Review of 2022

 Ah! The lull after Christmas, so I've been looking back over the year.
It's been relatively quiet with ony about 6 bows, a variety of odd projects and a good few repairs.
This has all happened with the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and a totally incompetent government lurching from one fiasco to another as energy prices sky rocket. To counter this I've been doing some home improvements to reduce energy bills and I've been getting payment for bow repairs donated to charity rather than given to me... it's not much, but I felt it was something I could contribute from my own effort. This came about when a guy from the Netherlands wanted a Yew crossbow prod, but import duty would have made it too expensive for him. I'd already started it, so I sent it as a gift on condition that he donated to a local suitable charity.
The hinged carriage bow was my first interesting project which had been on my to-do list for some time. I reworked a tired old heavy laminate with plenty of thickness at the grip. It worked remarkably well and shot as smoothly as any other ELB.

Another project from the list was to modify my Archer's Sallet to a more authentic shape, that improved my meagre welding skills using the gassless MIG welder I'd been given last Christmas.
There were 3 English longbows,  Yew, a boo/hickory/Yew and a Yew one with a nice protruding character knot near one tip.
The Year wound down with two Yew primitives, the first having a lovely feature knot hole through the upper limb (another thing from my to-do list) 

That is probably my most accomplished bow, clean and simple and elegant with no fancy leather grip, decoration or bells and whistles.

My final Yew primitive was cut from the Yew in our back garden and is by comparison an ugly agricultural thing, but it was a challenge and it shoots well enough. 

This blog will still be ticking over, but most of my work will be on my Youtube chanel (Del Cat), where the first project for next year will be a 120# self Yew warbow for my mate JT for roving.

That's about it for the year. I wish you all a happy New Year, and lets hope 2023 brings change for the better in the world.
There are some rays of hope on the horizon, the tantalising promise of nuclear fusion... mind those of you who are as old as me will remember the promises of the 1950's ... Nuclear energy that will be so cheap, it won't be worth charging for it!
May all you arrows fly true and may your to-do list grow shorter!

Snow

 We had about 4" of snow and it's been B cold. I was going a bit stir crazy stuck indoors... well not really stuck, I did go out to clear the path and make a snow man (My missus added eyes and a smile out of raisins). Anyhow, I had a bit of a tidy in the garage, which wasn't too cold as it gets some heat from the central heating pipes that run through it. Some of my staves had been taken down from the shelf to allow be to drill a big hole into the kitchen to vent the cooker hood to the outside world (via the garage). Two staves were large halves of a log about 4 1/2" diameter. I decided to tidy one half up, but was dissapointed with the results... it seemed to be full of checks and splits and streaks of black... maybe it'll look better as it's gradually reduced to bow dimensions. the other half looked better, but by the the bandsaw blade had snapped and I was ready for a cuppa. Still it gave me a breath of air and tidied the garage a bit. 
Dunno if I'll post again before 2023, so Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all.

 

Yew Stick Bow Finished

   I got it finished and shooting 45# @28". I chalked the arrow pass and could see it needed relieving a bit as the arrows were going left and weren't sticking into the boss straight at 10 yards. the next day I took it roving. Nice clean arrow flight, only shooting about 160-170yards, which is ok for that weight and a wonky stick. 

Yew Stick Bow

 Back last Autumn, I cut a branch off the Yew in the back garden that was overhanging the patio (on instruction from the missus). It was an oval cross section at the base about 3" x 4". There were plenty of knots and bends in it, but just for fun I roughed it out on the bandsaw to a half round section and strapped it up to a length of 3x2 to season.
It needs some steam bending but the wood is a lovely colour and works nicely.
I've started work on it and been videoing the process. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIW6-ngRHd4

3D shoot and some Rowan

 I went to the Cloth of Gold (CoG) field archery club's 3D shoot. First 3D shoot I'd been to for over a year
, it was excellent, the course had been totally re-layed so it was all new unfamiliar shots. I had belly ache the previous night and didn't feel up to par, but a good walk in the woods helped to work it off. The course was 20 targets double pegged, so first time round you shot from the A pegs, and 2nd time from the Bs... sometimes there were also different targets from each peg. I didn't bother scoring and actually blanked the first target which was a small fox and rat with one arrow at each. After that I settled down and didn't blank any more. I was shooting pretty well in a friendly group of 4.
I met up with my mate Rob who'd brought a couple of Rowan staves for me and I gave him a 90# Boo/Hickory/Yew that I'd made for him, unfortunately we weren't shooting in the same group.
By the time we got round to the catering tent after 22 targets, I was tiring, so I just had a cup of tea and made my way home... 
Thanks to all at CoG for their hard work and organisation.

