I was contacted by a friend recently that was clearing out a back room in his barn in order to make space for some new equipment. There were stacks of wood he had milled over the past decades as he cleared more land. Most was Fir, Larch and Hemlock, but some nicely spalted Birch looked good, and a small stack of 1 1/4” thick Western Yew. It had been laying for almost 40 years, and had been home to some ants for a while, and as it had never been sealed on the ends it had some very large checks. But - it’s YEW! And from a large tree! Don’t need more for laminations but I would never pass it up. Bit of a Wood Hoarder I suppose.
My daughter had commented once she would like a larger Charcuterie Board, for bigger groups I guess. Like 36” long. Perfect!
I sanded both sides down to remove the kerf marks, filled all ant homes and splits and checks with epoxy tinted to Rosewood, added some accent lines and end handles in Paduak , re-sanded to 440 grit, and then let it soak in Butcher Block Oil and finally finished with Carters Butcher Block wax. Old wood can be some of the best!!