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Freezing Holly

Posts

Freezing Holly

#1

Freezing Holly

Barry in Richmond BC

>I stopped by the local firewood dealer and he had a few good sized pieces of holly lying around. I bought them (cheap) and turned a few into bowl blanks in March. Those have turned some nasty shades of green, grey and purple...but are still intact (no checking)...I turned the rest into some box blanks yesterday, and put 4 into the freezer (in a ziploc bag), and the rest into brown paper lunch bags to dry in the shop.

*How long do I leave them in the freezer? do I take them out of the ziploc and leave them in the freezer? put them in the fridge? in the shop?

Will this process help avoid the green and purple discoloration? is it a waste of time?

Thanks in advance

Re: Freezing Holly

#2

Re: Freezing Holly

Gary Evans

>Freezing will probably work O.K. You need to get them out of the plastic, though. What you are trying to accomplish is to get the wood dry without the fungal activity that produces the stains. Fungi need warmth, moisture, oxygen, and food (the sugars in the wood fibers) in order to reproduce. Limit any of these factors and you slow or stop the rate of fungal growth, along with the accompanying stains.

I would also consider taking the blanks out of the paper bags for a while. If you can get the surface dried quickly, it will also slow down fungal activity. Just monitor closely for any checking that might try to start.

By the way, speaking of fungus:

Did you hear about the mushroom that ordered a drink in a bar?

The bartender says, "We don't serve mushrooms."

The mushroom says, "Why not? I'm a Fungi!" 8^]

Sorry about that,

GE

Re: Freezing Holly

#3

Freezing blanks

Bob Hackett

>While I haven`t had any experience with freezing holly,I know freezing works to prevent or arrest fungal growth(spalting)in other woods such as maple and apple.Other turners use this to good effect on Norfolk pine.

Another approach would be the LDD soak.LDD is offered in antibacterial form and I`ve also thrown a couple bottles of alcohol into the mix to help with keeping the critters down.I know it stops hackberry from spalting further and may be worth a try on holly.

The little bit of holly I`ve been given always seemed to hold it`s color best by turning and drying it as quickly as possible.The pieces I made were quickly green turned and went directly to the microwave.The resulting warping gave them an organic look and they sold quickly,if that`s an indication of anything.

Mainely,Bob

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