Billets and Bows

... Reminds me of Buttons and Bows...
Who remembers Bob Hope, Jane Russell in Paleface, Saturday afternoon on the telly?
"My bones denounce the buckboards bounce and the cactus hurts my toes..."
Sorry couldn't resist!

I've cut down that fat Yew trunk and managed to get 3 billets each about 2"x 2" and a decent length. The pics show the good and bad sides of the billets, and the backs with the bark left on.
They have had their source and date pencilled onto them and the ends (and 1" up the billet) painted with PVA.
The shortest billet is 49", so I have plenty of length in them, could even make a short primitive from the odd one, as a three limbed bow is a bit tricky to shoot and making the string is a nightmare... mind I bet someone has done it!


I've Done more on the 60# Yew bow and it's about ready to have the horn nocks on it as it's coming back about 23"
The tiller looks a bit off, but you have to bear in mind there is a slight deflex bend about 1/3 of the way along from the right tip, and the left limb has a hint of reflex on the tip. The full draw shape always needs to reflect the shape of the unbraced bow.

Meanwhile I noticed the plums on the cycle track are ripe, but there are very few due to frost getting the flowers earlier in the year, a huge contrast to last years bumper crop. I'm on the last jar of plum chutney, but we have a few bottles of plum wine still.