To Strip... or Not To Strip

[Bill Splaine]

I came into a bunch of olive wood from trees that were involved in the big fires here in CA in October. The trees have been scorched and most of the bark has either been burned or is loose. Some is very tight.

But, I'm cutting the limbs into reasonable lengths and sealing the ends with Anchor Seal. But, now arises the question.. does it make any difference if the wood continues to dry with this bark on or not..?

I guess I could put each piece on the lathe and turn it round.. but, don't want to do that if it's not absolutely necessary.

[Brice Rogers]

The vast majority of the water loss is from end grain. So maybe it is not important to leave the bark or not. Your best bet is to rough turn it now. You will get the best yield from this wood. But if you have a lot I realize that it may be time consuming.

[John K Jordan]

I've never noticed any difference in drying with the bark or without. As noted, most of the water leaves through the end grain. The only problem I can think of with bark is if there are active insects under the bark. You might try removing any loose bark with a hatchet.

You going for bowls? I cut wood like that into turning spindle, box, and small bowl blanks and dry them for years before use. And Olive is one of my favorites to turn. You are a lucky man!

JKJ



I came into a bunch of olive wood from trees that were involved in the big fires here in CA in October. The trees have been scorched and most of the bark has either been burned or is loose. Some is very tight.

But, I'm cutting the limbs into reasonable lengths and sealing the ends with Anchor Seal. But, now arises the question.. does it make any difference if the wood continues to dry with this bark on or not..?

I guess I could put each piece on the lathe and turn it round.. but, don't want to do that if it's not absolutely necessary.

[Bill Splaine]

Thanks folks. Most of the wood is branches that are from 2-4" in diameter. I do have some trunk material that is ~10" in diameter.. Much of that has rot on the inside. There appears to be a lot of salting in the branches.. I haven't gotten to the trunks yet. I don't know much about spalting.. Nor do I know much about olive wood.. but, I do notice a bluish tinge in a lot of the branch material... anyone know what that might be?

[John K Jordan]

Thanks folks. Most of the wood is branches that are from 2-4" in diameter. I do have some trunk material that is ~10" in diameter.. Much of that has rot on the inside. There appears to be a lot of salting in the branches.. I haven't gotten to the trunks yet. I don't know much about spalting.. Nor do I know much about olive wood.. but, I do notice a bluish tinge in a lot of the branch material... anyone know what that might be?

A bluish or grey color sometimes indicates a fungus, at least in other species. Getting the wood out of the heat might slow down the fungal growth if it's hot outside. Spalting is caused by fungus working it's way through the wood eating what it can find. The black lines common in spalting are "zone" lines, lines of defense the fungus puts up when it encounters other fungi. Spalting is wood on it's way to rotting, beautiful if you catch it at the right time. I've never had olive with spalting.

With small branches like that you might turn some goblets. Lots of people like to turn long-stemmed goblets with green branches, either natural-edged or not, and let the warp as they dry. I have no experience with olive limbs or green olive, for that matter, so I don't know how much it will warp and crack when drying. The olive I have is from larger stock - I'm turning things from one slab that is about 20" across and was about 4' long.

BTW, is this a true Olive tree (did it bear olives) or Russian Olive? The Russian Olive I've turned was ring porous rather than smooth, fine-grained diffuse porous and the color and figure were not even close to olive.
http://www.wood-database.com/olive/
http://www.wood-database.com/russian-olive/

Some things turned from olive to show the figure and color, finished with oil:

Dogwood, olive.
388183

Piece in progress, liquid added to see figure/color.
388184

Same wood as above, different piece (sorry, poor lighting)
388185

JKJ