Holly identification

[al ladd]

Holly is so white that even its end grain is white, whereas maple and other "white" woods tend to be rather dark in their end grain. I use holly for this reason in a body of work using end grain laminations as decorative top panels for boxes large and small. I've used actual ivory in inlay work, and honestly holly end grain reads more like what one wants ivory to look like than ivory! Here's an example:https://www.alladd.com/large-jewelry...box/index.html

[John Kananis]

I'm curious how you get the wood to pop in the middle of those riding crop handles. Is it with a torch and wire brush? If so, how do you protect the rest of the piece while "burning"?

Also, amazing score on the holly!!!

[Phil Mueller]

Beautiful work Al!

[John K Jordan]

I'm curious how you get the wood to pop in the middle of those riding crop handles. Is it with a torch and wire brush? If so, how do you protect the rest of the piece while "burning"?…

Do you mean any of these crop handles in particular?

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I always use some type of texture on crop handles to make them more secure in the rider’s hands, important when going over jumps and such. Before I started making them I talked with a trainer about that and other features. Besides the texturing, the flair on the end helps keep the crop secure. An important safety feature is a rounded end - no sharp points to stab a rider in a fall!

I use a variety of techniques on spindle turnings in general but I’ve never tried a torch or a wire brush.

Some are textured with a small texturing tool with a star wheel (makes incredible patterns!), occasionally a machinist’s knurling tool. (note that a knurling tool works well on cylinders and convex areas but not very well on concave surfaces.) Some are bands filled with many shallow dimples carved with a small egg-shaped cutting tool in a Dremel. One of my favorite techniques is “distressed texturing” where I roughly move a point tool back and forth on the wood which looks great on soft wood such as cedar. The carved holly handles are carved with very small handheld gouges.

I’ve found that on hard, fine grained woods a band of adjacent v-grooves cut with a skew look distinctive since the side of each groove catches the light. The 5th one from the left has these bands.

Dark lines are made with a v-grove cut with a skew then a line burned with a very fine steel wire. I outline almost all textured bands with these friction-burned lines. (Warning: friction lines don’t work well on lignum vitae due to the natural lubricant in the wood!)

When I want to darken something such as the patterns from a texturing tool on smooth wood or the carved grooves I use a soft cloth to rub in dark walnut grain filler then as it dries rub again with a clean cloth to remove any filler on the smooth surfaces or carved highlights. (I’ve been using the same can of grain filler for almost 20 years!) To protect the rest of the wood from the grain filler I first apply a finish or sometimes a finish over sander sealer, often Mylands friction polish on small spindles.

JKJ

[John Kananis]

I was referring to the eighth from the left. So it's carved, hit with walnut filler and sanded. Thank you for that and the explanation on the rest also.

[Mel Fulks]

Not only is the wood beautiful, but the trees are too. The shiny green leaves reflecting light onto the grayish matte bark is a show much
more beautiful than even your relatives home movies of their vacation in Florida.

[Roger Feeley]

I’ve been reading up on harvesting holly and it seems to require fast action.
— once you cut the tree down, the clock starts. You need to get it milled and into the kiln right away or it will discolor to an uninteresting gray.
— the cause of the discoloration seems to be uncertain. Some claim that it’s mold. Others say it’s a chemical reaction.
— everyone agrees that the best time to drop a holly tree is mid winter when the low temperature slows discoloration and sap is minimal.

I reached out to a local sawyer to see what could be done. The plan would be to time it when he can mill it that day and get it into the kiln. That would be a busy day.