Wood identification- complete beginner's question.

[chaoticbob]

Hi. I'm mainly a metal-mangler, but have occasionally (shock horror!) turned wood on my engineering lathes. It's a nice thing to do, but I've been put off by the cost of wood blanks, which I'm inevitably going to trash at first. BUT... I recently had a woodburning stove installed, and when looking about for cheap hardwood to burn came across a farm which allows you to pick and choose from their pile for 30 quid to fill the back of an estate. I think there may be some stuff there too good to burn - for starters, I fancied the bit in the attached pic. It seems dense and close grained, but no idea what it is - but I'm sure someone out there will know!
Regards, Robin

 

[CHJ]

Yew.

 

[Beau]

As said it's yew

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yew luck person. Go get more.

 

[Kalimna]

Yew. As said above, go get more. And don't burn it! Far too nice to do that to it, and whilst I may be mistaken there are certainly some very toxic compounds within yew that may (or may not - I'm not sure, but why take the risk?) be released by incomplete combustion.

Adam

 

[Castanea]

It's a lovely wood to turn - lovely colouring, nice and close grained and pretty stable - but some people do get an allergic reaction to it so give it a try and watch out for any rashes or other signs of it not agreeing with you.

Reminds me I have a few small bits in the garage which might be ready to be turned about now

 

[chaoticbob]

Thanks. Wife said it was yew, but then she said everything else was cherry, which seemed unlikely, so I was suspicious of her wood identifying powers. But I shall tell her she was right, and suffer 'I told yew so'.

I picked up a fair bit of this stuff, it's about 22% MC off the pile, should I leave it to dry further before trying to turn it? Sorry for naive questions!
Robin.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Dry it a bit further, wax the ends first. When you turn it don't let the abrasive overheat - if you even get near burning your fingers you will leave cracks on the end grain. If you've gnarly old logs, they can make beautiful table lamps with bark inclusions and sapwood left in. I turned some deliberately off centre to get contrast, they were really nice.

 

[MusicMan]

Beautiful but toxic wood. Recommend using good dust mask.

Keith

 

[chaoticbob]

Many thanks for the warnings about toxicity - I know that yew berries are poisonous, but didn't realise the wood is also. This may explain something - we have a terrier which picks lumps from the log basket and gnaws at them. She actually went straight for this stuff when it came home, and has been ill with exactly the 'right' symptoms over the last few days, so another reason for keeping it out of the log basket. I'd never have made that connection and the vet didn't either!

Am I right in thinking I should store the wood in the house and let it come down to around 12% MC before attempting to turn or carve it?

Regards, Robin

 

[Dalboy]

Am I right in thinking I should store the wood in the house and let it come down to around 12% MC before attempting to turn or carve it?

Regards, Robin

Sorry to hear about the poor dog.

Don't take into the house yet as it may cause it to crack very quickly even if you seal the ends. If you have a lot of it seal the ends put it undercover with plenty of free air flow keeping an eye on the moisture content.

If you make bowls from any wet wood turn them to about 10% oversize and seal the outside only again leave the same as I have mentioned this will reduce the time it takes to dry.
The other solution is to turn quite thin and let it move you can get quite some exiting shapes that way.
Something else to watch out for is leaving the centre in the wood if possible cut it out

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The arils - the red bits - actually are the only part of the yew that isn't poisonous. The seeds themselves are.
Anti cancer drugs are made from the leaves.

 

[profchris]

The reaction to yew, if you get one, gets worse. I've just made a yew topped guitar which has to be my last use of yew. First time a slight rash, this fourth time swollen and sore eyelids and lips, plus severe rash, plus feeling pretty sick for a week. And I deliberately did no sanding, just planing and scraping.

Some don't suffer at all, but if you do then be aware that it might be worse next time.

Pity, because otherwise yew is great stuff.

 

[CHJ]

For those that have not ventured into the Help & Safety Stickies in the Turning Section then a read through of this article by a forum member is worth some thought.

http://quest42.co.uk/woodwork/html/toxicwood.html

 

[duncanh]

The arils - the red bits - actually are the only part of the yew that isn't poisonous. The seeds themselves are.
Anti cancer drugs are made from the leaves.

The red flesh of yew berries is delicious. The texture's a bit gelatinous but they taste good. Just make sure you remove all traces of the seed first

 

[Castanea]

I'm still very much alive after years of "removing all traces of the seeds" by spitting them out when I've finished the nice (but admittedly slightly gelatious) outer bits I like to live on the edge!

 

[MusicMan]

My own reaction is wheezing and chest congestion rather than a rash. I was sawing and sanding large slabs of yew (no bark, leaves or seeds), wearing a mask but not consistently enough. Needed a course of steroids to clear it. My doc thinks it may all have been started by reaction to our cat, which has already given me asthma. I do now have to be more careful with wood dust generally, so have spent time and money recently on upgrading dust extractors, including back ground filters, and getting a proper filter mask. Thanks for the article, CHJ.

 

[chaoticbob]

Thanks for all the warnings about machining yew - being somewhat prone to allergic reactions I shall certainly take due precautions when attempting to turn it. I have waxed the ends and it's sitting in the (unheated) workshop along with a few other promising bits of the same.
Further processing of the woodpile revealed this off the saw:

and after tidying up and a swipe of blonde shellac:

It's really rather lovely - the colour is richer than appears in the pics. But again, no idea what it is. The heartwood seems very hard and dense. Any suggestions?

Can anyone point me to a wood id guide either online or in print? Apart from not wanting to keep pestering you guys, I'd like to have an idea of what to look out for next time I pick up a load.

Regards, Robin

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Laburnum.

 

[chaoticbob]

Laburnum.

Thanks. Have Googled and it seems that it's good for turning. And only mildly poisonous!

Robin