Est. 1998 — 28 years of woodworking knowledge
Russian Olive, any good to turn?
Thomas Skaggs, Foothills of Mount Level
>Hi Folks,
I have turned olive tree wood before. It is my favorite wood to turn! But my brother in law called to say he is cutting down a Russian Olive tree in his yard. I know it is a different tree than the regular olive trees. But does anyone here know if Russian olive is worth turning? I need to let him know if I want him to save me any.
Thanks in advance,
Tommy
Re: Russian Olive, any good to turn?
Jon Arno
>Tom, you never want to turn down free wood...but Russian olive is nothing like genuine olive and they aren't closely related.
Russian olive is ring-porous. It has a beautiful warm tan color and an attractive figure. However, it is an extremely brittle wood, a little chippy to turn, and very subject to checking. You'll have to be careful with it, but the end results should be beautiful.
Take it!
Dominic Greco in Richboro PA
>Tommy,
It's not like the olive wood from Europe, but it is rather nice to turn. Smells sort of funky thought! And as previously stated, it is brittle. But it does look very pretty when oiled.
Dominic
Thanks Guys, I'll give it a try.
Thomas Skaggs, Foothills of Mount Level
>
Re: Take it!
Juergen
>Take it!!
If you're lucky enough to get a crotch or a stressed portion of the tree there will be some beautiful figure.
The wood splits so process it immediately. If you turn it to final form while wet it will probably warp badly, especially if it is stressed wood.
I've had good luck by roughing it to a thickness of about 1/10 of the diameter. Store the roughed form in double paper bags for 4-6 months. Retrue the piece to relieve some of the stressed, let sit for a while and final turn with a very SHARP tool.
Do not sand too much, the wood will ridge like pine with wide annular rings. Sheer scraping works very well with this wood. Of you have some problem spots sand using Johnson's Floor Wax. Finish with 4-5 coats of WATCO or until there is some surface build. Buff and Wax. Enjoy!!
