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A little yard work yielded a nice find…

3 comments
16 years ago

So a typical Sunday afternoon brought some shop time and some yard work. While I was letting my Windsor chair dry after wetting it to raise the grain, I went out back to take care of some long over due yard tasks. We have 6 Japanese Yew bushes flanking our house. They provide a lot of privacy in the backyard, but they grow like mad and are starting to take over the yard. Photobucket

So I started trimming, and trimming, and trimming. My wife came out back and said to me, “wow I like the extra light back here, why don’t we get rid of one of those bushes on both sides of the house.” I grumbled and moaned about how much work that would be, but it was wasted breath. I have to admit that she was right and with two of them gone we still have a lot of privacy, but more sunlight filters through into the side yards. (hopefully she won’t read this post because she’ll never let me hear the end of it)

Anyway, as I got down to the trunk of these 40+ year of old Yews, I notice how thick they were. My woodworker’s brain started wondering what kind of lumber I might glean from this. So I cut out a few 20″ long pieces and took them to the shop. After some runs through the bandsaw and some sealer for the ends, this is what I came up with.
Photobucket

Real pretty reddish/cherry color for the heart wood. Obviously this is still wet so I expect the color to lighten over time. The grain is really tight though. If nothing else, these will make some pens with a story behind them.

Anyone out there have any experience with Japanese Yew? I would love to hear about it.

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Vic

Roger,

This might sound a bit abusive, but it worked on one of my dogs that chewed on power cords, hoses, etc.
The next time it happens, show the cord or hose to the dog. Now the part that seems wrong. Wrap the cord
around the dog (carefully so he/she can’t get hung) and make the dog wear it for a few hours. The heavier it is
the better. My girl has never chewed on anything resembling a cord since. Probably saved her life.

Vic

Sorry Shannon, just noticed the name Rogers is the last name….oops.

Shannon

Vic,

I haven’t heard that technique before. I think I may have fixed the issue though. I have actually rewired a machinery to use armored cable. The stuff is flexible enough for my purposes and it allowed me the opportunity to rework some of the switches and add some length to the power cords. I have now done my jointer, table saw, and band saw. Everything else can be stored away. Thanks for stopping by.

Vic

Well, it was out of desperation to keep my compulsive obsessive dog from killing herself. Thank God it worked!
Our dogs are our babies, as we don’t have actual children. Two of them have a crush on Clarence, by the way:D

Neil

To continue:

I’d plane in the ee-eve…’nin, All over this lan…d!!!

I’d plane out.. twisted boards.
I’d plane out…..cuuu-a-a-ups!!!

I’d plane out…….love between my spoke-shave and my chisels.

Wood…….worrrrk’in…..in…Aaaamerrrrica!!!!

Pete Seeger’s Brother

See you there……..look for me I’ll remember Roger’s Lyrical Fine Woodworking Blog….Neil

Neil

I just broke my mallet just like the one you show on your bench…..thinking about changing style to the wooden round….I don’t want the polyester face, or a Brass head…..big into sculpting with fishtail gouges so I like the flat face, but as I go finer, maybe there is more control with the carvers mallet. What are your thoughts????

Thanks………Neil

Shannon

Neil,

I haven’t used the wooden carvers mallets, only the poly face one. For what it’s worth, I found I had a lot of control with it. I just started messing with carving “T-Chisel” style and doing fans and the like for casework. I like that I can tap away and not worry about the angle of the striking plane. I also used it for carvning out the seat of a Windsor chair and it worked great. The standard mallet in the pic above I use for mortising. I have a couple of big blocks floatin’ around the shop. Maybe I’ll make one of the wooden ones and see what kind of difference I see. If nothing else, it could be a fun project!

Shannon

Neil,
I love it, how about this one

I went down to Berea to play
Studyin’ ’bout them woodworking ways
And who shall plane that twist down
Good lord show me the way.

Oh bloggers, let’s go down
Come on down, dontcha gotta come down
Oh bodgers let’s go down
Down to Berea to play

I’ll look for you and bring my tamborine!

Neil

Shannon you threw the polester “pants suit” at me. I think I’m gonna try old roundie in wood. Thanks!!!!!

I’ll be looking for the guy with……should I say it…..ahh what the heck ….
“The Green Tamborine”

Neil

Yo Mr Rog……….. love this line for above:

“It took me this long to really get my head around the revelations that I experienced in those 3 short days.”

First time I ever went to hang out with “woodworking guys” was just a few weeks ago, up until then, it’s always been work related. I found it emotionally draining, feeding off all the positive vibe. The jousting, the laughing, the thinking……truely invigorating.

I’m hoping the KY handtool conference provides that same stimulus. I believe that’s the hidden secret to woodworking.