# Yew and Me



## VaureyWWC (Feb 21, 2011)

So I got a call from my dad a few days back, wanting to know if I wanted to help clear so Oregon Yew. There are about 9 trees in all. If we cut them the guy will let us use his mill for free. As long as we haul the all of the Yew out. The 9 trees are all between 30-45 feet tall so I know we'll get alittle bit out of those scrubs.. 

Have any of you have had an experience with Yew.

edit*
Also taking this chance to mill down a large black walnut, Osage orange, and Russian Olive!


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Love the title. I have a couple small blocks of Yew I got in one of my many trades but haven't turned any. I don't have anything large enough to do any flat work with but I've heard a lot of great things about the wood. These two pieces look sort of like old growth pine to me except not as dark as the OGP I have. But since there's no such thing as bad wood you can't go wrong. 

A "large black walnut" in Oregon could be a mighty interesting discovery. Sometimes they turn out to be something other than what the homeowner thinks. Hope you get lucky and it's Claro or something else. 




..


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## VaureyWWC (Feb 21, 2011)

The Walnut, Osage, and Russian Olive. All belong to my fiancee's folks.

The Walnut is in a field where they have cows roaming about. I received two 2' logs from a fallen limb that had a diameter of about 9"-1' that I had cut into slabs. Had interesting grain patterns because of small burls. When I got down there in two weeks I'll try to remember to take pictures


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Yew makes good bow wood, I believe. Very strong but also springy. I have never worked any but make a few thin cuts for laying up some recurve bows might net you a little cash on the side, too.


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## VaureyWWC (Feb 21, 2011)

frankp said:


> Yew makes good bow wood, I believe. Very strong but also springy. I have never worked any but make a few thin cuts for laying up some recurve bows might net you a little cash on the side, too.


That was one of the ideas that came up with "what to do with it". I'm a little afraid to make a bow. Could turn very ugly very fast haha


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## qbilder (Dec 19, 2010)

Yew is strong stuff. When I lived in Alaska, I cut a small yew that was growing out of a coastal bank. I was surprised how hard & heavy the wood was. It does resemble pine. The one I cut was knarly & twisted with lots of tiny burls. It cracked pretty bad when drying. Had super tight grain. I understand it gets used for musical instruments but don't know much about it. I never seen any in AK that was large enough to use in any instruments.


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## Manuka Jock (Jun 27, 2011)

> Due to its hardness, it was used for shuttles, cogs, axle-trees, and pulley-pins. The colorful wood (red heartwood, white sapwood) was used to veneer furniture, to make lute bodies, bowls, tankards, combs, tool handles, pegs, and various art objects.
> 
> http://www.shee-eire.com/Herbs,Trees&Fungi/Trees/Yew/yew1.htm


As I understand it , for long bows , yew branches are split down the length into staves , so that each billet has both heart and sap woods , ie the flexibility and rigidity , that the bow requires for recoil . 
They would be best split green .






> The classic D-shape comes from the use of the wood of the yew tree.
> 
> 
> The sap-wood is best suited to the tension on the back of the bow, and the heart-wood to the compression on the belly. Hence, a limb sector of yew wood shows the narrow, light-coloured sap-wood on the 'straight' part of the D, and the red/orange heartwood forms the curved part of the D, to balance the mechanical tension/compression stress.​


Like these http://www.donadamsarchery.com/staves.htm.​



Seems like they are worth a dollar or two.
Maybe selling them on the tree to the bow maker so that the value is not lost through mishandling is the way to go .


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## PSDkevin (Dec 18, 2010)

The Osage orange you mentioned is also a great bow wood.


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## VaureyWWC (Feb 21, 2011)

PSDkevin said:


> The Osage orange you mentioned is also a great bow wood.


Yeah I've used Osage when turning that's some pretty heavy duty stuff!


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## aardvark (Sep 29, 2011)

And the oranges strategically located clear out spiders.
Old indian trick.


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## ETWW (Mar 27, 2011)

aardvark said:


> And the oranges strategically located clear out spiders.
> Old indian trick.


Old ******* trick, too, at least around my part of the country. :yes:

BTW, I commend you on your mention of the "oranges", ie, horseapples. Most people seem to think that the orange in Osage Orange refers to the wood color rather than the fruit it bears.

