Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: juniper junkie on November 18, 2007, 10:45:07 pm

Title: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: juniper junkie on November 18, 2007, 10:45:07 pm
it seems that I have hit the jackpot on the yew wood. all decked up  and ready to be cut. how many bows do you see in this wood!!!

[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: jamie on November 18, 2007, 10:58:16 pm
sweet lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: juniper junkie on November 18, 2007, 11:03:19 pm
here is a pic of the staves in my truck. I need to go back and get the rest of it. I probably got 1/3 of what is there if that. some of it was twisted too bad, but there is a lot of wood left underneath what i cut. it started pouring down rain and I got soaked. will return in a week or so, or maybe sooner, to get some more. I think it was logged last winter, so the wood was dried out some. some of those trees are well over a hundred years old! sad to see them tossed aside to go to waste. I will salvage what I can use for bows and maybe make some lumber for picture frames out of some. Yew is really pretty wood, cant stand to see it go to waste.

[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: Pat B on November 18, 2007, 11:22:18 pm
Yew lucky guy! ;D  You sure must be living right. 8)    Pat
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: M-P on November 18, 2007, 11:35:54 pm
Oh for cryin' out loud.   I'd ask what you're planning to do with it, but .......   What a find and a certain amount of hard work.   Ron
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: Gordon on November 18, 2007, 11:49:32 pm
Oh my, looks like you are set for life! :o
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: deerhunter97370 on November 19, 2007, 12:02:19 am
Looks like a great haul. Mind if I ask where yew found it?         
Joel
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: whatareyadoin on November 19, 2007, 12:38:59 am
that stuff is like Gold, We can't do that here in northern cali. I sure would like to buy a stave But I can't Afford 250
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: jpitts on November 19, 2007, 12:47:45 am
I'd go back and get it all....you can make lams too...accent stripes...all kinds of stuff....
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: juniper junkie on November 19, 2007, 01:09:18 am
I found out about it accidently through a friend of mine. he works for a private timber company as a forestry cruiser. he told me that there was some yew in some logging that they did. He gave me a contact number and through a lot of phone calls, was able to aquire a permit, although there was some red tape to deal with, it went pretty smooth. try contacting forestry companies in your area and see if there is any yew available for salvage. this deck is behind a locked gate, so nobody has messed with it. I will have a hard time working this week, will be thinking about getting some more of it! some of the larger yew has some rot setting in so it is worthless, but there is a lot of useable wood. besides, it makes a great wood for a fire in my tipi!
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: 330bull on November 19, 2007, 02:02:10 am
Seal those ends ASAP and anywhere you have any exposed bark, do the same.  Although I am horribly jealous, at first glance it appears you have some very challenging logs that have a lot of twists and bark violations.  Please don't take it personally at all!!!  I wish you all of the luck in the world and you also may want to consider splitting into billets or staves PDQ too!   :)  Good luck!!!
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: Marc St Louis on November 19, 2007, 07:16:11 am
Good for you. I wonder why they were cut?
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: sonny on November 19, 2007, 08:52:59 am
likely cut 'cause they were in the way.....there's no yew here but where they cut wood for lumber, etc. around here they cut everything.

nice find !!!
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: bowmo on November 19, 2007, 12:06:17 pm
wana trade?!
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: Justin Snyder on November 19, 2007, 12:13:00 pm
wana trade?!
Yea what he said
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: Dane on November 19, 2007, 01:51:43 pm
Arrrrg! Oh my gosh! You are one lucky dude!

Dane
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: Sidewinder on November 19, 2007, 06:17:49 pm
Yew go boy...lol. when yew get ready I will trade  a choice osage stave for a choice yew if yew want. I just harvested some real straight fat ringed beauties last month and would'nt mind having a yew stave in the shed for when I get skilled enough to give her a go. Let me know....Danny
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: Loki on November 19, 2007, 08:24:32 pm
That haul must be worth a fortune!
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: juniper junkie on November 19, 2007, 11:08:15 pm
once I get everything split, sealed and sorted I will decide what i want to part with or trade. I do have some staves that will be marginal, that I will be willing to trade or sell cheap if someone wants to try working on yew for the first time, instead of ruining a good stave. I have some staves that were cut 3-5 years ago and are ready to work, I will go through them and see what I have. Marc, these trees were cut because they were in the way. the logging company does the usual "rape and scrape" and desecrates the area, I find it appalling to see the amount of waste and destruction that is left behind.  I would bet that some of these trees were 200 yrs old or more. I am heading back in the morning to get some more before someone else beats me to it. (now that my secret is out) ha ha...
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: OldBow on November 19, 2007, 11:32:50 pm
Looks llike Paciific Coast Madrona trees.
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: whatareyadoin on November 20, 2007, 04:40:03 am
I found out about it accidently through a friend of mine. he works for a private timber company as a forestry cruiser. he told me that there was some yew in some logging that they did. He gave me a contact number and through a lot of phone calls, was able to aquire a permit, although there was some red tape to deal with, it went pretty smooth. try contacting forestry companies in your area and see if there is any yew available for salvage. this deck is behind a locked gate, so nobody has messed with it. I will have a hard time working this week, will be thinking about getting some more of it! some of the larger yew has some rot setting in so it is worthless, but there is a lot of useable wood. besides, it makes a great wood for a fire in my tipi!
Congrads and thanks for keeping something like a tree from going to waste.
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: Brokestick on November 21, 2007, 10:48:03 pm
It's surprising they cast it off to the side.  Isn't yew in demand for some cancer fighting compound they discovered in it.
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: Gordon on November 21, 2007, 11:14:36 pm
They used to derive Taxol from yew bark. But now it is made synthetically.
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: majsnuff on November 22, 2007, 01:05:44 pm
What a great haul. I lucked onto some fire killed Yew Back in 99, had the twisty stuff run through a custom sawmill and made 2" boards of it (bark left on). After air curing, those planks that could not be used as laminates were committed to the furniture pile. I plan to use 2" limbs for legs, and make benches from the "No good for bows" pile.
Congrats on your great luck.
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: juniper junkie on November 22, 2007, 09:51:47 pm
I also got into some fire killed yew a couple of years ago, I really liked it, made some nice bows from it. here is a pic of the staves and billets I split from some of the wood. I still have four logs being milled down so I can use my bandsaw to reduce them further. I broke my saw blade today so will have to wait till tomorrow to get another one so I can clean up the edges of these staves and billets.

