HOLLY TURNED GREEN

Re: HOLLY TURNED GREEN

Don Evans

>There is something in the wax emulsions that react with Holly in this way. The Sealtite (which is white wax) made to seal wood also turns green on Holly.

I've had pieces that were waxed and turn green within 5 minutes but the color is only 1/16" or so deep, maybe up to 1/8" deep on end grain.

When you are ready to finish turn, just scrap off all the wax you can and if you want more removed wash with acetone and finish turning them.

Don

Re: HOLLY TURNED GREEN

John Lucas

>It's not necessarilly in the wax. Holly will turn green just setting there. I have a bunch that cut up for Christmas ornaments. I cut them into 2/ 1/2 and 3 1/2" square by 18 inches long. They are all changing color. I haven't had time to experiment and see if bleach will work to lighten the wood.

Re: HOLLY TURNED GREEN

Greg W. in NC

>Brad,

I cut up a very large holly tree about 2 years ago, and virtually all of the bowl blanks, which I waxed with sealtite, turned green, which did run all the way through the blanks. Most of the spindles were only waxed on the ends, and there was some discoloration, which was generally not very deep. The colors weren't just green, but there was a lot of gray as well. However, on other spindles, and virtually all my pen blanks (which were not sealed), they remained virtually white. Hard to make too much sense of it, but I'm sure there are some wood experts on here that'll know why these reacted this way.

Re: HOLLY TURNED GREEN

Brad

>With that green/gray color, were the blanks ruined, or were you able to somehow get rid of the color?

Re: HOLLY TURNED GREEN

Greg W. in NC

>I wouldn't say they are ruined, but not that pretty white color for which holly is commonly known. Some of the swirls are very nice, though. I haven't tried yet to whiten the wood, though, but I'd be interested in hearing if anything will work.

Re: HOLLY TURNED GREEN

Russ Fairfield

>Holly will discolor faster than any other wood we can use. Other than immediately kiln drying the wood after sawing, I know of no way to keep it white with any reliability.

Left to dry by itself, Holly will do any one of three things. Sometimes it will stay white. Sometimes it will turn a gray/brown coloring. Sometimes it will progress into a black-line spalting. And sometimes we will find all three in the same piece of wood, as in the photo of a piece of Spalted Holly.

If there is a green coloring, it is a temporary thing that gives a new meaning to "green wood turning". I have never noticed any diference between waxed and unwaxed wood. Some goes through the green phase, and some doesn't. The green will progress to either the gray/brown coloring or spalting. Either is an acceptable turning wood, so long as any spalting was caught before it turns into rot.

The gray/brown discoloration will usually accent the grain pattern, and the wood will darken and look good under an oil finish.It can be bleached to make it white again; but the bleached wood will not age to the "old ivory" coloring of naturally white Holly.

The only problem with spalting is that the time between spalt and rot can be fairly quick for Holly.

Ok, so what to do with it?

Scott in Douglassville, PA

>My dad's got some hollies that he's planning on taking down soon. Offered me the wood. He's in TX; I'm, well, not. He'll bring it up to me at some point this summer. How should I have him prep it?

Re: Ok, so what to do with it?

Lowell Converse

>I haven't tried it, but what might happen if you mixed some Clorox bleach with the Anchorseal?

Re: Ok, so what to do with it?

Russ Fairfield

>Spray the ends with Clorox. Then paint the end-grain with anything that will seal it. There is no need to buy Anchorseal. 2-coats of Latex paint, a coating of Liquid Nails Adhesive, latex calking, or melted wax (any kind) will do the job. Or, he can cut it into short lengths, and wrap them in plastic. Trash compactor bags are good because they are thicker (stronger) and a convenient size.

The Clorox is to keep it from turning "green". Everything else is to keep ir from cracking.

You will have no control over whether it spalts, turns color, or stays white. Whatever is going to happen has already started within the first 20-minutes after cutting the tree into lengths with the chainsaw.

Try to get some of the larger limbs. It is a tighter grain, and limb wood tends to stay white. It is good for pens, end-grain goblets, and other small things.

Re: Ok, so what to do with it?

Bill Hale / The Wood Spinner

>I put lemon juice on my avocado to keep it from turning black.

Just kiding

Bill

All kidding aside

Bob Hackett

>Lemon juice can be an effective fix for some surface staining and helps to prevent mildew.It smells better than bleach too,not as hard on your skin either(unless you have an open cut-DAMHIKT).

Mainely,Bob

blue stain

Tom Sontag - St. Louis

>Blue stain is a malady which frequently affects white woods that dry too slowly. It happens in maple a lot too. If you mill a maple log in the heat of the summer, you MUST sticker it immediately and begin drying - leaving it for just a few hours in a pile off the saw will induce this (I believe it is a) fungus.

So I would recommend that you put fresh cut/rough turned holly under a fan after making sure it is clear of any sawdust. Get that surface dry and keep it where it can dry out rather quickly. I know that maple kiln schedules can be quite fast, so in the case of maple at least, it can be hard to air dry it too fast.

My experience and knowledge on this comes primarily form maple, but I have some blue holly too - it seems to be very much the same issue.

Thanks guys...

Scott in Douglassville, PA

>Will pass along some preservation protocol to the Pop.

BTW, lemon juice keeps artichokes from browning after being cut, too...