Yes, it goes against the grain, but I have a few trees in my garden that will have to go, in order to make room for others.
There are a few plum trees and a couple of hornbeams. I’ve never heard of hornbeam being used for instruments, but a friend tells me that it is a very hard wood once used for making cartwheels. There’s also a yew, but it seems rather bushy rather than having a single long trunk.
They’re all about ten years old, so not very impressive, but the trunks of some would be about 10 to 15 cm./ 5 to 6 ins in diameter. So rather than just throw them out or use them for firewood, I wondered if there is any point in keeping the trunks and thicker branches to give to an instrument maker. And if so, any advice on cutting and seasoning?
<conservation/rural craftsman hat on>
Hornbeam used to be used for making cogs before the advent of cast iron, e.g. in wind mills and water mills etc.
You can get a fairly sharp edge on it, and because of its hardness it will keep it. I have a bokken that I made 10 years ago that is still in use.
The timber is not very good at absorbing hard abrupt shock, but very good at deflection like cogs or ‘swordplay’.
Hornbeam does not have a particularly interesting grain, but will take a polish and keep any edge you put on a whistle blade.
Yew is poisonous, so be careful - unless yer want to donate all yer whistles to me … I’ll look after 'em.
</conservation/rural craftsman hat on>
Cut the limbs into suitable lengths, plus some ( 18"?). Coat the ends with something to prevent rapid drying which would cause cracking-- dip in melted paraffin or beeswax. Then store them in a cool, dry location. Talk to us again in a year or two… Plum is a pretty good instrument wood
Andreas Rogge works with plumwood. He might be able to give you specifics about it related to making pipes.
I’ve read yew is suitable for making of longbows used in archery, but it’s also been used for instruments like recorders.
Still pining for the past, eh, Zoubivque? Olive those sons-o’-beeches larching around and poking their lancewood at each other, boxing each other’s ears and making privet deals sub rosa…plum crazy, if yew ask me. Bah. History. I’ll get sycamore of any of this. Walnut it just be better if we all sit down and teak the advice of our laurel’d elders? Yew know, 'twould holly be a bad thing to spruce up the world a bit and pear away the deadwood of briar mistakes, fir pete’s sake.
Nano, for lack of time to verify… the information I read was probably a reed driven instrument like the ones found on ethnic music, thump music or lark in the morning websites.
Thanks, Tony. I tend to get not just a bit uneasy about toxicity issues (never mind my smoking and drinking )…somewhere I saw a website selling wooden quaichs made partly with yew, and they were evidently meant to be used! Probably the earliest known reference to yew poisoning had to do with two Roman soldiers who died after drinking from yew-wood flasks.
Hey Paul, what about Dogwood? We recently cut down a dead limb from an old dogwood tree in our yard, and it’s currently in about 18" lengths, perfect for the fireplace. It’ll get salvaged if it would be good for woodworking or instrument making. Whaddya think?
So with all this tree talk, I have a question. I always hear of whistles being made of fancy woods like olive wood, tulip wood, kingwood, cocobolo, etc… these won’t exactly grow in my backyard. What other, common hardwoods out there would work for a whistle? Has anyone yet had a whistle special made from a tree that once grew in their yard and if so, what wood was it?
This topic makes me think of the apocryphal story of George Washington and the cherry tree. How many children’s misbehavior involves cutting down a tree?
)…somewhere I saw a website selling wooden quaichs made partly with yew, and they were evidently meant to be used! Probably the earliest known reference to yew poisoning had to do with two Roman soldiers who died after drinking from yew-wood flasks.
Sara