Wood Library - Holly

Gee Gary I’ve got about 200 Bd ft of it, what do you want to make.

I’ve not found a finish that keeps it white. What have you found?

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

The best thing I have found to keep it white is waterbased poly. Everything else seems to turn it yellowish.

What would I make? I’ve never even considered it due to the cost!

It takes a lot of rough wood due to all the knots and it usually warps when kiln drying. You need to dry it fast to get it it’s whitest.

Then you got that grey streaking to work around. Where did you get so much!

That table looks great!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

thanks for the info Gary, I’m going to be using some holly for the inlay on my armoire and like you said a little will goe a long way. I will probably only get about 1 BF due to cost. thanks for the post.

This is interesting. I guess the high cost is because most holly trees I see are about 4 -6 inches in diameter. I do have one in my backyard that is probably about 10-12. If anything ever happens to it, I’ll have to make sure to salvage what I can. I never knew holly was even workable. Thanks!

yep, I was surprised to see Karson make a whole table out of it. I recall seeing the boards in his (or another) post. Must have been a champion tree!

Ironic that you can ebonize it so easily!

-- The opposite of war isn't peace. It's creation. -- Wood T's: http://www.printfection.com/snbcreative

Hi Gary;

Good post.

Holly has been being used for inlays for hundreds of years, and is the ideal wood for this purpose.

And it’s true that water borne finishes keep the color the whitest.

Nice job on the post.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Note to HOKIE MOJO…
I used to have a Holly tree in the back yard. That tree was about 20 ft tall and the trunk I suppose was 6-8 inches. ...we sold that house ..and this was just the beginning of my love of wood …I did not see the usefulness of Holly wood …If i had ..I would have chopped that *&^%$ tree down ….oh yes ..That tree made the biggest mess of those prickly leaves I have ever seen oh yes and if you dont get those leaves up and in the burn pile …(that was when we could burn such things ) ..and the leaves do not decompose within our lifetime …
Yes had i known that wood was so valuable and so pretty …I would have cut that tree down ….I hated it …

But that was long ago and now my consolation….Is in the Sawdust of my shop….. Oh wrong lyrics ..

-- Mike in Bonney Lake " If you are real real real good your whole life, You 'll be buried in a curly maple coffin when you die."

The Holly tree was cut down by the sawmill owner that I be-friended. We went into his back yard of the mill and he said pick a tree. The one I selected was about 18” in diameter and about 20’ tall to the many branches. So I’ve got some 2 X 8” about 10’ long and a lot of 1” stuff.

I put it in the loft of my workshop, and had fans blowing on it for 3 months. That was during the fall and winter. It was not heated so I had no splitting problems but I do have some blue stain streaking. It’s the same fungus that you sometimes see in pine. I’ve read that the best way to minimize the fungus is to cut the log down, cut it into wood and get it into the kiln the same day.

The top of the table has some of the blue stain visible. It is interesting that the 2” wood was placed on the stairs to the 2nd floor, the ends pointing up and it does not look like it has as much visable stain. I tried wood bleech and it made the stain lighter but didn’t make it white.

Thats why you don’t see much Holly around as lumber, because thats not the way that timber men work. About half of the trees in my yard are Holly, the biggest is about 12” in diam. But, a couple are about 30’ tall.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Kerson – I have heard that you want to cut it in the dead of winter and put into a kiln ASAP.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.