Hawthorn and Yew

[jd99]

Asked my brother if he ever comes across some wood from his buddies to gather it up and send it to me and I'll make them some pens. (he lives in Oregon, and his buddies run log milling operations)

He sent me some show quality maple burl, and also some Hawthorn and Yew, the maple burl is not an issue, but the other two (Hawthorn and Yew) are kind of plane looking I cut the blanks as cross cut, and the yew looks like it might be a decent blank, but the hawthorn I'm thinking I might need to use something to pop the grain.

Any of you ever turned Hawthorn or Yew? If so how did the pens turn out and what if anything did you do the make the grain pop?

 

[1080Wayne]

A light wipe with BLO will give you the most grain pop . Be very careful on the x-cut yew . Looks super with heartwood/sapwood colours , but not an easy turn .

 

[PTsideshow]

Most likely it is the Taxus brevifolia Western or Pacific yew
Be careful of the YEW as they all are sub species of the same family.
Yew "Direct toxin, irritant, nausea, malaise, nasopharyngeal cancer" "Skin, eyes, cardiac, respiratory, dermatitis, systemic effects e.g. headache, blood pressure drop, cardiac effects" "++,++++" "Dust, wood" Common
From a wood toxicity list Misc: Wood toxicity table

The wood is also poisonous. Some bow makers are reputed to have died from the frequent handling of the wood in their craft, and dusts from working it.

Before the manufacture of synthetic cancer treatment, taxol was used ifrom the yew till they figured out the toxicity of it in the drug.
:clown:

 

[jjjaworski]

I just got some yew in a trade. I had no idea of the related health issues. Thanks for the post.

If and when I turn it I will take precautions to deal with the dust.

It is also nice to know about the nature of turning it. I got both straight grain and crosscut pieces.

Thanks

 

[PTsideshow]

I know that I have been told by horticulturist that the birds are about the only living things that can eat the red pulp of the berries and disperse the seeds with out ill effect. Horses are the most affected with cattle and pigs next. Then humans.
I have no first hand knowledge but I suspect that the ole medieval bow makers, may have used sappy/green wood to aid in the forming of the bows coming into contact with the sap. And with the sanitary conditions back then, probably ingested larger amounts etc.
Since it has been used for centuries as turnery, carvings, furniture, gates posts, doors,
Straight grained works readily curly or cross grained tends to tear out. nailing may need pre drilling,because of the oily nature of the wood it demands care in gluing.
The above is from "World Woods in Color by William A Lincoln 1986©
Covers over 275 commercial woods from world-wide sources.
With gloves and a good mask you shouldn't have any problems.
:clown:

 

[keithkarl2007]

Don't create too much heat when sanding the yew as it will cause heat checks in the wood.

 

[robutacion]

Asked my brother if he ever comes across some wood from his buddies to gather it up and send it to me and I'll make them some pens. (he lives in Oregon, and his buddies run log milling operations)

He sent me some show quality maple burl, and also some Hawthorn and Yew, the maple burl is not an issue, but the other two (Hawthorn and Yew) are kind of plane looking I cut the blanks as cross cut, and the yew looks like it might be a decent blank, but the hawthorn I'm thinking I might need to use something to pop the grain.

Any of you ever turned Hawthorn or Yew? If so how did the pens turn out and what if anything did you do the make the grain pop?

Mate, this is one of the times where pictures could worth 1,000 words...!

Cheers
George

 

[Rick P]

Yew is a wonderful bow wood and it's not "bow makers" the word your huntin is bowyer.

The toxicity of Yew is lower than most of the south American bow woods and in 99% of the cases not an issue. The list of toxic woods includes woods that would surprise most of us! Like any wood long term exposure can lead to allergic reactions and yes some bowyers end up allergic too it.

I always cringe when I hear "I cut some blanks and found nothing but boring old strait even grained wood".

 

[jd99]

Here is what I ended up doing, I just used CA, the hawthorn wood is on the left and the Yew wood is on the right.

hawthorn was the hardest to turn; the blanks are all cross cut.