Turning Holly

Re: Turning Holly

Robert Simmons

>From my limited experience with holly, you've got to move pretty fast to keep the blue stain from setting in. I'd recommend rough turning right away and then drying with the end grain sealed. I've also had success with turning very thin while the wood is still wet and pretty much drying it on the lathe. It will warp a bit, though. I've then done a final sanding off the lathe when it's fully dry and buffed it out. The wood is fine grained and looks almost like bone when it's finished.

Robert

Re: Turning Holly

Don Evans

>Ted:

It turns very nice, slight warping and as said you can turn it to thin on lathe and dry it with sanding with success most of the time.

I've been trying to find some that size for couple of years but none of the lumber guys, tree guys I know seem to be able to find any. So I'm now jeolous.

Where did you fine any that large?

Don

Re: Turning Holly

JoeQ

>Don't panic too much if your holly starts to develop blue stain. Although I have never had holly of any large dimension , I actually prefer to let my holly season for six months or so to see what different colors,hues develop. The results can be very interesting and attractive. My holly pieces are usually among the first items to sell at the shows I attend. Joe

Re: Turning Holly

Russ Fairfield

>It will not stay white, but it can end up looking like this.

Holly is my favorite wood to turn.

Dave Smith - Longview, WA

>Hi Ted,

Holly turns very easily and is forgiving when you have a catch. Pens turned from holly have a look of ivory. That is assuming it was dried before blue stain set in. Fresh cut holly needs to be moved into a dry place ASAP. Remove any dirt on the logs. Store the logs off the ground and allow air to circulate around them. I cut down the first holly I got. I cut it into short links and seal the ends with paint. The wood stayed white with a hint of green that I attribute to the green paint I sealed the ends with. I now used Anchor seal for sealing fresh cut timber. The next holly I got was cut and stacked out side. I got them a few months later. Still nice wood to turn but it is a light brown color. I have heard it is best to cut down holly in the fall or winter to preserve the white color.

Good luck.

Dave Smith

Snow this morning in Longview, WA.

Re: Holly is my favorite wood to turn.

Don Evans

>I've looked into keeping holly white verse color changes and one thing I've been told is that you cannot air dry holly. It must be dried quickly to insure it will retain it's purest white.

I don't think it was the paint that caused the green as the white wax (supposedly the same as anchorseal except color), I get it from Woodworkers Supply called "Sealtite". Anyway, it is pure white and it will turn green on end grain of Holly. So there is some chemical in the holly causeing this. I've noted green in the middle of it where branches grew.

Don

Re: Turning Holly

Don Evans

>Russ:

Did you do this with a spalting formula or was it this way when you found it? It's hard to tell if it's holly or maple in that state.

Don

Re: Turning Holly

Russ Fairfield

>It is Holly and it spalted from being in a plastic bag for almost two years. Holly is one of those woods that doesn't need any assistance.

Re: Holly is my favorite wood to turn.

RonZ

>It's my favorite, too. It is a very forgiving wood. My pen blanks I get are so white, it makes you wonder if it was bleached.

Here's a couple I did. From left to right; acrylic, pink ivory, amboyna burl, spalted tamarind, holly-ebony & maple/wenge sandwich, and holy with maple/wenge sandwich. [Special thanks to Ed D. for hornet? design inspiration]

Re: Turning Holly

Ted Calver

>Happy New Year and thanks for your responses. I'm looking forward to spinning some Holly later today.

Don, I'm a Landscape Architect and sometimes have access to unusually large ornamental trees that are too big to move and can't run fast enough to avoid "progress". These were salvaged from a construction site.

Russ, That piece is beautiful!! Some of this wood is going in a bag for sure! Clear or black?

I'm in the Tidewater area of Virginia and am happy to share (I don't think my Jet Mini is going to make much of a dent in the stack). E-mail me if you are interested. Attached photo is first of 2 loads.

The green is a fungus caused by

Garrett in Victoria BC

>infection from contact with wet ground after being cut. It doesn't affect all logs, but it does affect many, and it happens very quickly. Holly that is infected looks puky, but can be made beautiful by dying the finished product ebony.

Un-infected holly can range in colour from the highly valued pure white to a beautiful rose. (I have some across this colour range from a day of collecting 400 logs with my WW guild from a holly farm that was being cleared.) Most of the dozen logs I have are still drying in the round in my garage, but I did saw a few for planks, and they air dried without problem.

Cheers, Garrett