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Steve Mathews
02-04-2019, 6:28 PM
I just finished hand carving an Apple wood spoon. The wood was dry and tried my patience with the slow going. Green wood is definitely an advantage while hand carving.

John K Jordan
02-04-2019, 7:44 PM
I just finished hand carving an Apple wood spoon. The wood was dry and tried my patience with the slow going. Green wood is definitely an advantage while hand carving.

What did you carve? Have a photo?

I haven't carved apple but I've carved dry bradford pear - a lot harder than basswood but still not a huge effort. I've never tried green wood.

JKJ

Steve Mathews
02-05-2019, 3:53 PM
What did you carve? Have a photo?

I haven't carved apple but I've carved dry bradford pear - a lot harder than basswood but still not a huge effort. I've never tried green wood.

JKJ

The spoon on the right below is the one made from Apple wood. It's just a simple, functional spoon that's already been used in the kitchen. So far I've carved spoons using dried Walnut, Basswood, Poplar, Birch and Apple wood and somewhat green Olive wood. The Apple wood was by far the hardest and most difficult to carve by hand.
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PS So far I'm having a lot of fun carving, particularly spoons. It's a different kind of enjoyment than turning on the lathe, flat work, etc.

Bryan Hartle
02-05-2019, 8:23 PM
I make spoons from dried Walnut and have tried Apple and Maple. Apple was almost impossible, Maple somewhat better. I will carve Walnut anytime it is great.

Andrew Hughes
02-05-2019, 10:17 PM
I finished four spoons in Eucalyptus last week. Sometimes I like the harder woods so I can appreciate something softer.:o

Warren West
02-17-2019, 7:59 PM
What did you carve it with, knife, palm tools, full size?

Jim Foster
02-18-2019, 10:15 AM
I have a pile of apple wood I have been planning to use for "something." Whenever I pull a piece out to plane it, I am reminded how tough it is. Even on surfaces that look like they are going in one direction, I often get tear out. Very tough wood.

John K Jordan
02-18-2019, 2:40 PM
I have a pile of apple wood I have been planning to use for "something." Whenever I pull a piece out to plane it, I am reminded how tough it is. Even on surfaces that look like they are going in one direction, I often get tear out. Very tough wood.

Thick stock? PERFECT for woodturning!

JKJ

al heitz
03-26-2019, 12:25 AM
Can feel your pain. I'm having a lovely time with a set of cherry cooking utensils. This is my first experience with cherry so I did not realize how hard it is. Started with 2x4x12 inch blocks I had in the woodpile. Band saw didn't really like blocking them out. Further carving with spoon gouges, straight chisels, carving knives, spoke shave, and rasps - getting there gradually but cutting edges better be sharp. They do finish up nicely, though, with a simple mineral oil finish.

Dave Fritz
03-26-2019, 12:57 PM
those apple spoons are beautiful. Well done.

Wayne Cannon
03-27-2019, 1:19 PM
Never thought about using olive. How has it worked out for utensils? I have several large olives and often get 4" to 6" prunings that seem ideal for spoons.

Steve Mathews
03-27-2019, 10:51 PM
Never thought about using olive. How has it worked out for utensils? I have several large olives and often get 4" to 6" prunings that seem ideal for spoons.

Haven't used the olive wood spoons much so I don't know how well the wood will hold up. The wood is nice to carve and turn though. Love the smell. The apple wood spoon has been used regularly and seems to be holding up well. Wish I could get more of the wood.

John K Jordan
03-27-2019, 11:38 PM
Never thought about using olive. How has it worked out for utensils? I have several large olives and often get 4" to 6" prunings that seem ideal for spoons.

What kind of olive? I have some pieces of Russian Olive and it's nothing like the true Olive from Europe. For one thing it's ring porous (very porous) and has a coarse texture. True Olive is diffuse porous with tiny pores, very fine, smooth texture.

I wouldn't use Russian Olive for spoons or anything in contact with food. The true Olive, on the other hand, is perfect for spoons and such. I love using it for platters, bowls and such, recently made a mortar and pestle for the kitchen.

When in Athens, Greece I found a shop that sold nothing but things made from Olive. It was incredible. They hand hundreds of spoons, forks, cutting boards, rolling pins, platters, bowls, stools, chairs, picture frames, and much more. I couldn't find any Olive to bring back from Athens but I did find some in Italy. (A carpenter gave it to me. With all that olive around guess what his favorite wood is? White Pine!)

I haven't carved any spoons yet from Olive but I plan to this summer. it's a dream to turn and I suspect it would be wonderful to carve. I made this from Olive:

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JKJ

Barney Markunas
03-28-2019, 10:49 PM
True olive makes wonderful spoons. They’re my favorites since boxwood spoons are next to impossible to find. I’ve. It tried carving it yet - couldn’t bring myself to sell out the $$$.

John K Jordan
03-28-2019, 11:14 PM
True olive makes wonderful spoons. They’re my favorites since boxwood spoons are next to impossible to find. I’ve. It tried carving it yet - couldn’t bring myself to sell out the $$$.

Barney, you don't say where you live but if you are in or near east TN stop in and visit and I'll cut you a spoon blank of Mediterranean olive. I still have about 1/2 of the slab I got years ago.

Wayne Cannon
03-29-2019, 3:02 AM
Mine is Mission Olive, widespread here on the California coast, but I read that it is originally derived from a Moroccan Olive.

John K Jordan
03-29-2019, 10:08 AM
Mine is Mission Olive, widespread here on the California coast, but I read that it is originally derived from a Moroccan Olive.

You probably found the same articles I did, for example https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/opinion/are-mission-olives-actually-picholine-marocaine/29732
and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_olive

I couldn't find any references to the wood of Mission Olive but if it's a cultivar that grows olives it's probably very close to olea europaea!. I would love to get a tiny piece to compare to european olive and african olive under the microscope. The Wood Database has a good picture of the end grain, although most that I have here does not have as strong of dark/light contrast shown at the bottom of the page here: https://www.wood-database.com/olive/

For anyone looking for Olive, you might give Pete a call at Big Monk Lumber in KY; he usually has a variety of sizes of European and African olive and what I've got from him has been excellent. He brings wood to symposiums in the east but I think he ships too. www.bigmonklumber.com

These are dogwood and olive.
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This shows what a liquid usually does to to appearance of olive. This is a test with naphtha but danish or other oil does pretty much looks the same.
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A sad thought for those of us who can use small pieces is the piles of olive trunks and branches to be burned I saw in an orchard in Italy.

JKJ