[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: D. Tiller on November 23, 2007, 09:15:07 pm
Jeesh Dave! You are one lucky guy!!! Where ya been by the way? Tried dropping ya a couple notes on e-mail but I dont think they went through.  Well looks like you will have some of that wood to make some arrows out of now.

Uhm!Say would you be looking...uhm..unh..at selling a couple of them????  ;D

I hope to see you shooting one of those bows at the Butes this year. I will be there with some of the new bows I'm working on. Got a Strawberry Guava bow I will be trying out and a new yew bow too. Plus some lams I'm working on.

Hope everything is going well for you and your family!

David Tiller

PS: Where the heck is Billy? Heard from him a couple times but he keeps dissapearing.
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: juniper junkie on November 23, 2007, 09:24:18 pm
David T. did you check out my post on take down yew recurve? I went to billy's to hunt with him. there are some pics on there as well. did you see billy's article in the new PA? look forward to seeing you at the buttes. may have a couple of bows made by then. I will probably end up with about 25 good staves and some billets from this haul. been a lot of work but well worth it. take care.
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: D. Tiller on November 23, 2007, 10:04:30 pm
Gots ta renew mys subscription! I will check out the articles. Good to see ya on the site. Been busy here with the buisness and all. Looking forward to some time off!
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: bcbull on November 24, 2007, 12:56:00 am
 your one luckey brother haha id like one of them staves too  can trade osage, hackberry ,ash  you name it iv got it also snake skins  let me know  thanks
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: medicinewheel on November 24, 2007, 10:25:52 pm
....that's not fair...

congratulations!!!

frank
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: joewaco78 on December 11, 2007, 05:09:58 am
Wow I just saw this and just WOW....
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: Auggie on December 11, 2007, 10:43:01 pm
I havent seen that many logs in a truck since Justin left  Pappys. You lucky dog. Auggie.
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: cowboy on December 11, 2007, 10:52:48 pm
Don't know why I've just now seen this one - you truly are a junky ;D.
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: jpitts on January 23, 2008, 01:31:41 am
 Juniper Junkie,
Would you be willing to trade for an osage stave I got from Billy ? I went up to his place a few months back. He's got a barn full. I want to try my hand at a Yew ELB one of these days....
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: duffontap on January 23, 2008, 01:43:56 am
I just love seeing huge piles of Yew wood.  That's one reason why I spend so much time in my garage  ::).  Ha, ha.  I think you may have me beat there and I've been getting it the way that ages you rapidly. 

What a treat to see something like this.  Thanks for posting these pics.

            J. D.
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: ozark caveman on January 23, 2008, 02:12:53 am
Let me know if you would like to trade for some Osage! I'll trade you 3 Osage staves for 1 Yew :)
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: Wulamoc on January 23, 2008, 02:22:26 am
What a jackpot you hit!!!  A lifetime supply.  Nice going!
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: jeduffey on March 20, 2008, 07:11:12 pm
I'm curious how you are doing with your pile of wooden gold?
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: david w. on March 20, 2008, 10:40:22 pm
WOW i wish there was yew by me

since i dont have anything to trade maybe you could just send me one? ::) ;D
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: juniper junkie on March 30, 2008, 01:44:41 pm
since this yew had been cut in the spring, and I didnt get it until late fall, quite a bit of it had started to check. I have ended up having to cut most of it into boards which can still be made into bows, they will just need to be backed with bamboo, hickory or sinew. where possible I have left them large enough to make a full length elb, some have the sapwood still intact, but with some checking starting. I just wish I could have been there when they first cut it :-[.
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: 330bull on March 30, 2008, 01:48:36 pm
Man that's what I was afraid of.  I'm going to send you a PM OK?... 8)
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: Keenan on March 30, 2008, 04:55:38 pm
  Bummer JJ, I'll be right over to help you dispose of it propperly. ;D  I've heard that once that checking starts you might as well give away the whole pile in case it's all bad. >:D >:D Keenan
Title: Re: yew motherlode!!!!
Post by: bowmunky13 on March 30, 2008, 09:14:25 pm
hey ... junkie... ummmmmm... i will give you my soul for a couple of those boards... just kidding.. i think...lol