Thread: English Yew trouble

Originally Posted by Fryers

Hi All,

Has anyone turned English Yew? I've tried... twice , and twice I lost it. Literally.
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The same blank. I shaped and finished the outside, then placed in my trusty vicmarc chuck, and as soon as I touched the face so very lightly, it lost its head. Snapped right off.
The photos are of the second attempt. The blank was larger to begin with.
Beautiful pattern, coloring and tone, but now I'm not sure if I should be scared or determined.
I'd appreciate any comments
Fryers

Hi fryer , I certainly ain, t no expert , but could you flatten the base and glue a block on
the bottom , make one that fits the jaws better , it looks like you may have a gap on
your tenon ! Just my 2 bob, s worth

Hi Smiife,
I may just do that (glue a false foot for mounting). But the feet I turned were the same size and shape I turn every day without any problems, except it seems with English Yew. The gap seen on the top left in the photos isn't a gap but a shadow.

Cheers,

Fryers

Originally Posted by Fryers

Hi Smiife,
I may just do that (glue a false foot for mounting). But the feet I turned were the same size and shape I turn every day without any problems, except it seems with English Yew. The gap seen on the top left in the photos isn't a gap but a shadow.

Cheers,

Fryers

Hi Fryer , just another thought , how about turning it with the end grain in the foot
rather than side grain , would be stronger that way , do you think ?

Well Smiife, that's another worthy thought, for turning softer wood like the Yew. I wonder what sort of finish I'd get when hollowing end grain. I guess I'll find out next time.
Cheers

Fryers

I can't say that I've had the same problem with Yew, but I can't recall whether I've actually turned a bowl out of it. I know I've turned a few goblets, but that's end-grain turning.

I'm unsure what you meant by 'tried turning it twice.' Do you mean you've tried mounting the same blank twice, with the same results? Or do you mean two separate blanks?

If the latter, do you know if those blanks came off the same tree? It may just be a peculiarity of that tree rather than a peccadillo of the species.


Either way, for that blank I suspect you'll need to mount it in a different manner. Perhaps a faceplate or in expansion mode rather than compression, considering it's the tenon that's snapping.

I also think I'd treat it like a goblet and refine both the inside and outside more or less simultaneously, working in app. 1" lengths from the tailstock end toward the headstock.

It's more difficult to 'get the feel' of the finished piece when you're only working a piece at a time like this, but at least it has the benefit of leaving the most timber for support on the part you haven't worked yet.


It looks like a lovely blank... I can understand why you'd want to persevere with it!

I recalled that Yew was used for long bows, & looked it up: Taxus baccata - Wikipedia

It is possible the piece Fryers is turning has been weakened by decay that has not progressed to be soft.

Be careful: 6: English Yew - Top 10 Most Poisonous Plants | HowStuffWorks

Never encountered this problem with yew I have a pile of it and have turned it both end grain and cross grain. The piece you have must have a week point in it.

I have turned plenty of bowl side grain and even turning the piece in the last photo I did not have any problems I know it was end grain.




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Thank you all that responded. I believe my piece of Yew was a dud, probably decayed enough to give trouble, not enough to show on inspection.
A pity, it was a nice piece & the only Yew piece I had.

Cheers
Fryers

Originally Posted by Fryers

Thank you all that responded. I believe my piece of Yew was a dud, probably decayed enough to give trouble, not enough to show on inspection.
A pity, it was a nice piece & the only Yew piece I had.

Cheers
Fryers

You would not want to look in my wood store as I have about 20 bowl blanks of yew from 9" up to 14" diameter as well as two 18" logs still to cut up. Not that you can get in there at the moment due to the fact that there is two wood store loads of blanks as one has lost its roof which I am remaking the whole store from scratch.