Yew HEAVEN!

[armybowyer]

Today was a great day! I've been buggin my uncle, who is a landscaper to get me some yew bushes.. sometimes they grow big. Well got a call this morning and he told me he had a giant! So I went over there and we hardly put a dent in this thing... so far I have 38 logs... some short, but most long and straight.... Anyone want to come scrape some bark!? 

[Cacatch]

What exactly is a yew "bush"? Where are you located?

[adb]

I could be wrong, but I believe there are some ornamental yew bushes which are completely useless as bow making wood. I think it's more a matter of growth rate and smaller size.

[PatM]

Ornamentals are often English Yew, Japanese Yew or a hybrid of the two. The bush characteristic is usually because of location and pruning practices.
 I've never made a bow from these types but wood samples taken from them show that there is nothing wrong with them as bow material.
 My dad used a section of this type of yew as a spring to assist a shave horse clamp in opening and it is an incredibly lively piece off wood despite 20 years of repetitive bending and me twanging it or " hand tillering" it every time I see it.

[Cacatch]

There are some bushes near where I live that seem very springy, but all the branches are too small for any kind of bow. I wonder if these are "yew" and if I should look for some bigger ones down the block.

[Del the cat]

That end grain shot shows there's some good bows in there...all you need now is the patience to let it season.
Del

[Far East Archer]

Nice work.
I see many pieces that may work for a selfbow, you can make billet from smaller large trunk and there are some longer stave the should work.
If its me I may save many piece of shorter section for purpose of composite bows, you have many bend pieces that work perfect.

Maybe not all piece are useful for bow, though yew is pretty wood so it should be used for any other wood craft too I think.
Hope you may have more good finds.

[armybowyer]

Yew bushes turn into yew trees if untamed uncut... most yew around here is used for hedgre rows aroundthe house... but you get lucky sometimes and find big ones that grow as high as 50-60' tall.  this stuff is green, so my plan is to split it when its green and tie the bent ones to a straight form. I made one two years ago from a yew bush that is working fine still. The longer ones in the picture are actually 8-9' and yes, I plan on using the small ones as billets to splice together and handle risers and laminations

Justin

[ravenbeak]

my understanding is that landscapers yew is "irish yew"  one characteristic is that anywhere sunlight touches the bark a small branch will sprout,  producing gnarly wood.   if you have any photos of the "bushes" in tact,  it would help.

either way,,  nice haul
Jamie

[Blacktail]

you are going to have fun with some of that yew...i really cant wait to see what you get out of it...the one photo of the end of the tree looks like a winner...you better take care of her..john

[bowkee]

Looks Good, Lotta west coast style bows

[Del the cat]

That cheeky log with the 'Thinks bubble' is lookin for a fight, I'd split that sucker before it starts a bunch of trouble
Del