Taxus baccata
European Yew
Rare, culturally significant, and exceptionally durable. Dramatic orange-red heartwood against cream sapwood, and the wood of the English longbow.
- Cultivada y aprovechada en Europa.
- Grupo botánico. Las maderas blandas proceden de coníferas y las duras, de árboles frondosos.
- Familia botánica a la que pertenece la especie.
Avísame cuando llegueEspecie de referencia. Ahora mismo no hay piezas en stock.
¿Es adecuada para tu proyecto?
Ideal para
- Turned bowls, vessels, and spindles (a traditional turner's wood)
- Longbows and traditional archery stock
- Decorative wall panels and feature surfaces
- Cabinet accents, drawer fronts, and inlay
- Small statement furniture, side tables, stools, lamp bases
- Carved and sculptural pieces
No hay European Yew en la selección actual
Especies similares en stock
Ahora mismo no hay European Yew. Estas especies sirven para los mismos proyectos y tienen piezas disponibles.
Recibe avisos sobre European Yew
Te enviamos un correo cuando lleguen a KORENA nuevas tablas de European Yew. Cada pieza es única, por lo que conviene enterarse pronto.
Aspecto de la madera
Qué aspecto tiene
Sharp two-tone contrast: warm orange-red to honey-brown heartwood beside pale cream sapwood. Grain is generally straight but often irregular around frequent pin knots and burl figure. Texture is fine and even, with a natural lustre that deepens under oil. Boards are typically narrow and full of incident, sweeping sapwood lines, knot clusters, and occasional burl pockets are the norm, not the exception.
- Heartwood: warm orange-red to honey-brown, ambering over time
- Sapwood: pale cream to near-white, sharply defined against the heart
- Frequent pin knots and burl figure, often clustered
- Natural lustre that deepens under oil and wax
- Strong two-tone contrast that softens but never disappears with age
- Generally straight, often irregular; fine even texture.
Cómo trabajarla
Cómo trabajarla
Turns superbly, one of the great turning woods, prized for centuries. Saws and sands cleanly. Planing is the catch: interlocked grain around knots tears easily, so take light passes with a sharp, high-angle iron or scrape. Holds detail well in carving. Glues and screws without fuss. Steam-bends well, which is why it became the longbow wood.
Acabado
Takes oil and wax beautifully, a thin oil coat ignites the orange-red heartwood without muddying the cream sapwood. Sands to a near-polished surface straight off the belt. Watch for resin pockets that can bleed under film finishes; seal first with shellac if you plan to lacquer. The colour darkens and ambers over time; UV-stable topcoats slow the shift but won't stop it.
Secado
Dries slowly but with very little movement once stable, shrinkage is among the lowest of any European species. End-checks and surface checks are the main risks during initial drying; slabs from fallen trees often arrive with existing checks that should be stabilised before milling final thickness.
¿Cuánto se moverá?
La madera se hincha y se contrae a lo ancho cuando el aire gana o pierde humedad. Calcula el movimiento estacional de un tablero de European Yew antes de diseñar las fijaciones.
Movimiento estacional previsto
unos 6,1 mm
Fija el tablero con lengüetas o soportes ranurados, no con cola ni tornillos apretados.
Modelo de contracción lineal: ancho × (contracción ÷ 28 % de saturación de la fibra) × variación estacional de humedad. Usa una contracción tangencial del 5,3 % para European Yew. Es una estimación para planificar, no una garantía.
Cuánto cuesta
Seguridad y abastecimiento
- Cultivada y aprovechada en Europa.
- Estado en la Lista Roja de la UICN: evaluación mundial de conservación de esta especie.
Yew is toxic. Taxine alkaloids are present throughout the tree, needles, bark, and seeds are dangerous, and the wood itself is a documented sensitiser. Heavy dust exposure has been linked to cardiac and CNS effects. Wear a fitted respirator, run extraction, and keep offcuts away from animals and children. NOT food-safe. Do not use for cutting boards, chopping blocks, utensils, serving boards, or any surface in contact with food or drink. Treat it as a decorative and structural wood only.
Leer la guía completaNotas detalladas sobre el dibujo, el cambio de color, el trabajo y la estabilidad.
What European Yew actually is#
Taxus baccata is a conifer that behaves like nothing else. At 6,760 N Janka it is harder than oak, ash or hard maple. At decay class 1 it is the most durable species in this catalogue alongside robinia. And it carries a colour that no other European timber approaches: vivid orange-red to purple-brown heartwood against narrow cream sapwood.
KORENA lists it as a hardwood on the basis of how it works and performs, though botanically it is a softwood. Treating it as a softwood at the bench would give you entirely the wrong expectations.
It is also poisonous, which governs a good deal of how it should be handled.
The toxicity, which is not a footnote#
Almost every part of the yew tree contains taxine alkaloids, which are cardiotoxic. The dust is a documented irritant and sensitiser, and the wood is recorded here as not food safe.
The practical rules are simple and worth following without exception. Run extraction and wear a mask when machining. Never use yew for chopping boards, food contact surfaces, drinking vessels or utensils. Keep shavings and offcuts away from animals, for which yew ingestion is frequently fatal, and never put them in bedding, mulch or compost.
None of this makes yew unsafe to own or to use in furniture. Finished, sealed yew is not a hazard. The risk is in the dust and the offcuts.
Preguntas de compradores
Preguntas de compradores
Is yew poisonous to work with?
Yes, and this needs taking seriously. Almost every part of the tree contains taxine alkaloids, which are cardiotoxic. The dust is a documented irritant and sensitiser, and yew is recorded here as not food safe. Run extraction, wear a mask, never use it for food contact or drinking vessels, and keep shavings away from animals, for which yew is often fatal.
Why is yew so expensive?
Slow growth, small sizes and high wastage. Yew grows very slowly, trunks are often hollow or fluted rather than round, and the proportion of clean usable timber from a log is low. Add high demand from turners and furniture makers for its colour and figure, and prices stay well above other European species.
How durable is it really?
Decay class 1, very durable, the highest rating in this catalogue alongside robinia. Yew heartwood is exceptionally resistant to rot and insect attack, which is why yew fence posts and structures survive for generations and why it was used for water pipes and boat parts.
Is it a softwood or a hardwood?
Botanically yew is a conifer and therefore a softwood, but it behaves nothing like one. At 6,760 N Janka it is harder than oak, ash or maple, and it is denser and more durable than most hardwoods here. KORENA classifies it as hardwood in the catalogue on the basis of how it works and performs rather than its botany.
Propiedades mecánicas
Datos técnicos
Valores de referencia publicados. Cuando las fuentes discrepan, se muestra el intervalo y se usa el valor habitual en las escalas anteriores.
| Densidad (kg/m³)Masa por metro cúbico con aproximadamente un 12 % de humedad. La madera más pesada suele ser más dura y resistente. | 580–720 kg/m³habitual: 675 kg/m³ |
|---|---|
| Dureza Janka (N)Fuerza necesaria para hundir una bola de acero hasta la mitad en la madera. Es la medida estándar de resistencia a las abolladuras. | 6,300–7,100 Nhabitual: 6760 N |
| MOR: módulo de rotura (MPa)Resistencia a la flexión: la carga a la que se rompe una viga. | 90–115 MPa |
| MOE: módulo de elasticidad (GPa)Rigidez a la flexión: cuánto se comba un estante o tablero bajo carga. | 9.5–11.0 GPa |
| Contracción radialContracción perpendicular a los anillos de crecimiento, desde verde hasta completamente seca. Es la que afecta a las tablas aserradas radialmente. | 3.0–4.0 % |
