Australian grown English Yew (edit:not) available

[Nezwin]

In my investigations to find a good source of local timbers, I happened upon an old farmer who went into milling after retiring. Turns out that some English settlers in the 19th century planted a Yew tree here in Temora and a few years back this old fella had the chance to cut it down & mill it - to him it was just timber, he had no idea of the properties as a bow wood until I told him. Unfortunately there's no natural lengths left (ie, with the sapwood still intact & 1.5" in diameter) for selfbows, but there are a few boards and a couple of slabs, 90% of which is heartwood. I didn't have a tape with me but from memory there's two lengths approximately 3m in length by about 100mm by 100mm, of which I'll be buying one, and a few shorter (1m - 1.5m) lengths and a 1-1.5m slab of the full tree width.

I was a bit skeptical at first, as it was a fair bit lighter (in colour & weight) than the Pacific Yew I'm more familiar with, but I've since confirmed it is actually English Yew. It's also very lightweight & well seasoned, so it's all good to go. I'm not sure how much he'll be asking for it - in a sense, this is a bit 'unpriceable' as the only demand for Yew would come from bowyers, I'd imagine, and there's no domestic timber of this species grown to compare against, so if anyone has any input for how much I should pay, I'm all ears. If you're interested in buying some too, PM me for details.

[Hamish]

Nice find. If you want it for bows, your best bet will be to back slats with hickory, provided the grain is still relatively straight and clear of knots.
How much to pay, it really depends on how suitable the pieces are for bows. If its too knotty, or twisted its not worth buying, leave it for a furniture maker. I would let him come up with a superfoot price ie 12" x 12" x 1" thick. PM me and I'll give you my opinion on whether it is reasonable. Retail prices are usually high because of how many hands the wood has passed through, shipping, taxes etc. If its direct from a miller it really shouldn't make you feel like you might need to sell a kidney to buy it but also won't feel like you are ripping him off.
Yew in staves and lumber is still available overseas at reasonable prices, shipping is the most expensive part.
I have seen plenty of people quote unrealistically high prices for osage of very poor condition, full of checks and bugs, knots and twisted grain(and still green). Best to let that quality go as its often no better than firewood.
Hamish

[Nezwin]

I only posted on here as the old guy is trying to sell his house and, in his words, "doesn't have many years left in him", so I think if this yew isn't sold, it's going to be burned or turned into chair legs.

I'll make a few inquiries to Otto's & Lazarides and see what their thoughts are. I'll see if I can chase up some Hickory (or maybe Degame?) for backing too.

Cheers,

Neil

[yeoman]

It'd be extremely helpful to have some pictures.

Also, if you could measure the length/width/depth and the mass, we'd be able to tell the density and relative utility. How about ring count per inch?

[Nezwin]

For those interested, here's pics. I took them for my own reference & comparison against images online, so they're perhaps not what would best demonstrate the timber - I'm no expert. But before committing to buy this I would be much more comfortable if someone with better knowledge can verify the species.

I've got to admit, now I've had a second (and proper look), I'm a little dubious. It looks very different to Pacific Yew and it's been many busy years since I last got a glimpse of English Yew, but having said that, I've never seen Yew of any sort cut up like this... I'm wondering if the dry Riverina climate has had an impact on the appearance as it grew, compared to a wet English climate? The blue/grey streaks seem to indicate English Yew, but the heartwood seems generally a little too light for me to be sure. Having said that, in the sapwood/heartwood area it does look Yew-ish. Not really being an expert in timber in any way, I can't say I recognise this as any other species (and the owner, who's worked a lot of local timbers, is adamant it's not anything he recognises and is still going by the information he was given).

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This (the 'best' length) is about 4" wide, to give some perspective.

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This length here, which is the twin of the best length, is about 4" x 4" x 8'-10' (from memory).

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This slab is about 1.5' wide by about 1.5" depth by about 5' length, to give some perspective.

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It looks like there could be a couple of shorter bows here?

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Here's a few external links to pictures of European Yew I believe is not dissimilar to the timber above -

https://wlwest.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/yew.jpg
http://www.wood-database.com/wp-content ... -yew-s.jpg
http://www.lanarkshirehardwoods.co.uk/i ... 7160-1.JPG
http://uniquewildwoodfurniture.co.uk/wp ... -table.jpg
https://wlwest.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/yew-001.jpg

In terms of pricing, we discussed how difficult it is to really compare this against anything domestically available and how it only really has high value to bowyers. We broadly agreed upon a similar cost to Silky Oak, which is a local, high-valued timber. Does this seem reasonable, assuming it is Yew?

[Hamish]

Nice timber, but definitely not yew (European or Pacific) . The bark on the edges is shaggy and fibrous. Yew is smooth barked, or has large , smooth scaly sections depending on age.
The rough sawn fibres look too coarse, maybe a juniper or cedar or cypress.
Not really the proper colour with clear demarcation of sap/heartwood, too much streaky spalting in the heartwood area, yew doesn't really get this, because of its high resistance to rot.

Hamish.

[Hamish]

Hi again Neil, I just did a quick search for "taxus baccata bark" euro yew, most of the pic's are like I described smooth or large scaly sections. There was however one(and only one among many) with very similar bark to the timber in your photo's. I still don't think its yew at least not baccata or brevifolia.

American Eastern red cedar(not western red cedar) is a good bow wood, but it has a really distinct purplish heartwood. At the moment I'm thinking it looks more like a juniper or cypress, but I'm far from an expert with softwoods.
Hamish

[Dennis La Varenne]

I agree with Hamish. It isn't Yew. The bark is a dead giveaway. That of Yew is as Hamish says - smoothish with small scales and is a dark reddish-brown colour and it also has a sort of sheen to it like lizard scales. It is also very thin, not often much thicker than 1/8" on staves I have bought.

However, obtain some boards, back it with Hickory and see what it does. See if you can get some pics of the bark which might help identify it too.

[Nezwin]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

The bark did seem a giveaway, especially after I made a similar search to yourself, Hamish, but it wasn't conclusive. From memory, Yew bark was pretty easy to scrape off with a hatchet or knife, which this doesn't seem to be. When he showed me the slab I remember thinking "How does a Yew grow that wide & straight?" and I noticed the sapwood was much thicker than anything I've seen on a Yew before. However, my only experience with English Yew was a 9" dia. by 8' length my brother & I took down in 2011, currently seasoning in my parents shed. I took a nasty knock on the head doing it too, so my memory of the day is pretty vague... I've a much clearer memory of working Pacific Yew with Ravenbeak Natureworks in BC, Canada, and it is certainly an entirely different beast.

I'll take a length regardless and see how it performs though. The owner had a very large shed full to the rafters with Bull Oak, Yellow Box & Red Gum which he is keen to dispose of ASAP and asked if I knew of any folk keen, so please PM if you would have an interest in those timbers. Thanks again for all the input.