I use a site for identifying native Texas trees that is really well done and the author even references the "orange" wood in Osage Orange when it is a bright yellow, instead. One of my pet peeves.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

aardvark said:


> And the oranges strategically located clear out spiders.
> Old indian trick.


I can see you don't have much actual experience with this, or for whatever reason your "horse apples" (the term I was brought up with) are much more potent than ours. And keep in mind I live in the birth place of Bois 'd Arc. They have absolutely no effect on spiders based on my experience and the experience of anyone else that I can personally vouch for. Not books and definitely not anything you read on wikibullsheet. 

I'm not saying you're just repeating stuff you have read, I'm just saying what you claim as fact is something I have first hand knowledge that has never worked *based on my experience*. Cockroaches? Yes I have noticed a marked difference but spiders will crawl all over a horse apple on any day of the week and twice on Sunday. 

You should ask your god for forgiveness, for calling an apple a orange. 




ETWW said:


> I use a site for identifying native Texas trees that is really well done . . .


What's the site? I'm always looking for accurate info on anything. 




.


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## aardvark (Sep 29, 2011)

Old man of the woods filled me in.
Your experiences may vary...and your spider varieties.
Your God forgiveness references is a bit offensive wouldn't you say? They are off of an Osage Orange tree. You call them regionally as you will, and I have heard your term as well.

Lighten up.


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## PSDkevin (Dec 18, 2010)

[QUOTE="ETWW"

I use a site for identifying native Texas trees that is really well done and the author even references the "orange" wood in Osage Orange when it is a bright yellow, instead. One of my pet peeves.[/QUOTE]

I have seen osage wood just as orange as tigger the tiger. Seen it yellow also. Not trying to be smart just saying


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## VaureyWWC (Feb 21, 2011)

PSDkevin said:


> I have seen osage wood just as orange as tigger the tiger. Seen it yellow also. Not trying to be smart just saying


Only way I've ever seen Osage. It's an Orange-Yellow. I've used it quite a bit here.


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## aardvark (Sep 29, 2011)

It's also up north here, and in Michigan, where I originate from. Not overly common, however, that I see.
I've never cut a tree open to see.


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## PSDkevin (Dec 18, 2010)

Admittedly I have not worked with much of it. AND most of the stuff I have seen was pale yellow. My wife would say Daffodill (although in my book that's not a color it's a flower. IMO if it aint in the crayola 16, it aint a color) ANYWAY... perhaps they should call it OSAGE-YELLOW-AND-ON-RARE-OCCASIONS-ORANGE lol. JK>


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

VaureyWWC said:


> That was one of the ideas that came up with "what to do with it". I'm a little afraid to make a bow. Could turn very ugly very fast haha


We have a professional (I think) bowyer on here who's done a fantastic build thread about how he lays up his bows. Do a search for "how I make a bow" or "how I make a recurve" or something like that and you'll see his step by step process, more or less. It's actually a remarkably simple process but the details are what make for the performance quality.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

aardvark said:


> Old man of the woods filled me in. . . .


He was also just repeating what he had heard and had no actual experience with either. Or else he did place them in his home and since he never saw a spider on one believed it worked. It doesn't. I've logged and milled more of this stuff than most sawyers have even seen. I can tell you for certain that spiders spin their webs all over the fruit both on the tree and after the apples fall to the ground. Osage Orange "apples" have ZERO effect on spiders - period. Your "Old man in the woods" sincere as he may have been was merely repeating to you a myth, and no, the species of spider doesn't matter nor does the region in which the trees grow. 



aardvark said:


> . . . Your God forgiveness references is a bit offensive wouldn't you say? . . .


It's offensive if you took it that way, that's your choice beyond my control. I don't see how anyone could misinterpret that as a serious comment, me seriously telling you to ask for forgiveness from your god? I think you're the one that needs to lighten up. Not every joke should have a smiley face. Some are so obvious they can be "dead-panned". But I have made a mental note and I won't joke around with you in the future like that - my intent was not to offend. 

However having the experience with bois d arc as I do, it's a "pet peeve" of mine as ETTW says when he referred to the yellow wood being referred to as "Orange", when anyone seriously refers to the osage fruit as an "orange", they most likely have never held one in their hand. They're referred to as horse apples in regions where they grow because horses do in fact LOVE to eat them and they do llok like green apples in color. This is not myth or something I've read on wiki-myth-ia either I have fed them to dad's horses many times. Believe me as a kid the first time you feed an apple, osage or a real one to a horse, it's scary! 

