Yew - wood, wouldn't you?

raphaelsamad

A friend of mine is about the chop down an old yew tree in his garden. Would anyone know of someone (obviously I am thinking of a  guitar maker) who might be interested in the wood?

earwighoney

raphaelsamad said:

A friend of mine is about the chop down an old yew tree in his garden. Would anyone know of someone (obviously I am thinking of a  guitar maker) who might be interested in the wood?

It works really well for acoustic guitars.

You could give the guys below a call to find out if they could deal with the Yew tree

http://www.primetimber.co.uk/

raphaelsamad

Thank you, that is a good tip-off.

Kalimna

How wide is the tree and whereabouts are you? Yew is a fantastic timber for turning and box making as well as guitars, but can be damned awkward due to all the bark inclusions.

Adam

raphaelsamad

The tree is in mid-Wales and I believe is about 35-45cm in diameter - I have, though, occasionally been known to be wrong!

Kalimna

45 cm probably isnt wide enough for acoustic guitars, but someone with more experience might chime in.
Still nice wood though.

downbytheriver

Longbows would seem the obvious thing

Rabs

The main thing about all this is getting the wood dried properly.  If air drying it will take years....

Plectrum

downbytheriver said:

Longbows would seem the obvious thing

Actually Yew in this country generally grows too fast to be good for bows. You really want Yew which has grown at high altitudes for that.

downbytheriver

Plectrum said:

downbytheriver said:

Longbows would seem the obvious thing

Actually Yew in this country generally grows too fast to be good for bows. You really want Yew which has grown at high altitudes for that.

I’ll be certain to tell Henry V about this. 

Plukky

downbytheriver said:

Plectrum said:

downbytheriver said:

Longbows would seem the obvious thing

Actually Yew in this country generally grows too fast to be good for bows. You really want Yew which has grown at high altitudes for that.

I’ll be certain to tell Henry V about this. 

I think he knew, which is why he imported yew for bows from Austria and Germany...

Treewig1

I'm a sculptor and I've made three life-size human skulls from Yew.  Fabulous grain when polished, but very hard to work.

raphaelsamad

Would you have any pictures of your work - I would love to see it.

earwighoney

raphaelsamad said:

The tree is in mid-Wales and I believe is about 35-45cm in diameter - I have, though, occasionally been known to be wrong!

Send this guy an email, he's in Monmouthshire and might be able to see the tree in person.

http://www.richardmeyrickguitars.co.uk/

raphaelsamad

Thank you, that is great.