I had a guy drive 2 hours to collect that character Yew bow (in the last post). He shot about 10 arrows through it, we had a nice chat and tried some of the more exotic bows including the Chinese Repeater of course :-)
He drove home, messaged me thanking me for the bow and my hospitality... about 3 hours later he sent 2 pictures of the bow smashed! Apparently he'd been enjoying shooting it and it just went bang! H'e paid me by Paypal, so I just got on there and did a refund. We were both gutted.
I don't often go the whole hog on finishing a bow, I see them as more utilitarian than decorative, but that one was done as a masterpiece.
Well that was yesterday and I was rather down, but I've cheered up now. There are plenty of worse things happen, and as for all the time and effort I spent... well at least I wasn't painting skirting boards!
Anyhow, I've laid off working with wood and Yew in particular for the last week or so and my niggling cough has substantially improved. I think that over the years I've become sensitised to Yew dust and it's almost impossible to keep the workshop dust free even with my dust extractor and mask. So, I've invested in a Trend Airshield Pro respirator which blows filtered air down over you face behind a face shield/hood. It's pretty good, took a bit of fiddling to get it comfortable, it doesn't mist up which is a big advantage. The fan is a tad noisy, but can't be heard if using the bandsaw or belt sander anyway!
I'll lay off the bows for a bit while I fiddle with an idea for a radical flight arrow. Of the three staves I was recently given, that's the second to have exploded... I may dump the third (worst one) into my off-cut sack and quit while I'm behind.
I have been wondering, yew seems to explode rather then simply break. Seeing these things does somehow make me nervous about my own warbows, are people usually hurt when these kind of breaks occur?
ReplyDeleteCheers Simon
No, you are unlikely to get hurt! The tips of the bow are restrained by the string and thus a breaking limb will pivot about the the point where the string and limb meet. So if it breaks above your hand the limb will fly away from you initially then pivot up and over the top coming down maybe hitting the top of your head (wost case), but most of the energy is dissipated throughout the wood as it smashes. Most of the splinters etc fly away from the archer. Even if the limb does come over the top it won't take you eye out as it is travelling downwards at that point and your eye is protected by you brow ridge.
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ReplyDeleteWell that is indeed reassuring, thanks for taking the time to quell my worries.
ReplyDeleteCheers Simon