YEW

[kennym]

Anybody be interested in a bunch of yew billets? 45ish" long

A lady called me asking if I wanted to buy it, but the stuff gives me a killer headache so , nope.

She is in OR and I don't know if she will piece it out or want to sell as a lot.

If you interested, shoot me an email and I'll forward her email to you...

[email protected]

[kennym]

[mmattockx]

That makes me want to cry. It's too much to ship across the border and too far to drive and get the load... We have zero decent bow wood in western Kanada and a load like this would last me ages.




Mark

[dbeaver]

i would buy a few pieces for splicing and veneers, and 2 piece selfbows if theyre any good

[kennym]

No idea of quality but John Strunk looked thru part of it and said it would be best in lams.  Sounds like it is

Here is the lady's email to me after she called...

Hi Kenny,
 
Thanks for talking with me just now about the yew wood I woulld like to sell for bowmaking laminations. Here's the information about the wood, plus my contact information.  I'm in Portland, OR.
 
I inherited the wood >20 years ago when my luthier husband Robert Lundberg died. Bob bought it in the 1970s from bowyer Don Adams, who inherited it from bowyer LL "Flight" Daily (see his ads in Ye Sylvan Archer) in the late 1960s. The wood is billets and staves from Daily's wholesale/retail bowmaking business, 1935-1945, picked over through the next 22 years as Daily continued to build bows.  Bob used only the staves for making musical instruments.
 
John Strunk, Spirit Longbows, has been through about a 3rd of my wood, and only a small amount is suitable for logbows.  The main problem is twist, but there is checking in some of it as well.  John suggested I explore its use for laminations.
 
I'll attach a photo taken from inside my storage unit, so you can get an idea of the appearance and quantity.  My daughters have a similar quantity stored in their basement.  All of it is 44"-45" long. 
 
Thank you for offering to forward this information to possibly interested bowyers.  My contact information is
Linda Toenniessen (pronounced tennison)

I hesitate to put her email and fone on the net...

Sounds like the lumber  is pretty old...

Maybe Kirk is close enough to look or buy?

[Noah70]

Man, what a waste! Sure hope it goes somewhere deserving. That is very hard to find in any decent size anymore, an 8 -10 inch trunk can easily be upwards of 200 years old. 
Gotta be a few nice charcuterie boards in that pile!! 

[Kirkll]

I've still got a bunch of Yew that came from an old saw mill shed that is ruff sawn at about an 1" to 1 1/4" thick and some of it over 16" wide and 12' long. Came from some seriously old trees. i cant find the photos, but i should dig that stuff out and find a home for it.  i have some lams rough cut if someone is interested in them.

The old days of just cutting yew trees down on the Oregon coast are over unless you are on private land. they want a fortune for these big yew trees too.

That pile in your photos isnt going to make very good lams me thinks. looks like firewood to me.  But i could go look at it i suppose....   PM me an email address Kenny.      Kirk

[Mad Max]

I've still got a bunch of Yew that came from an old saw mill shed that is ruff sawn at about an 1" to 1 1/4" thick and some of it over 16" wide and 12' long. Came from some seriously old trees. i cant find the photos, but i should dig that stuff out and find a home for it.  i have some lams rough cut if someone is interested in them.

The old days of just cutting yew trees down on the Oregon coast are over unless you are on private land. they want a fortune for these big yew trees too.

That pile in your photos isnt going to make very good lams me thinks. looks like firewood to me.  But i could go look at it i suppose....   PM me an email address Kenny.      Kirk

A lot of high crown there in those, but I see a few nice one's in there for a selfbow.

[Kirkll]

A few years ago my son in law was working for a gal that had a huge pile of Osage that she had brought up from California with the intent of building furniture from it.
It sat in a shed for 20 years getting cracks and checks.  It was given to me, so I hauled a whole trailer load home….. 99% of it went into my wood stove. Great firewood, but just not usable for bow building at all.

If this yew wood has been picked over by bowyers for that many years, I seriously doubt it’s worth messing with. But…. Ya never know.   Kirk

[JW_Halverson]

No idea of quality but John Strunk looked thru part of it and said it would be best in lams.  Sounds like it is

Here is the lady's email to me after she called...

Hi Kenny,
 
Thanks for talking with me just now about the yew wood I woulld like to sell for bowmaking laminations. Here's the information about the wood, plus my contact information.  I'm in Portland, OR.
 
I inherited the wood >20 years ago when my luthier husband Robert Lundberg died. Bob bought it in the 1970s from bowyer Don Adams, who inherited it from bowyer LL "Flight" Daily (see his ads in Ye Sylvan Archer) in the late 1960s. The wood is billets and staves from Daily's wholesale/retail bowmaking business, 1935-1945, picked over through the next 22 years as Daily continued to build bows.  Bob used only the staves for making musical instruments.
 
John Strunk, Spirit Longbows, has been through about a 3rd of my wood, and only a small amount is suitable for logbows.  The main problem is twist, but there is checking in some of it as well.  John suggested I explore its use for laminations.
 
I'll attach a photo taken from inside my storage unit, so you can get an idea of the appearance and quantity.  My daughters have a similar quantity stored in their basement.  All of it is 44"-45" long. 
 
Thank you for offering to forward this information to possibly interested bowyers.  My contact information is
Linda Toenniessen (pronounced tennison)

I hesitate to put her email and fone on the net...

Sounds like the lumber  is pretty old...

Maybe Kirk is close enough to look or buy?

I have a piece of this that came to me via Carson Brown at Echo Archery/Surewood Shafts. That billet sits in my basement waiting to be made into a Victorian takedown (possibly hinged) longbow.