I've not used Rowan before, so it'll be another one to add to my list of woods that I've made bows with. I had a quick try with the draw knife to get a feel for it, I was expecting it to feel like Ash as it looks very similar, coarse grain and pale colour, but it was more like Hazel or pine, it cut very well, smooth and creamy. There is some darker heart wood in  the staves and that felt a little crisper. I've not decided what type of bow yet, but the wonkier stave will probably be a primitive, maybe really wide like a paddle bow? I've not done a really wide bow yet. Maybe try a longbow/warbow from the straighter stave.

Yew Primitive Character Bow Finished

 I spent a lot of time finishing it, but keeping it clean and simple. It's not easy to get good pics of bows due to thire long thin shape. Hard to get a foreshortened shot with it all in focus.

Yew Primitive

 

I came across this Yew stave in my stash, I'd obviously started to rough it out as a primitive at some point (it had 2019 written on it). It had some sideways bend which I straightened by steaming at the grip. Some twist in one tip was also steamed out. It's only just starting to flex, I'm aiming for 45# @ 28".
It has a big character knot in the upper limb, which I may take all the way through as the limb is slimmed down. I've also noticed the lower limb is a fair bit wider than the upper, so that needs some attention.

I'm really noticing the seasons shifting now, a softer warmth, a hint of chill some mornings, the courgettes are beginining to go over as the apples come to ripeness.

Boo/Hickory/Yew

 I've finished the Replacement for the bow that exploded, it's a whisker under 90# @32" draw.
Using Microsoft 'Paint' I've managed to produced a combined unstrung and full draw image.
I've sisnce taken a couple of scrapes off the ringht outer limb as it appears a tad stiff when I drew ellipses on the full draw image.

Someone suggested the tiller was odd and the outers are too stiff (I do tend to agree, but it was glued up with a hint of reflex)...
For everyone who says a whip tillered bow is fastest, someone else says a Mollegabet style with stiff outerlimbs is fastest. So make your own minds up and tiller accordingly!

Bad day at the Office

 I got the deflexed yew back to 70# @ 28" and took it roving on a scorching hot day. It felt punchy. One of the guys videoed me shooting it and I heard it creak... I inspected the back and couldn't see any lifting splinters, so next shot I pulled it a whisker more (maybe 29"? ... it was supposed to be 29" draw).. I thought, I'll hold it for a couple of secoBANG. It exploded whacking my right forearm in the process. 

We collected the pieces and carried on round the rove... nearing the end my calf suddenly went into spasm and I slowly limped off to sit in the shade and play my harmonica (that's not a euphemism) until everyone finished. We then sat around chatting and enjoying a cool drink.
I think there were two problems whith the bow, a knot at the centre was much deeper than I suspected, but even if filled would probably have still failed. I suspect the real problem was the sapwood was too thin.
Being a small diametre stave (smallest in the upper limb) the back needed to be rounded to follow a ring, by flattening it a bit I left it V thin down the centre about 2mm. (see diagram).

To try and see if this theory is true I sawed some cross section through near the 2 main breaks. It seems there was plenty of sapwood at the grip, but it was thinner near the knot and at the other break... that's the problem with a stave , it's not nice and even so it's difficult to draw sound conclusions.

Tidy up and Deflexed Yew ELB

 I had a sort through my staves to make room for the storm damage yew I'd just processed. The old staves were a bit of a rag bag mix, a couple of good ones, two that were just too skinny and bent and 3 staves of Elm. I'd had a go with one bit of the Elm previously, but it was too full of burrs, which looked good but were too unsound. I had a quick look at the best of the Elm, removing the bark, but it had a huge cavity and a load of burrs, so I decided to scrap all the Elm.
Whilst tidying I got chatting to my neigbour, who said he had a wood burner, ideal! I sawed up all the Yew off cuts and the scrap staves and left them in a plie in his garden for him, that saves me a tip to the trip.

One of the good Yew staves looked fine for a 70# elb, which my mate Rob had requested, he may well have given me the yew originally as the Elm which was on the same shelf was from him (the Elm was always "it may be ok, or it may be useless... worth a look".
The yew is from a fairly small diameter shoot/trunk/limb and has a good bit of deflex... 62mm from the floor to the belly at the grip, when placed with the tips touching the floor. It had been roughed down to appox' dimensions previously, so I just cut temporary nocks and tried it on the tiller. Plenty of draw weight to play with.
The sapwood is lovely on one side of the bow but slightly discoloured at one end on the other side. A bit of drawknife work on both sapwood and belly got the draw weight to 70# @22" with slightly taut string.

