Out for hike to the Nimpkish Lake and small beach and took some tree pictures. http://racerocks.ca/metchosin/trees/pacificyew/pacificyew.htm When loading logging trucks, if any Western Yew wood was encountered, I would set the log aside for firewood. It was very tough to split by hand, but a breeze with a splitter. The wood was very dense and when dry, would burn hot and long. I quit using this tree for firewood about 25 years ago. I learned that the airborne sawdust generated while bucking this tree was very carcinogenic. Strangely enough, the cancer fighting drug Taxol is made from the bark of this tree. The second Yew tree in this little grouping. Nimpkish Lake looking South West. I have seen aerial shots of this lake from the late 40's and there are log booms tied up to every shore around the lake .
I have a "Canadian EH!" t-shirt. Nice photos. I spent a lot of time in BC when I was younger. Almost every summer from '64 to '72. We have those trees down here as well. I did not know about yews used in cancer treatments, or that they were toxic (pretty must the entire tree is toxic to humans), but the wood is prized for bow making here.
From Jan 1959 threw Dec 1960 our family lived at Christina lake just across the border from you , my father was the steam engineer at the saw mill . As big cities go Spokane was a lot closer than Vancouver so we passed through your old home town Colville several times . On the BC coast in the days of wooden boat building the Yew tree was the wood of choice for making bow stems .
I have a few pieces of 2" thick roughsawn Pacific Yew,longest one is about 6 feet.Dont know if any retailer still sells it,but I got these from Gilmer Wood Co. of Portland OR in the mid 90's.Beautiful dense orangish-red with very fine texture,excellent wood for lathe work.Did a couple small bowls but nothing else with it so far.Dont remember if the fine sawdust was irritating to the sinuses or not.I normally wear dust mask or respirator when doing that stuff anyway.
I got a little bit of Pacific Yew when I was in woodworking school in Northern California, and I wish I had a source for it locally. Here's the box I made from it.
Many years gone past on a trip to Vancouver, BC to visit woodwidow's grand parents with our young daughters, I filled the back of the pickup with some 5' x 16" lengths of clear yew with the thinking that when bucked up and split, it would be great firewood for their fireplace as it burns with a rainbow of colors. Grandfather would have nothing to do with burning the Yew, but cut it into strips 1/4" to 3/4" on his band saw. But time that catches up to all of us prevented him from producing any of his master pieces with the yew! These are two of Grandfather's creations. This tray is one; the squares are made from a birds eye yellow cedar burl and the sides are red cedar. This doll house was made for woodwidow's mother by her grandfather 81 years ago. At the time grandfather was a captain of a tug that plied the BC coast. He had turned the captain's cabin into a woodworking room and produced many creations there - this being one of them! The shingles on the roof would have taken the same time to split as for a house roof.
Bows and bows... I meant used in longbows, and just about anything that required bending strength. Yew has extremely high flexibility (very low modulus of elasticity). They also make great weaving shuttles (my ex had a few). This place is down in Prospect, OR: http://pacificyewwood.com/
