Yew Oysters

My box-making went much better today with the tricky bit over. I made a little tray to form a half- width upper layer to the box and fixed the running rails. Tomorrow I'll be fitting the hinges and hoping they work smoothly.

We used my car to take the cabinet-making students to see the saw mill so I got another chance to look around, too. I don't usually see sawn in sections across the trunk as it isn't very easy to use because of the way it dries out.

Oystering became popular with English cabinet-makers in the 1660 when cross-sections of trees, including yew, were used in parquetry. This excessively ornamental use of veneers was called oystering because the round shapes resembled oysters.