I then strapped the bow flat and heat treated the belly to try and remove some of the deflex. There was a good improvement with it being reduced from 62mm to 32mm, I may steam or heat a hint of reflex into the tips as they have a hint of ugly deflex at the moment. 
I've had to plug a few knots too, but I'm faily confident it will make a nice 70# @ 29"

Storm Damaged Yew

 My Daughter told me she'd seen some fallen Yew near here. There's a copse of mixed wood with a lot of Yew and Oak which was once part of the grounds of a hall, there's a nice 12th C church next to it too.
A massive limb had come off an Oak, a decent sized Yew had come down too and taken a branch off another Yew. The branch was relatively clean, curved at the narrow end and straight at t'other. I took the straight end, there was a big pocket of rot at a union (where it braches) where I sawed it, the black manky rot ran down the central pith, but hopefully that won't effect the outer wood that I need. I got a lorry driver who was delivering a domestic appliance nearby to help me lift it onto the roof rack. It's gratifying when people are helpful. Having split it, I'm hoping there's a bow in each half (the 2 pieces on the right in the pic).
I returned the next day thinking I might try to split one of the big sections from the whole tree that had fallen. Close inspection suggested it was just too big for me to handle (14" diameter at the narrow end) . Underneath it was the next section from the tree which looked quite promising. The tricky thing was to roll the massive trunk off the piece I was after. I was working on a slope, so gravity and leverage got the job done.
I was careful to work from the uphill side, I didn't want half a ton of log rolling on top of me and breaking my leg.
The exposed log was rather knotty, but I persevered, trimmed it to length, and lifted it out with the assistance of a pasing 20yr old lad who lifted his end as if it weighed now't!

I split it in situ with axe, sledgehammer and wedges, carefully choosing a line which would hopefully yield a bow and some billets. It split very cleanly exposing the central pith. Another passer-by helped me get it onto the car. Once home I trimmed it further, I reckon there is one full length warbow stave (Chalk line in pic), a 66" primitive (2nd in from left, alredy narrowed) and at least 2 billets (shorter length on the left). Not bad for a couple of mornings work, which I enjoyed anyway, it also keeps me fit and out of mischief... though, doubtless some would call this little adventure mischief :-)

There are some videos on my Youtube chanel (Del Cat). "Yew Harvesting" "More Yew Harvesting" and "Looking Over the Yew Half Logs"
Note:- The copse is council owned and is on land open to the public. The timber had been cut and moved off the paths by the council and had been left to rot down. I have had permission from them to cut specific Yew before (https://bowyersdiary.blogspot.com/2012/10/applying-to-cut-yew-and-general-progress.html). However they are not interested in contacting me when Yew has been or is going to be felled.

ELB Re-work

 I've taken a bit of draw weight (~5#) off an ELB for one of the wonen from the ILAA, I've previously made her a bow, but this one is made by Neil Harrington I believe. It was slighty tired and had ben bumped about a bit having been lent to someone. I had a quick look at it on the tiller and saw the lower limb looked a little weak, so took about 4# off the upper and 1# off the lower.

It's interesting to see other bowyers work and I was very impressed with this bow. It was built with a little back set (e.g the limbs are straight but andgled slightly towards the back from the grip).
It's Hickory, Purpleheart and Yew, but the Yew is made of two laminations, the inner one being tapered and the outer belly lamination being two lengths jointed under the leather wrap grip with a 5" scarf joint.
Another nice feature is the very narrow tips which are narrower than they are wide, this makes me wonder how they are fitted into the horn nocks which are normally drilled out round. I can only guess the nocks are warmed up to be fitted as horn becomes plastic when heated.
Anyhow the final weight is 40# @ 27.
Here is the before and after shot, it may look a bit subtle, but the lower (left) limb was originally slightly weak, which causes the stiffer right limb to pull down and tilt the bow.
The lower limb now looks a little stiff, but that is standard practice to allow for it being under more strain as it is slightly shorter (The gip has about 3" below the centre and 1" above). Note the lower limb has had a few scrapes off the corners of the belly since then.

Another one Bites the Dust

 I'd been sorting through my satves and found a "premium Pacific Yew stave" (cost about £300 but it was given to me in exchange for making a bow from another similar stave... looking closely at one end there was a big swirl/knot in the grain. If I sawed off those few inches it would make a nice length high poundage flight bow. I laid it ou and, on running it through the bandsaw a nasty knot that had grown over was exposed.
I persevered, filled the know, gradually worked it down aiming for a nice slim bow.  I'd fitted temporary horn nock overlays so that I could get it to a low brace and pulled it to about 90# @ 22". It was ready to slim the outer limbs and get them coming round more. 

