The Yew stave I started work on (14th October) had developed a few fine cracks.
It feels to be well seasoned and I've just spent a nervous half hour teasing away with a very sharp axe to cut past the cracks to see what was left.
There is some beautiful wood there, but it's now pretty slender on one limb.
I'm aiming for a 40pound bow and it will easily accommodate that, but slim and maybe with a really steeply arched belly in the true longbow shape.
I've run a plane down the limb to smooth it out and it's looking more like bow limb so I've quit whilst ahead, there's plenty of wood at the centre and on the other limb, so I do have a little leeway.
This stave is really pretty, but a bit of a challenge. I get the feeling that it could become a very special bow, or conversely no bow at all!
It's definitely one for the softly softly softly approach, plenty of looking and thinking, and hold back on the wood removal.
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