quallity of yew over the years

[Blacktail]

this might be a dumb question,but i shall ask any ways.from the past to now does the quallity of yew get less and less over the years.and i am refering to the days of war bows to present time....some guys say for a good war bow you have to have 30 rings and inch and some say 60.i have heard this.i have never seen 60 rings per inch here in oregon but have seen 30...but i think over the years yew was a higher grade that what it is now....really i am writing my thoughts out just wondering.thanks john

[Keenan]

 Hey John, How are ya?
 The difference from yew of old to present is years of growth. The older the yew the tighter the rings as a general rule but there are alot of other factors.
 Higher elevation with shorter growing seasons and harsher conditions will give higher ring counts. Dave and I have both noticed higher ring count on the east slopes of the Cascades. Not as much yew on this side but what there is has always been quallity. I think due to the dryer conditions. Are you going over to the Gods Valley Rondevous this weekend?  Keenan

[Blacktail]

hey keenan,nice to hear from you...thanks for the info on the yew.i think i might do some snooping around for some good yew some time...about gods valley.i want to go really BAD.but i dont have any money at all.and i am tring to pack my house so i can move into a cheaper rental..i wrote a topic on the any thing else tread to gordon of why i cant make it.if you go get some photos for me.i hope tony is still looking at the SON....GOD BLESS.john

[stevesjem]

Dense Yew comes from real slow growth due to growing conditions, nothing to do with age, The warbows of old were made from High Altitude yew from Europe, this is a different species of yew tree from the yew that grows in Oregon, European is Taxus Baccata, American Yew is Taxus Brefiola, They are quite different, the European yew is much heavier physically than the American, also the European yew is also much stronger and will handle much more ill treatment, The average for high altitude italian yew is 50-60 rings to the inch, some are 80 rings and i have had some at 100 rings to the inch. The quality has dropped since the middle ages due to the fact that this wood is no longer farmed and tended like it was, people tended the trees and removed unwanted branches etc, for the life of the tree until it was cut for bow wood.

hope this helps

steve

[markinengland]

I have some English yew from the North Downs that is very dense. it isn't high altitude but the 8 inch log was so heavy I could not lift it as all and had to leave there in situe to dry for six months before I could carry it out.
I think we always have a tendency to say that things back then were better than things now. Rose tinted hindsight?
Back in the days of the English Warbow we exhausted our home grown supply and then got close to exhausting the supply from Europe. Ascham maons about the declining quality of yew for bows.
Mark in England

[Blacktail]

thanks guys for the info and the history of your yew.mark,i cant beleive that your yew is so dense that you cant pack out an 8 inch log.thats the crazyest thing i have heard.sounds like good stuff..and steve,holy cow italian yew has can have 100 per inch thats crazy too.no,wonder you guys can get so much weight out of your yew...i have a favor to ask you both.is there any way of posting a photo of the rings of your yew that you have over there...i just want to do some drooooling and to see how dark the heart is.if you cant its all right.thanks for the info.it makes alot of sents now.john

[david w.]

The average for high altitude italian yew is 50-60 rings to the inch, some are 80 rings and i have had some at 100 rings to the inch.

hope this helps

steve

another good reason to contact my italian relatives.
Is there any yew in the Sicillian Mountians, Tuscany,or Naples?

[markinengland]

Blacktail,
The really dense piece of yew was not my first choice. The one I had my eye on got caught up so the thinner tree had to come down as welll.  I carried out the thicker piece on my shoulder, about a mile to the car. As I don't ever like to waste wood I went back for the other piece a week or so later. Even left with all leaves on when stripped of branches and cut to about right length I could barely lift it. I tried to get it on my shoulder but no way could I do it. I left it supported above ground to dry for a few months and just about managed to get it to the car then. I hope it will make a special bow one day.
I must get up in my wood loft and maybe see if a grain picture is possible.
Mark in England.

[Blacktail]

wow mark,that is amazing story.dont break your neck getting a photo...but if you did i would be great...so,whats if like living in england.can you do any hunting there.thanks john

[Keenan]

John, Here are some pics of some local eastside cascade mountains yew wood. The smaller diam. is the end cut from a stave that made the best bow I've ever had. It was some of that fire kill,wish I had got alot more of it
 The last pic is some old growth and you can see the difference of how tight the outer rings are vrs, the rings closer to the heart.

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[D. Tiller]

Yeah! I have some the same type a friend gave to me. But its not quite as long as I would have liked. But its dense growth and I think it will make a good European neolithig flatbow once I get to work on it.

Dave, you have got to take me looking for Yew wood with ya one day! My supply is running lower and lower!

David T

[Blacktail]

holy cow,keenan that is some nice yew....i am going to have to get some one day....i dont know how many an inch but WOW...thanks for pics...if mark puts some pics up we can conpair yew wood...it would be neet to see.later john

[shamus]

Lots of good info on this thread.

The dense yew is still out there, but the market is currently being flooded with the coarser stuff it seems.  I just wrote about evaluating yew on my website today. Coarse yew is not bad, but you have to alter your design considerations for it.

http://analogperiphery.blogspot.com/2008/06/evaluating-yew-wood.html
 

[majsnuff]

Hey Keenan, you mentioned that some of your yew is from fire kill. I have some I got here in North Idaho about 5 years ago that was fire killed and dead standing for 6 or 7 months after the fire. IDFG granted me a permit for 4 ATV loads of the dead & standing off their land. Nearly ruined my wheeler getting that wood out. .

Now for the rest of the story. I have made 2 bows from this fire kill, one from a 8"dia, and the other from a 4". I overbuilt both because the sample bends I made seemed brittle. To be fair this yew was from about 2500ft elevation and of low ring count (30-40 ring per inch). All the other yew I have came from 4000ft+ elevation and holds together real well if I do my part.