Materials for Design

Yew (Taxus baccata)

If you are writing a book about materials, it should include products that exhibit functions which best exploit the material. As an example of a wood with good tensile strength, there can’t be many better examples than an archer’s bow, a wonderful demonstration of opposing mechanical properties in a single piece of wood.

The key to designing a bow is in understanding the contrast of tension that is needed on the outside of the bow – known as the backside – and the forces of compression required on the inside – called the belly. The traditional choice of wood for the elegant and flexible, traditional longbow is European yew.

A natural lamination process provides the contrast of the heartwood – the inner core of the tree – which ...