Olive Wood

[Jim Colombo]

I rough turned some recently cut olive wood and it's cracking almost as fast as I can look at it. I've tried coating the end grain, the whole thing and just covering with paper but nothing seems to stop the cracking.

The wood is beautiful and I would hate to lose it.

Does anyone have any experience with olive? How do you keep it from cracking?

Thanks,
Jim

[Dale Gillaspy]

My experience is you don't. All the olive I have turned is of the desert variety. Most of it has been try, but I have repaired cracks with black epoxy. Seems to work well, but I let it sit and go back and refine the profile several weeks after I have made the repair. It seems to want to move after the repair, even if it is dry. That will leave small ridges that are unacceptable.

[Joe Kaufman]

I cut Olive into slabs or rounds for bowls and immediately place it in plastic shopping bags. For the first week or so I daily turn the bags inside out and reclose to get rid of the moisture. Decrease the frequency as you notice less moisture collecting in the bags. Do not turn until the moisture loss is almost undetectable. For bowls that are larger than 5-6 inches I allow material for 2-3 rough turns. Repeat the plastic bagging process and then leave in heavy paper bags taped closed. If the Olive has more than 20% of what I would call sap wood, don't plan to include much of it in the finished work. The sap wood is much more prone to cracking than the dark wood and will require repair. Olive doesn't seem to mold even if forgotten in a sealed plastic bag with a puddle of water for a week or so. (The smell is different but returns to normal after turning)

[Jim Colombo]

I cut Olive into slabs or rounds for bowls and immediately place it in plastic shopping bags. For the first week or so I daily turn the bags inside out and reclose to get rid of the moisture. Decrease the frequency as you notice less moisture collecting in the bags. Do not turn until the moisture loss is almost undetectable. For bowls that are larger than 5-6 inches I allow material for 2-3 rough turns. Repeat the plastic bagging process and then leave in heavy paper bags taped closed. If the Olive has more than 20% of what I would call sap wood, don't plan to include much of it in the finished work. The sap wood is much more prone to cracking than the dark wood and will require repair. Olive doesn't seem to mold even if forgotten in a sealed plastic bag with a puddle of water for a week or so. (The smell is different but returns to normal after turning)

Thanks Joe;
It's been almost 2 weeks since I rough cut them so most of them already have cracks but I put them in bags and hope that stops the process.

Jim

[Joe Kaufman]

Jim

You might try an application of thin CA to the cracks and follow immediately with medium CA to fill the cracks. I didn't mention but when I turn the bags I look for cracks and do the CA application. If the cracks are minor surface cracks and the bowl has been previously rough turned, I do the CA treatment and then rough turn again to remove the stress and get a fresh surface to dry. That's why I suggested to allow sufficient material for multiple rough turns. Again, bag immediately. Any wood close to the pith and left is almost certain to start a crack. Olive is pretty easy to get in our area (So Cal) and I have turned quite a bit of olive over the past 10 years. Some olive just doesn't behave.

Joe