Shrub in front yard is ENGLISH YEW!

[blackpanem]

are you sure about that volts?

[toomanyknots]

Also, if your one of those crazy people that believe in "orbs", then I guess you caught a bunch of orbs flying around your yew tree. LOL 



I mean these things:



  

[Youngboyer2(billyf)]

Those are just the spirits of English archers who will never be free unless their tree is turned into a bow so they can finally "move on"
I might have watched too much ghost whisperer with my aunt

[doulosparachristos]

lolo ohh man that is too funny!

[deerhunter97370]

1000000volts, I've never had any ill effects from yew. I've had wind blow fine file shavings into my face many times and nothing. Joel

[1000000volts]

yes i am sure you get high off yew trees they are poisoness,it starts off with a very dry mouth and a kind of amphetamine buzz, shamans used to boil it and breath in the vapor,ive made many yew bows and my mouth and nostrills have been full of yew sawdust,and i promise you i had yew tree poisoning many a time makes your heart race,if you dont believe me do a google search.where i live there are many old yew trees,some are 500 years old plus,with trunks at least ten foot wide.

[Bryce]

yes i am sure you get high off yew trees they are poisoness,it starts off with a very dry mouth and a kind of amphetamine buzz, shamans used to boil it and breath in the vapor,ive made many yew bows and my mouth and nostrills have been full of yew sawdust,and i promise you i had yew tree poisoning many a time makes your heart race,if you dont believe me do a google search.where i live there are many old yew trees,some are 500 years old plus,with trunks at least ten foot wide.

I don't think its yew then.  Yew gives me a headache and nose bleeds.....that's it.
It DOES NOT get you "high"

[DarkSoul]

There's no doubt that yew is highly poisonous. But people react differently to the poison. I've heard the story of people getting 'high' from working with yew wood before. So 100Kvolts is not the only one. Myself, I've worked with yew numerous times. It does not make me high, but I sometimes feel a little light headed a few hours after I finished woodworking. Sometimes it's also a little hard to breathe for me; my nose swells a bit on the inside, or so it seems. It could very well be the case that the poison builds up in your system. You may not feel anything the first few times you work with yew, but you may react progressively worse to the dust over prolonged exposure.

[1000000volts]

thanks i told them so,and its 1million volts not hundred thousand volts,lol,i play with electric as well as wood.....i have a beautiful yew longbow i made recently,42@30. leather and fake gold threaded handle shes so smooth to draw ive called her silky sue lol.i will post a photo of her soon.

[doggonemess]

I'd suggest you cut that dead limb out, it may give you an idea of the heart/sap ratio and the quality of the wood.
There may be a slim chance that you'd get enough heartwood for a small bow, a miniature or a crossbow prod.
Del

What a mighty fine suggestion! I just so happened to do that the day I posted the start of this thread.    Here's a cross section of the limb.



When I originally cut the top off, I sealed the end with enamel (the end not pictured), so it's unlikely that anything crawled in. I saw live growth coming off the sides of the wood, too. At the time I originally pruned it, I knew nothing about trees, and threw the part I cut off in the woods. It's gone now.  :embarassed: Wish I had known better then.

It's been seasoning in my car for a few weeks now. I made my own little kiln. It's easy! One easy step - stick the wood in your car and park in the sun. I've been told it works wonders.

[Del the cat]

Wow, that looks pretty sweet.
You can send it to me for closer evaluation 
This explodes some of the myths about the stuff you can find growing in more domestic environments (e.g. Pale, wide rings, thick sapwood)
The colour is great, the ring count looks fine, the sapwood is nice and thin, maybe because it was tucked away in the middle and was nice and slow growing (Yeah, like so slow it died  )
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all Yew is good, but sometimes there's good stuff there for those that look.
Seek and ye shall find!
Del

[doggonemess]

Thanks for the encouraging words!

If I can ask one last thing regarding this - I plan to make a short bow from it, since it's less than four feet long. Should I split the log into two (or three?) or just work my way in? It's probably three or four inches thick. Rather than splitting, would a saw be safer?

[toomanyknots]

You should so make a spliced handle bow,  .

[Del the cat]

Thanks for the encouraging words!

If I can ask one last thing regarding this - I plan to make a short bow from it, since it's less than four feet long. Should I split the log into two (or three?) or just work my way in? It's probably three or four inches thick. Rather than splitting, would a saw be safer?

If you saw it you will get a couple of decent sections which could be spliced. Splitting is better in theory, but it can wander off with knots.
Personally I saw to maximise the yield from Yew, and it's pretty tolerant of waggles in the grain, minor run off etc.
JMO of course.
Del