Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: waterlogged on August 16, 2007, 01:01:02 am
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Anybody have any hints or tips for seasoning yew. I've got some really great stuff that I don't want to screw up.
Thanks
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If it is in stave form, seal the ends and store in a cool dry place off of the ground. If it is a trunk, at least split it in half , seal the ends and store the same. How bout some pics. Pat
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Here is a picture of yew billets from a tree I cut in 2005.
I sealed the ends with varnish. The XS image with varnished ends was taken just after I hauled the yew out of the woods on my bicycle. Then I stored the log under my deck (Montana has low humidity) since 2005.
I cut the short log into billets this week - nearly two years later. The wood is in perfect condition.
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In my opinion, keep the bark on while it's drying.
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In my experience, Yew is about the easiest wood in the world to season. Strunk, Welch, myself, and others who live in damp climates don't even seal it most of the time. Unhealthy Yew will check regardless of what you do and healthy Yew probably wont. To be safe: release the tension in the wood by reducing it to staves and billets, or at least halves and quarters. Leave the bark on or peal it off and coat the sapwood with shelack.
J. D. Duff
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I've had yew do some really weird things when it dried, but that's cause I kept it in a warm, dry house. Keep it in a cool, shady place and you shouldn't have any problem with it.
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Don sent me one of the yew logs that he hauled 6 miles out of the Montana wilderness on his bike. :o It wasn't here a week and it had 3 major checks. :'( This is a 4" log, un-split. I still have it and one day I'll get at least one bow out of it. ;) That is wood going from dry Montana to moist NC. Pat