I'd taken video throught the process and posted them on my Youtube chanel (Del Cat)... I though I'd try and get some nice stills for the blog, but just as I got it to about 95# it went bang.

Why I Don't Ship Abroad!

 A guy in the Netherlands (or is it Holland ?) contacted me wanting a Yew crossbow prod. My suggested price was too high as he'd also be paying 20-25% VAT. However by the time he'd decided not to proceed, I'd already started work!...
So being a kind and cunning inividual I decided I'd complete it and send it as a gift, but asked that he should donate a suitable amount to support Ukraine (against the Russian invasion).
I finish it, parcel it up, get online to UPS and fill in all the details. I declare it as a gift, a "wooden ornament" with a nominal value of £5 and take it round to the drop off point at the shop down the road.
I don't declare it as anything that could be construed as a weapon in case such things are banned, and anyway it's not a weapon until it is mounted into a stock.
I walk round to the shop and the guy explains that it needs 3 copies of a customs declaration attached!....
I walk back home (quietly muttering to myself), print off 3 customs declarations (declaring "NOT COMMERCIAL", a notional value of £5 and no retail value) shove 'em in a plastic bag, tape them to the parcel and try again.
I subsequently receive E-mails informing me of my parcels journey including pictures of it having a coffee in the airport departure lounge ;-) (that's joke just in case you aren't sure)
Next morning I receive another E-mail informing me that they are contacting the recipient as:-
Duties, taxes, and fees totaling 8.88 EUR are due for this delivery.
What a palaver! 8.88 EUR on a piece of wood with no commercial value, when according to UPS there should be no tax or duty on anything that is not commercial and is worth less than £34 (or some such).
Now I can't definitively blame this on Brexit... but it nicely sumarizes why I don't ship abroad.
... and relax...

Yew Prod Finished

 I went back and forth doing steam corrects, first adding deflex,  removing some of it, removing twist and generally trying to make it as symmetrical as possible so that I could judge the shape on the tiller. It's much harder to judge the curve on a short bow than a long one...obviously if you peer down an arrow shaft you can see if it's straight, but you see so well if it 's only 6" long!
I haven't had it back on the tiller yet since the last correction, but I'll add a pic and some figures for draw length and weight later. I have had it to 100# @16" before that. But with a crossbow you have to make allowance for an inch or so to actually cock the latch/trigger mechanism. So a 14" draw would probably be safe.
Here are some dimensions for reference.
Yew Prod, 39 1/2" nock to nock
Dimensions in mm, to 1 decimal place
Centre      37.6 x 14.5
4" along   35.1 x 21.0
8"             34.2 x 20.7
12"           31.6 x 17.3
16"           26.8 x 15.7
18"           24.1 x 14.5 :- note this measurement is only 2" from previous not 4" like the others.
The second pic shows the slight upsweep in the prod, this helps to lift the string line up level with the top of the track/stock/deck (whatever you like to call it), to minimise friction and string wear. It shows the nock overlay and stringer grooves nicely too.

  

It's finished now... here it is full draw 100# @ 15"

Yew Crossbow Prod

I had a guy from Holland contact me interested in a Yew crossbow prod so I've been looking at my Yew and I have several staves/billets that might be suitable.

I'm thinking a reasonable starting point might be about 36-40" long 12-13" draw length 100-120 pound draw weight ? 
I've started roughing one out to get an idea of what is required. It's rather an undulating stave and has a couple of knots on the belly that will need filling, but it's fine for a try out. I'll steam in some deflex, that will allow a longer draw length.
Wooden crossbow prods are a bit problematic as to get a decent high poundage and draw length you end up needing a rather long and unwieldy prod. Adding in deflex allows some extra draw length from a shorther prod. Without that you can end up with a very short power stroke and disappointing performance. The slight upward curve in the prod is to help get the tips up level with the track on which the bolt runs, this avoids too much downward string pressure and friction which looses power and wears the string.

There are several other posts on this blog about crossbows which go into some depth.
https://bowyersdiary.blogspot.com/2011/10/graingram-scales.html

https://bowyersdiary.blogspot.com/2011/10/detail-pics.html

Flight Bow Explosion and Flight Arrows

 Had a great time shooting on Sunday with JT and the Boyton cross chaps.
Testing a flight bow and a new arrow. The first couple of shots went well, and the new arrow was good (more about that later).
Next shot BANG and the bow disintegrated spectacularly. The entire flight bow build is on my Youtube channel and this first video shows the defect in the otherwise gorgeous log
Inspecting the debris and sawing through where the belly defect had been filled with a V shaped patch, showed a bit of a cavity at one end of the patch. Maybe that was the weakpoint where the break initiated. Studying the grain pattern in that cross section picture it looks as if the trunk may have originally been two limbs that grew together, it couldn't be seen from the outside. We never did find the nocks!

