Yew Wood

Yew wood offers interesting and challenging work and it is possible to be rewarded by the most beautiful bowls. My last blog about Yew was more about the trees than the wood so here are just a few examples of how Yew wood bowls can look.

The purple along one side of this bowl is where a nail had been in the Yew tree. This causes the beautiful colour. Often the metal causes too much of a problem to be able to continue to turn the piece since as soon as the turning tool (gouge) touches the metal it blunts it. I managed to get the nail out and continue turning this.

A friend had to cut down a small Yew tree that was multi-trunked. This tree was immediately outside the back of a house of an elderly lady who had recently died. The tree blocked ALL light into the back downstairs rooms and filled the back garden. Being evergreen it was no better in the winter either. My friend brought me this branch and asked if I would like more of the tree. As you can see Yew can be finished to a high polish if so desired.

The natural edge of this bowl shows the undulating nature of the outside of Yew. Though it doesn’t show well on this photo there was a pattern in the wood on the bottom of the bowl that was remeniscent of the Prince of Wales feathers. Naturally I kept the bowl to give to Prince Charles. Equally naturally I didn’t meet him so the bowl got sold. This is a classic example of the interesting figuring found in Yew.