Fun With Holly

[Jim Koepke]

A couple of years ago a neighbor gave me a bunch of holly from a tree he had cut down. He was thrilled for me to take it since it saved him the hauling and dumping fees.

Anyway some of it was cut today:

Hunk o' Holly.jpg

My old bandsaw wouldn't have been able to handle this. The thin piece was cut from the other half that was from the first cut.

Thin slices were made from the edge to get a true edge. The thin slices are also good for making wedges when rehabilitating hollow and round planes:

Hollow & Round Pair.jpg

Even without it being properly dried to keep it pure white it is still a pretty wood and works very easily. The surface smooths fantastically with a sharp plane. The feel is amazing. My wife says it feels like glass.

jtk

[John K Jordan]

I love working with holly on the lathe and big pieces are hard to find.

If you want it white you can use a 2-part wood bleach.

JKJ

[Jim Koepke]

I love working with holly on the lathe and big pieces are hard to find.

If you want it white you can use a 2-part wood bleach.

JKJ

John, please say more about the 2-part wood bleach.

After making a few things with saw, chisels, planes and such it came to me to maybe try and turn a few items.

jtk

[John K Jordan]

John, please say more about the 2-part wood bleach.

After making a few things with saw, chisels, planes and such it came to me to maybe try and turn a few items.

jtk

Not much to say - shape and sand the wood, purchase bleach from Woodcraft, Amazon or other, apply according to directions, dry, sand lightly, apply finish.

There are several one and two part bleaches available. I'd test some with samples of the wood. The two-part bleach has a good reputation but others may work as well.

BTW, for white holly, best to cut in cold weather, mill immediately, dry aggressively. I've had good success that way and have had horrible staining/discoloration otherwise, probably from a fungus.

JKJ

[Jim Koepke]

Not much to say - shape and sand the wood, purchase bleach from Woodcraft, Amazon or other, apply according to directions, dry, sand lightly, apply finish.

There are several one and two part bleaches available. I'd test some with samples of the wood. The two-part bleach has a good reputation but others may work as well.

BTW, for white holly, best to cut in cold weather, mill immediately, dry aggressively. I've had good success that way and have had horrible staining/discoloration otherwise, probably from a fungus.

JKJ

Thanks for the follow up John.

The holly was cut and on the ground awhile before my neighbor let me know it was up for grabs. It was also in my wood shed and shop before my having learned anything about the proper drying.

Oh well, live and learn. So far even with a bit of spalting/fungus it still looks useable for many projects.

Tried some ebony stain on a piece today to see if it becomes dark enough for a project for one of my daughters.

jtk

[John K Jordan]

Tried some ebony stain on a piece today to see if it becomes dark enough for a project for one of my daughters.

Some people use black leather dye on holly to "ebonize" it. Holly has such fine grain and takes detail so well ithe effect can be great. Some use dyed holly for various accents and on finials on turned ornaments, and especially on the tall thin finials often used on the tops and lids (and bases) of turned forms. I haven't tried this myself since I have a lifetime stock of ebony and african blackwood.

[Aaron Rosenthal]

Jordan, just curious; when I lived in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s I used to see a lot of Blackwood, but at that time export was not allowed.
I did manage to return with some Meranti.
How did you get a "lifetime supply" of Blackwood? I'm jealous.

[John K Jordan]

Jordan, just curious; when I lived in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s I used to see a lot of Blackwood, but at that time export was not allowed.
I did manage to return with some Meranti.
How did you get a "lifetime supply" of Blackwood? I'm jealous.

Rosenthal, I understand Blackwood export was restricted and perhaps more restricted now. I have various species of unknown origin and date but some I know are 50 years or older.

I keep my eyes open for interesting pieces and sometimes get lucky. For example, I found someone selling Cocobolo before I even knew what Cocobolo was and bought all of it at rediculous prices - the seller apparently didn't know what it was either. Some pieces were so big they were an effort to lift with two hands!! I found a guy selling Ebony stock up to 40" long and bought all he had. I bought a number of large blocks of "exotics" from Peru through benefit auctions. When I visit woodworkers and turners I often trade, am given, or buy interesting pieces - once bought an amazing slab of Olive that must have been 18" wide and 4' long (and years later I'm still using it). The same gentleman gave me Blackwood, some of the "good" Rosewood, and more. I buy turning stock from Pete at Big Monk Lumber and he often has hard-to-find wood. You can often find rejected clarinet bell blanks for about $10 each, great for turning boxes and other small things. I got about 3 dozen from a wood dealer recently - great gifts for fellow woodturners! I even saw the bell blanks in a Woodcraft flyer sometime in the last year or so.

Mostly, I just look and ask around. At last inventory I had about 125 species on hand. I have been accused of having a wood addiction problem but I found a 12-step recovery program: 1) buy some wood. 2) buy some more wood. 3) ...

JKJ

[Jim Koepke]

You can often find rejucted clarinet bell blanks for about $10 each, great for turning boxes and other small things.

One of the exotic wood dealers in Portland had these listed recently. Almost bought a bunch myself. There is another Portland wood dealer who often sells scraps of exotic woods by the pound. My temptation tends to give in when there are nice pieces of ebony at a good price.

Some of the woods are okay to sell and transport inside the U.S. Some are not allowed to cross international borders by CITES agreement.

CITES is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals. It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Some people use black leather dye on holly to "ebonize" it. Holly has such fine grain and takes detail so well ithe effect can be great. Some use dyed holly for various accents and on finials on turned ornaments, and especially on the tall thin finials often used on the tops and lids (and bases) of turned forms. I haven't tried this myself since I have a lifetime stock of ebony and african blackwood.

Thanks for the tip on black leather dye John. Picked some up today at Michael's. It does a much better job than ebony stain.

jtk