Back to the flight arrow!
This was the first flight arrow I'd made with the balance point slightly behind the geometric centre. Turkish flight arrows are like that and other accounts say it's a good thing. However I'd been put off trying it as I'd seen a wild arrow with the balance point behind centre fly extremely eratically, turning at right angles, diving and climbing and finally settling as it lost speed.
The new arrow had the balance point about 5mm behind centre and it flew fine. I think the difference between this and the wild arrow was the taper in the shaft (the wild one being virtually parallel).
My arrows are much thinner for about 1/3 of the length from the front. There are several ways of viewing what this does aerodynamically for stability. You can say the extra width at the back end is effectively like extra fletching, or the extra diameter increases drag at the back. Either way it helps stop the back end trying to go sideways. My thoughts about flight arrows are more qualitative that quantitative and are just my attempt to explain what and why makes a good arrow... you may dissagree and I'm not going to argue or attempt to defend my views. BUT, if someone finds them useful or though provoking, that's good.
I think the first 1/3 of a flight arrow (at the pointy end) is mostly there to stop the arrow falling off your hand or arrow shelf! Obviously that's a slight over simplification, but the bending forces early in the loose are relatively small as the arrow path is still fairly straight. The arrow only needs to bend round the bow as the string starts to get closer to the belly. You can test this youself by watching the sideways movement of the poit as you slowly let the arrow down from full draw. Or you can draw it out to scale and see how the angle of the arrow changes (All this assumes a bow that has the arrow pass about 1/2" off centre, ELBs etc).
Anyhow, the result of this is that you can have a nice stiff back end, a thin front end footed with a stiff heavy wood, a tiny point, small fletchings (say 2mm long 6mm high) and a balance point just behind centre. It should still fly well. It is virtually impossible to make an arrow that is sufficiently stiff but is too light. People will shout "Heresy", but you'll struggle to get below about 400 grains. People go on about 10 grains per pound (gpp) but that's nonsense other than for hunting arrows. 5gpp is no problem and I've gone much lower. Note bow poundage is no reliable indicator of accelleration on the arrow of launch speed. A 50# flight bow can out perform a 100# warbow and enven with "normal" bows a 70# doesn't shoot twice as fast as a 35#

Wonky Yew ELB virtually Finished

I've had it back to almost 28" on the tiller at
full brace, drawing 75#.
I took some pics to try and show a before and after shot. You can see there is a lot more deflex in the original stave. It needs a whisker mor work to get the right tip moving some more and maybejust left of mid limb (on the right).
It took several sessions of steam bending and dry heat treatment/bending to remove the excess deflex from the lower limb and make it relatively symmetrical.

If it's not one thing its another!

 I decided to steam out some of the sideways bend from the wonky stave (not the end with the knot). I got it all set up to steam and went in for a cuppa.... hmmm I go to get milk for my tea and the light in the fridge is off???
...a circuit breaker had tripped, it was labelled "Garage/Microwave" . (Some circuits share a breaker).
You guessed it, the steamer had given up the ghost and tripped the breaker.
I reset the breaker... hmmm still no power in the garage?? Check the RDC fused spur in the garage... can't get the fuse out... it's melted in!
Groan... so now I need to buy and fit a new RCD fused spur box and buy a new steamer...
Of course the steamers I can just go out and buy have a smaller reservoir and lower power than my old one (grrr).
E-bay has some 5L and 2200w (same as the old one) at a better price (~£31) so I've ordered one of them.
And relax... now where's that cuppa?
Having been frustrated in my attempt to do some steaming, I set to and did a bit with the draw knife, having first sawn a couple of inches off one end to give a 79" stave with the fattest bit nearer the centre.

Wonky Yew Stave

 I've been busy with random stuff like flushing out the central heating system and having a cold and dental work. The urge to work on a bow have returned, it's very therapeutic too, a bit of peace and quiet making shavings. I'd been pondering what specifically to do and at the request of my mate JT I'd had a look at a heavy Yew flight bow that I'd made some time back. It looked like it had hardly been shot, so that may be one for him to use this year... whilst looking my eye was drawn to the wonky stave that I'd roughed out some time back (I've rather lost track of time this year! Haven't we all?)
Anyhow here are some pics of the wonky stave... I'm thinking of utilising the natural deflex/reflex shape and going for a long draw 31"@ 70# as a target (terms and conditions apply etc ;-) )