Split or saw yew log?

[stuckinthemud]

yep, or saw it in half like for firewood, or thinking you amateur furniture-makers always get it all wrong because that is not the most cost-effective way of planking and sorting it out for you........I ended up losing a large quantity of yellow pine cos the sawyer thought I'd drawn all the lines on in the wrong place and cut it the way he thought I would have wanted it cut if only I knew what I was doing - my lines were correct and I did know what I was doing, it was him that didn't know what I was doing - end of rant.  Lesson, draw clear lines and make sure the sawyer understands what you want and why you want it done that way and never let them try and be helpful - furniture makers are not bowyers.
Having said all that, as long as everyone is clear about what is needed and why, I always out-source my heavy sawing, and the joiner I (now) use is brilliant, usually doing the work for free 

[Selfbowman]

Where is Jim Fetrow when you need him. I have built a couple of yew bows so take this with a grain of salt. I would at least split that big log in half . The grain does not lie. At that point saw a section off each split side. I would stay away form a saw mill of any kind.  That's what I do with osage . I usualy split it all into staves and then trim along the natural grain split. Then there is the knots ! Well sometimes that can create its on can of worms. I tend to agree with DC. Arvin

[WillS]

Just my 2c to add here - I would always split.  Especially a big log like 8". 

Sawing is fine if you've got big enough equipment, some help and and confidence to run it through straight.  Splitting a big log should take about 15mins on your own, is as primitive as it gets (and sounds amazing when it starts to split!)

Just pick your line, try and get any knots / flaws running along one split line, and away you go.  You won't come across any nasty surprises hiding in the wood with split staves, as it will always follow the grain, showing you exactly what you've got. 

I recently split two 12" English yew logs, and it took me less than an hour to do the whole lot - I also ended up with these 10 perfect staves, even though one of the logs was slightly curved. 



You can force a split if you're careful, and keep rolling the log over.  If it starts to wander somewhere you don't want it to go, just flip the log, put an axe straight into the log where you want the run to go, and carry on. 

[snowplow]

Thanks for the awesome advice guys. Especially about forcing the split. I have done that before but wouldnt have thought to do that here. I'll have to count how old this thing is. I keep forgetting.

Whats up with splitting from the end vs the middle?

[WillS]

I think it depends whether there are any specific problems you're trying to avoid.  I usually split from the end (small or big, doesn't make a difference to me) unless there's a knot or something that I want to make sure I go through the middle of.  In that case, I'll put an axe straight through the knot and hammer it down to start a split through it, then go to one end and split as normal, making sure I force the split towards the middle one.

[snowplow]

Got it. What do you use to split with? Steel wedge? Fro?

[WillS]

Some old axes, steel and wooden wedges, drawknife, whatever I've got to hand, really.

[Selfbowman]

I have three wedges a old ax blade and an ax. But if you have one wedge and a ax you can drive in with a sledge or 2# better . you can cut other wedges from a board.  Old Indian trick use antler! Arvin

[snowplow]

Just counted the rings last night. My largest piece is just shy of 10' long, 6.5-7" dia, straight, and 64 years old.

[wizardgoat]

Willis those are some nice yew staves. I'd still saw some of those in half, I've been known to saw a 2.5" yew stave for 2 bows more than once

[WillS]

You've not seen the other side

I'd split a 2.5" log for 2 bows, but the ones I left wide are knotty or have sapwood damage so there was only one bow per stave. 

I had another log from the same tree (cut from a yew that had been growing since the 1500s!) which also yielded 5 staves.