In Search of Olive wood

Good luck finding any. If you do let me know.

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

If you can’t find plankage (pen blanks of olive wood are widely available), try Googling Castello wood, which is a wood species closely related to olive – it smells really great when being sawn.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Olive is kinda rare isn’t it? I read that the ancient Romans had a law requireing a death sentence to anyone who cut down an olive tree. Interesting history anyhow.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

That’s part of the problem Dadoo. Most of the trees are just trimmed, therefore the only thing largely available is blanks for pen turning. Every so often you will find a olive log on the web, but you’ve got to buy it as soon as you see it or it’s gone. Here’s a quote from one of the sites I found:

“Also called Mediteranean olive, European olive, Spanish olive, etc, depending on the local of origin, this is a very attractive and expensive wood used primarily for ornamental items because the small size of the tree limits production and also because in Italy and Greece, if you threaten the source of olive oil with a chainsaw, several large men will come and hurt you. “

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

I’ve seen some fairly large chunks on eBay. Nothing dimensional…..you’d have to resaw it. Also VERY expensive.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Hearne Hardwoods has a large piece advertised on there internet store. They have a couple of Flitches of olive as well.

-- Che.

Thanks, Che. Those are the best ones I’ve seen yet. I’ve got a few inquiries out to some other companies, but the prices all look about the same. I’ve just about decided that I’m going to have to cut what I need out of a slab.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

tmuli,

I would like to point out that however rare it is to find an Olivewood plank, and however expensive it is (and it is…) – it still does not guarantee that you’ll get a piece of wood that is fit for building a cabinet or desk.
Olive is so checked and cracks so easily (not to mention voids and knots and rock inclusions) that is hard for me to believe that you would get much usable wood out of it.
So take care and don’t spend a lot of money on a piece of wood that won’t do you any good. even that entry at Hearne Hardwoods that lists the Olivewood plank goes to say and I quote “Great piece of wood for a bar top” but I suggest that they should have added ”, and not much more…” take a good look at the picture and ask them for some more before you buy, though I have to say it does look magnificient.

-- I just talk a lot.... Moshe Eshel, Israel, http://www.nagaroot.com

Thanks for the info, Moshe. I’m only building a shadow box, so if I buy a decent size piece, I should be able to get the pieces out of it that I need. From what I’ve learned in the last couple of days about olive wood, it’s the Mesquite of the Mediteranean. We have the same problems with it. Usually, if you make a very large piece of furniture from mesquite, there is a lot of epoxy in it.
Shalom.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

I just checked my favorite hardwood source, and they do not have any.

-- Maplewood, MN

Try this link for olive wood planks.
Hope this might help!
I’m not good at this so hope it works~
Click here: BOW Product 5 okie didn’t seem to work.
Try this -
http://www.bethlehemolivewood.net/Olive_Slabs.htm

-- CaptnA - "When someone hurts you, write it in the sand so the winds of forgiveness will scatter the memory... "

Thanks, everyone for the input. I think that Hearne Hardwoods has the best selection for pieces of any size.
Thanks CaptnA. I put the Bow product 5 in Google and found it.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

Try the following link. Take an hour and visit all parts of this site. It’s a wood education in itself.

http://www.gilmerwood.com/index.html

-- Earle Wright, Lenoir City, Tennessee

If you contact http://www.bethlehemolivewood.net, I’ve been told they will see about getting the size you need within limits mentioned above.

The only thing that I purchased from them were pen blanks, beautiful and smell wonderful when turning or cutting.

-- "Big" John