Cleaving yew, what's the best way?

[stuckinthemud]

Evening all.  I have been able to harvest a 6' yew stem.  For most of the length it's pretty straight, but every now and then there's a hefty side branch.  The stem is 8" wide at the base, 6" across at the top.  It would be nice to get 3 staves but 2 is more realistic.  When I split yew I find that occasionally a large knot can divert the split with bad outcomes.  I don't have a band saw.  Any advice on how to make sure a split goes where you want it to go?

[Muskyman]

I know that some saw it. I’ve never had a log so I don’t know how hard that would be. Maybe you could kerf it with a circular saw and get it to split straighter for you. It’s a good question, looking forward to what the answer will be.
Good luck with it, hope it works out for you.

[Hamish]

Can you post some photos of your log?

Never split a yew log myself, as it doesn't grow locally to me. Every stave I have bought was bandsawn. I have broken down quarters into 2 longbow staves, and have used the bandsaw for that. The wood that I had was straight grained, and any major knots were not going to interfere with layout.

If the stave has a lot of character, I'd probably split it with wedges to ensure the grain is followed.

As you don't have a bandsaw, Musky's kerfing method will do good, providing you can  layout your staves around the knots.

An 8" dia log  depending on how clean it is should yield a lot more than 3 staves, especially if you make Elb's..