Main Discussion Area > English Warbow
How did bowyers harvest so much yew?
Del the cat:
--- Quote from: poplar600 on December 14, 2015, 02:02:50 pm ---We're talking about 100,000's of prime slow growing yew staves. The same tree would have had to be "encouraged" by multiple generations. Most T.Baccata, though not all, is worthless when compared to it's North American counterpart.
I can't see how England acquired such vast amounts of tier 1 yew wood.
--- End quote ---
Even these days some jobs are done over generations, woodland management, breeding of livestock and such like, it's nothing out of the ordinary.. I think maybe you are viewing it with the eyes of a 21st century urban person.
Yew will grow with very tight grain if many of the side branches are taken off, which they would be if it was managed.
I cut a limb which had been growing near vertical, the top had been cut off many years before and it had one side branch at the top which was still live. The wood was very dark and tight grained, I'm assuming it's because the growth was slowed by removing most of the branches.
I recently had a bloke turn up with a stave of "High Altitude Italian Yew" he proudly showed me how tight the rings were. I went over to my pile of offcuts and picked up a piece of Yew which was cut in Suffolk (a very flat low lying county) the rings were tighter... his jaw dropped.
Del
sieddy:
I cant really comment on this but I do find it fasinating. I would tend to agree that many generations cultivating and prtecting the Yew. But I also have wondered quite how they managed to arm the archer armies. Pretty sure they destroyed a great deal of forest to do so though.
I wanted to say respect to Ruddy Darter for leaving that Yew shoo. Thats really sound of you mate- i'd like to think that i'd be as foresight-ful but that does look like a really sweet branch! :)
poplar600:
--- Quote from: Del the cat on December 14, 2015, 04:13:42 pm ---
--- Quote from: poplar600 on December 14, 2015, 02:02:50 pm ---We're talking about 100,000's of prime slow growing yew staves. The same tree would have had to be "encouraged" by multiple generations. Most T.Baccata, though not all, is worthless when compared to it's North American counterpart.
I can't see how England acquired such vast amounts of tier 1 yew wood.
--- End quote ---
Even these days some jobs are done over generations, woodland management, breeding of livestock and such like, it's nothing out of the ordinary.. I think maybe you are viewing it with the eyes of a 21st century urban person.
Yew will grow with very tight grain if many of the side branches are taken off, which they would be if it was managed.
I cut a limb which had been growing near vertical, the top had been cut off many years before and it had one side branch at the top which was still live. The wood was very dark and tight grained, I'm assuming it's because the growth was slowed by removing most of the branches.
I recently had a bloke turn up with a stave of "High Altitude Italian Yew" he proudly showed me how tight the rings were. I went over to my pile of offcuts and picked up a piece of Yew which was cut in Suffolk (a very flat low lying county) the rings were tighter... his jaw dropped.
Del
--- End quote ---
I don't buy into the "Alpine yew" as much anymore. Labelling something as "Italian" yew is just for marketing purposes. One guys sells these Italian staves for good money, and the majority of it is fast grown, kiln dried rubbish.
WillS:
Ring count means next to nothing sometimes. Personally I've used English Yew with about 6 rings to the inch that made bows well over 100lb even though the stave was roughed out to be about 50-60lb. I've also seen some astonishingly high poundage self yews made of English timber with coarse rings - 150lb range at least. If the wood is healthy the bow will be good.
I don't know if its more important with American Yew (you certainly see it bandied about on stave websites a lot as a way of distinguishing "premium" timber) but it definitely doesn't guarantee a good bow, having a high ring count with European Yew.
There are still places in the alps that have more dead straight, knot free, dense European Yew than you could get through in a lifetime. There is in fact a superb bowyer on this very forum who uploads photos onto Facebook of his trips into the mountains and the insane stash of beautiful yew he picks up - logs and logs of the stuff. It's not rare if you have the time and determination to find it.
Don't get hung up on ring count!!
poplar600:
Please may you post pictures of the yew? Is he the German guy?
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