Where to cut yew

[TheDukesArchers]

Now spring is here I need to chop some yew for seasoning. Where should I search and what laws do I need to be aware of?

[DarkSoul]

No need to wait till spring. You can cut wood (any wood, not just yew) all year round.
Since you're from the United Kingdom: search for yew on private properties, gardens or graveyards and ask the legal owner permission to cut a branch/trunk.

[Del the cat]

You may find this post useful.
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/applying-to-cut-yew-and-general-progress.html
One of the big problems is finding the land owner.
Check out local tree surgeons etc to see if they are cuting Yew.
First find a tree with a stave in it!
Del

[TheDukesArchers]

I'm cutting in spring as the sap is running more freely, therefore the bark is easier to peel. My plan is to a good few staves and then seal them with glue, so I hope to be working with them next summer.

[WillS]

You're thinking of white woods.  You don't want to remove the bark from yew staves until right up to the moment you start using them.  Cut them down (at any time in the year) and leave the bark on while sealing the ends.  Shove them out of sight and mind for a year, reduce down to rough bow dimensions taking the bark off carefully and then put them away again for another good few months.

[Del the cat]

+1 on what WillS said.
Leave the bark on, it protects the delcate sapwwod and prevents it drying too quick.
Half or quarter the log, seal the ends. Leave 9 months, then reduce a bit, work 'em after a year.
If you have nice thin sapwood you can even tiller 'em with the cambium intact and let it pop off.. it scares the heck out of you but gives a pristine back.
Del

[TheDukesArchers]

Well I'll get to finding some decent yew and get it seaoned? Is there a good guide to making self longbows out of yew or meane woods? I understand it is very different to making laminates.

[DarkSoul]

A yew bow will ultimately 'just' be a selfbow. A yew bow is no different from any other stave that will make a selfbow, as far as the process goes. You just have to design the bow for the specified wood species, and the workability of the wood will be different from some other woods. But in principle, the process of making a yew bow is the same as for every other selfbow from a stave.
If you have no idea how to start, get yourself a different (cheaper and more common) wood stave first. A perfect yew stave is not the best candidate for a 'first stave bow'.

[Del the cat]

Well I'll get to finding some decent yew and get it seaoned? Is there a good guide to making self longbows out of yew or meane woods? I understand it is very different to making laminates.

Google bowyers diary.
I show everything I do from cutting the yew to putting on the nocks including the mistakes, tricks and fixes!. There are Hazel bows and Elm warbow various types of bow. The search engine on the blog works well too. Delsbows is my website with loads of pics and info too. The information is all there... you just gotta read it. I'm not going to repeat it all here as there is about 4years worth of diary for you to read!
Del

[TheDukesArchers]

Thanks for the replies. I'll start with ash or elm for the first few bows, and then when my yes is ready I'll hopefully be able to make some nice longbows.

[mikekeswick]

Limestone and rivers.
Walking a long way, being very persistant and knowing how to abseil have helped me.
Where in the country are you from?

[tannhillman]

+1 on what WillS said.
Leave the bark on, it protects the delcate sapwwod and prevents it drying too quick.
Half or quarter the log, seal the ends. Leave 9 months, then reduce a bit, work 'em after a year.
If you have nice thin sapwood you can even tiller 'em with the cambium intact and let it pop off.. it scares the heck out of you but gives a pristine back.
Del

  I'm entering this conversation a bit late .. but just wanted to make the point that if you are splitting logs when the wood is fresh (much more difficult to split when the log is seasoned) it is better to remove the bark otherwise the heartwood will dry very rapidly in comparison to the sapwood which will season much more slowly if the ends are sealed and the bark is on which can lead to checking (or worse) in the heartwood.  By the way, its the inner bark (phloem) that pops off during tillering rather than the cambium which is very resilient and never comes off in my experience.   

[Del the cat]

+1 on what WillS said.
Leave the bark on, it protects the delcate sapwwod and prevents it drying too quick.
Half or quarter the log, seal the ends. Leave 9 months, then reduce a bit, work 'em after a year.
If you have nice thin sapwood you can even tiller 'em with the cambium intact and let it pop off.. it scares the heck out of you but gives a pristine back.
Del

  I'm entering this conversation a bit late .. but just wanted to make the point that if you are splitting logs when the wood is fresh (much more difficult to split when the log is seasoned) it is better to remove the bark otherwise the heartwood will dry very rapidly in comparison to the sapwood which will season much more slowly if the ends are sealed and the bark is on which can lead to checking (or worse) in the heartwood.  By the way, its the inner bark (phloem) that pops off during tillering rather than the cambium which is very resilient and never comes off in my experience.

Maybe you are from a drier climate than the UK, but your post doesn't match my experience.
Maybe I'm misnaming the cambium... but here's a link with a pic' of how I find it cracks off. You can see the outer redish bark has been removed.
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/dealing-with-dip.html
Del

[tannhillman]

Hi Del

No I'm not from a drier climate , I'm from rainy old England too:). How wet or dry the climate is shouldn't make any difference in this regard.

I had a look at your pic and the piece that has popped off does look like the inner bark (phloem) layer, not the cambium. I can see the cambium layer beneath where the inner bark has come off on the pic. It's the very thin tough layer that's normally a yellowish/ sometimes light brown colour just before in the sapwood. The inner bark on a seasoned log will dry and crack off once the outer bark is removed but the cambium will remain intact.   I have attached (I hope) a diagram showing the bark layers (and inner wood layers) to illustrate.
Cheers
Iain

[Del the cat]

Nope, there was nothing clearly visible between the stuff that popped off and the pristine sapwood beneath it, I've used this technique a few times now and IMO it's the best way to get a perfect clean back.
I've just looked up the two terms and maybe the term Cambium has been misused and it's the Phloem... but whatever the name the effect is the same.
In the regions where it doesn't pop off there is sometimes a V thin layer, with a pinkish brown tinge which becomes more obvious with time/weathering. Maybe this is the actual Cambium, but in that case when the thicker Phloem pops off it is generally bringing the cambium with it.
I have to agree we should be exact in our description else there is a danger of spreading missinformation (which will follow us like a plague if the Paul Simon lyrics are correct    http://www.paulsimon.com/us/music/paul-simon/peace-river )
I shall look further into it.

Just seen your document and I think it may be wrong, and it is at best incomplete! I shall read further.
Ha, just found this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phloem it refers (in the numbered illustration to the right) to the 'bast' which interestingly is what they say is visible on some of the Mary Rose bows.
I fear we are in danger of getting bogged down by exactitude, when we both mean the fibrous inner layers between bark and sapwood.
The article says it is the Phloem which carries the nutrients (not the sapwood which your doc states), and that is what I had always believed.
After all the sapwood isn't wet and slippery, it's the layer just above it...
DAMN!
Here's an article about sugar Maple that says the sap does flow in the sapwood! http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/produc/sapflow.htm
It appears even the academics can't agree. Or maybe I'm scan reading and missing the detail.
I shall simply call it the inner bark in future.
Think I've had enough for now...
Del