
Yew is a yellow/orange wood with a distinct white/cream sapwood. It is very easy to turn and finishes really well. Danish oil or just wax are two finishes that I often use with Yew.
Yew is slow growing and tends to fork and produce trunks that are not a nice round shape. There are often shakes (cracks) at the centre of a tree radiating outwards and as the wood dries the sapwood often cracks from the surface inwards. These effects all make it difficult to find yew in wide defect-free sections and push the price up unfortunately.
Yew does "burr" although often its what we call "pippy" - lots of small branch "pips" dispersed in the wood rather than a concentrated patch of swirling as found in burr elm, for example.
We also sell Yew in branch form - see "Burrs & branches".
Warning: Yew is toxic - we recommend taking precautions when working this wood. (Actually you should probably take precautions when turning any wood!).
| Sample prices: | 6in dia, 2in thick blank | 12in long, 2in square |
| Pippy Yew | £5-00 |
£3-30 |
| Yew | £3-00 |
£2-00 |
| Yew (2nd) | £2-50 |
£1-70 |