The color of the wood when freshly exposed is as yellow as yellow gets. It is not orange - no way no how & it don't matter where the tree grew nor what conditions it grew etc. it's going to be bright banana yellow. Kevin was right in saying he saw it when it was orange because that was the stage it was at.

As the color of the wood begins its journey from bright yellow to that deep, deep, dark chocolate brown that it eventually gets (and there is nothing that can be done to prevent it as far as I know), it does pass through various stages of the color spectrum and an orange-ish hue is one of them. But the wood cannot be said to "be" orange it's just a stage it passes through. It's orange for a while sure but to refer to the color of the wood as orange is like saying white oak is white, or that red oak is red, or that black locust is . . . . well you get the idea. 

I don't know everything but when I see myths posted here where I have actual experience I'll call it out, and when I post a myth I expect to be called out as well. And it has happened and when it has I've owned up to it. None of us are perfect and we try to share what we know, and sometimes it turns out to just be what we thought we knew. No big deal, unless we refuse to acknowledge to ourselves when we have in fact passed on fables and fairy tales as facts. 






.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

P.S. Know what one of the surprising ingredients in the white milky stuff in the fruit is? 





Latex! :yes:







.


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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

I found this interesting bit of information (or mis?) when I was looking up the chemicals related to color of the various woods.

Quote: "Research at Iowa State University has shown that there are chemical compounds in the fruit that repel cockroaches, although the fruit itself does not. One method that definitely works is to pick up the hedge apple and smash the offending bug with it. That is a sure thing!"


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## aardvark (Sep 29, 2011)

Lotta pet peves.


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## truckjohn (Oct 31, 2011)

Don't forget the use to Guitar builders too....

If you happen to get yourself ahold of some nice, straight, clear Osage orange.... Quartersaw some wide boards with no knots for sale to the Guitar guys... With the new Lacey/CITES restrictions - they are looking for wood that isn't illegal/endangered... and Osage Orange makes a good replacement for Rosewood in guitar construction...

Thanks


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

djg said:


> I found this interesting bit of information (or mis?) when I was looking up the chemicals related to color of the various woods.
> 
> Quote: "Research at Iowa State University has shown that there are chemical compounds in the fruit that repel cockroaches, although the fruit itself does not. One method that definitely works is to pick up the hedge apple and smash the offending bug with it. That is a sure thing!"


I didn't read it but if they found that the apples keep roaches at bay but not spiders, it affirms my experience with them. 



truckjohn said:


> Don't forget the use to Guitar builders too...


:thumbsup:

Been selling to them for years. They also love it for the bridge plate & neck block. 




.


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## truckjohn (Oct 31, 2011)

I would use it for bridges and plates if I had enough.... Unfortunately, it's not exactly common in my neck 'o the woods... and the stuff you see online is randomly sawn and full of cracks, twist, and knots....

Cripes though... Osage for a head block.... It's maybe a *bit* on the heavy side for my tastes... Hardest wood I have used for an Acoustic headblock was Red Oak.... and it was a royal pain in the rear when it came time for profiling it to fit up with the guitar back properly.... Didn't have to worry about the neck bolts sinking in, though....

Now.. On an Electric - absolutely.... Wouldn't have to worry about the neck bolts crushing into it too bad would you....

After that experience - I decided I would stick with woods that are somewhere around the Mahogany/Soft maple/Plywood density for head blocks.....

Thanks


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## qbilder (Dec 19, 2010)

truckjohn said:


> Don't forget the use to Guitar builders too....
> 
> If you happen to get yourself ahold of some nice, straight, clear Osage orange.... Quartersaw some wide boards with no knots for sale to the Guitar guys... With the new Lacey/CITES restrictions - they are looking for wood that isn't illegal/endangered... and Osage Orange makes a good replacement for Rosewood in guitar construction...
> 
> Thanks


Is that because of tonal characteristics? Does osage have a pingy, glassy tap tone? Might have to go find me a tree


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## truckjohn (Oct 31, 2011)

Yep... Very glassy/rosewoody tap tone...

I am actually looking at planting some osage orange trees out back... Maybe someday, they will be big enough ...

Several Luthiers have tested the stuff - and it is more or less a drop in replacement for some of the better Rosewoods....


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