was designed specifically for bow-making, and that the longbow should be made of yew or undeniably destined to be second-class.

Well, two beautiful yew billets from Oregon have arrived and we're ready; tomorrow we start.

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