American Holly

[Wes Ramsey]

I turned a bowl last year from a holly stump. Still have a big chunk of it, but haven't gotten around to doing anything with it yet. The stump had more color than the trunk, but still pretty bland so I dyed it black and sanded back to pop the grain. Doesn't have any depth to it, but there's more figure than you'd imagine. The finish is Beall buffed homebrew Danish oil.

holly_stump.jpg
roughed holly bowl.jpg
finished holly bowl.jpg

[John Keeton]

Wes and Toby - both of your pieces are very nice. Toby was fortunate to get into some figure - rare for holly in my experience. Wes, the stump wood shows quite a bit of color and contrast. Looks like it may have benefited from a bunch of bark inclusions, and perhaps some early fungus growth, both of which gave it some nice character. These are clear exceptions to what holly typically looks like.

[Wes Ramsey]

Wes and Toby - both of your pieces are very nice. Toby was fortunate to get into some figure - rare for holly in my experience. Wes, the stump wood shows quite a bit of color and contrast. Looks like it may have benefited from a bunch of bark inclusions, and perhaps some early fungus growth, both of which gave it some nice character. These are clear exceptions to what holly typically looks like.

Correct. The holly stumps sat on the ground at my mom's house for about a year before I had the opportunity to take them home. They were not really punky, but there wasn't anything I could do for the tearout besides sand it off. I made a flap wheel to sand the inside as normal sanding wouldn't have taken it down far enough.

She also has a large crepe myrtle stump for me, but left it in the ground until I could come pull it out. Hopefully this summer...

[Peter Blair]

Thanks John. I am going back tomorrow for the 'stump'. I cut it into blanks today and waxes one end. Will do the other end tomorrow and then try to find a dry place under my deck where it is quite airy and sticker it as best I can. I sure got a lot of blanks but I didn't spend too much time culling the defects. I'm feeling that whatever checks will still make a nice warm fire when my wife and I are away in our or RV!

[John K Jordan]

Thanks John. I am going back tomorrow for the 'stump'. I cut it into blanks today and waxes one end. Will do the other end tomorrow and then try to find a dry place under my deck where it is quite airy and sticker it as best I can. I sure got a lot of blanks but I didn't spend too much time culling the defects. I'm feeling that whatever checks will still make a nice warm fire when my wife and I are away in our or RV!

Do you have any space indoors to put the blanks? I mostly keep mine on wire shelves. Indoors might help keep the power post beetles out of it.

JKJ

[Peter Blair]

John you are a terrific resource. Thanks for all the help and especially the other thread about prepping blanks. I don't have space inside unfortunately and will just have to keep my fingers crossed and hope I avoid PPB's.

[Richard Dooling]

Toby,

Could you please tell me what you used for the green dye on your bowls.

That some of the nicest green I've seen in a while. I always find green to be one of the more difficult colors to dye with successfully. I've had good results with red, yellow and orange but green and blue always seem dull.

[Toby Bouder]

Toby,

Could you please tell me what you used for the green dye on your bowls.

That some of the nicest green I've seen in a while. I always find green to be one of the more difficult colors to dye with successfully. I've had good results with red, yellow and orange but green and blue always seem dull.

Hi, Richard. I used transtint dye mixed with water and apply with a small brush. When I want green I usually put on a coat of yellow first, let that dry, and then put on light coats of blue (drying between) until I get the shade I want. Of course it's somewhat hard to judge because the finish makes it appear different than the pastel color of the dried dye. Hope this helps, it's always somewhat of a crap shoot.
Toby

[John K Jordan]

... I don't have space inside unfortunately and will just have to keep my fingers crossed and hope I avoid PPB's.

I'd have to check, but I think you can spray or brush on a treatment to prevent beetles from infesting the wood. (Borax based?) If PPBs are suspected to be already in the wood the recommended treatment is heat.

Good clean fun!

JKJ