Holly???

[john davey]

How does holly turn? I am cutting one out of my neighbors yard in the morning. How quickly does it split/crack. Meaning do I need to rough things out right away or do I have a little time with this wood? Thanks. John.

[Philip Duffy]

John, I have turned a ton of holly as it grows all over my area. It is tricky to cure in the white because of discolorations that take place unless the wood is kiln dried very immediately after cutting down the tree. Trees cut in the winter are somewhat easier to keep white. I have had a piece of green holly crack in half while I ate lunch! Seal it up at every chance if you turn it green. Get it in the kiln if you are looking for white planks. I still have about 8 planks of 6Q from my last tree. Good luck. Philip

[John Keeton]

John, holly is an excellent wood to turn. It takes detail wonderfully, finishes nicely, and makes a nice contrast wood for darker woods, such as walnut, etc. The biggest drawback is its tendency to develop blue stain while drying. I have never rough turned any as I usually cut it in to spindle stock for finials and pedestals, seal the ends, and pray it doesn't stain. In those situations, I have not had much problem with cracking, and have found it to be pretty stable.

Holly is hard to find and expensive if you buy it - save all of the tree you can!

[Robert Henrickson]

My experience has varied.

First time I got some, sealed the ends and got some staining. It was stored in an unheated free-standing garage.

Later, a holly tree was cut down in my subdivision. I got about the lower 15'-20', maybe 12"-14" in diameter. It was cut in the summer. I cut it all into rough billets 1"-2" thick, 3"-8" wide; I did cut some up to 4"x4". Length depended on the individual logs, but roughly 2 feet. All but small areas of bark were removed. I stacked the pieces in my basement, in the workshop area, with layers separated by small scrap lumber 1x1s, and just let it sit. Absolutely no use of sealer. Two years later, it is dry and no staining whatever. Almost no cracks either, even around knots.

PS -- I meant to note that all of the cutting into billets was done within 24-48 hours of the tree hitting the ground.

Two different trees, two different results. If I got more, I think I would go the cut and stack route.

[John Keeton]

And, my thanks to Bob Henrickson, the source of my holly!!! Thanks, Bob!

[Nate Davey]

Love holly, it's what I use for finials. Get the bark off as soon as possible as I've been told, and seen, that is what causes the staining. BTW, my uncle lives in Upper Marboro with the same last name!

[Brian Kent]

It is impossible to google "Holly Wood in Southern California" without being automatically corrected.

So… does this stuff grow in Southern California?

[John Keeton]

Brian, the American Holly tree is native to the eastern US, and its range is runs from east TX to the coast, and bounded on the north by the mountainous areas of KY and the states of VA and MD, generally, with a few outcroppings here and there.

[Nate Davey]

We had a lot of Holly up in Oregon, it's a fairly common landscape tree. Not sure if they do well that far south, being drier.

[robert baccus]

I've cut and turned a lot of holly. Nice wood, harder than walnut but being finegrained turns like wonderful. I do my usual and rough out then wax and have had few cracks. Stains out to look just like ebony. Brian, what did you do to be put in S.C. PS finally convinced holly to spalt and it is #1.

[Thom Sturgill]

I think Robert H. gave good advice. Wonderful wood for spindles and finials. BTW, I grew up in the 'old Hollywood' section of College Park, went to High School and did one year at the U of M before getting drafted for Viet Nam.

[Gary Sutton]

thom, Holly is good to turn. Looks like marble.

[john davey]

Thanks for the replies. It turns out the tree was smaller than I was hoping for. I never actually went over there and looked at it. I did take the lower 7 foot of the trunk which is about 8 inches in width. It is still in one piece and I will prepare some sort of blanks out of it if it ever stops raining here. It also had many branches so it will be interesting to see how knotty it is. I'll get something out of it but maybe not that much. Thom, I am in the hollywood section of CP myself. I am guessing it has changed quite a bit since you were there.

[robert baccus]

Holly cuts like white pear. Don't be afraid of some discoloration and spalt--unless you need white.