My father is shortly to have a large (40 - 50 ft) Holm Oak cut down in his garden. As a novice woodturner, I have had been lucky enough to receive decent amounts of free wood from him as various trees have been cut down on his property in South Devon, England, mostly Ash and Sycamore. I have tried to find out about the suitability of the Holm for turning, but there is very little information. I know that there have been a few posts on this newsgroup, but I am looking for practical advice on storing and drying this species for future use. Any advice or help would be most appreciated. Regards, Pete.
For turnings, it's probably best to TDT (Turn,Dry,Turn) so you don't have as much wood involved to organize a split. Dries much faster, degrade is better controlled.
For the rest, might want to look at the good advice here under Lumber Drying.
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Yours will be similar to red oaks or "Live Oak," which means not much for timber, but should turn well enough.
Here is what Mark Baker has to say about it in his "Woodturning Projects" book Oak, Holm (Quercus ilex) Holm or Evergreen oak is a deep brown colour, often having black streaks in it. This is a pleasant wood to work with. It has an open grain structure, as do most oaks, but seasons and cuts well. The sap is a cream or buff colour, while the heartwood is a darker brown with the darker streaks. It is not usually commercially available, but is well worth keeping a look out for.
So it seems you have somthing worth keeping. I normally cut logs longer than the diameter by about 25%. If bigger than 8" in diameter I split them in half for bowls/hollow forms. Coat all cut ends with parafin wax or wax emulsion. Store VERTICAL on a slatted shelf until use. If you want to turn green then submerge the log in water until you are ready to turn it . Turn to rough size, coat all exterior surface with wax and store in a cool dry place in a paper bag or wrapped in newspaper. After about 3-6 months check moisture content and when dry turn to finish size.
There are all sorts of magic recipes on the internet for doing quick drying, but none that have been proven to work every time, so I would advise you to stay away from them. If you get into a similar regimen to what I have described this will allow you the luxury of having a near constant supply of wood ready to turn. A lot depends on how often and how much time you spend at the lathe.
I have also used the microwave to dry after rough turning. This works but you have to be careful with the "nuke" time. 1 min on high, allow to cool for 1/2 hour, repeat until dry, seems to work OK in my 30 year old Nuke machine. Hope this is all helpful Peter Visit my site at:
If you coat the whole log with wax, how does it ever dry? Also, drying speed is a function of wood diameter. Should this also include the sealer as a factor (eg. 1 month per inch with paint, 1.5 month per inch with wax....)? Thx
Actually Anchorseal or similar wax emulsion does not stop the wood from drying, ir retards the drying rate. In theory, and it appears in practice as well, a slower drying gradient implies less cracking and degrade. When sealing a log, I use Anchorseal on the ends where the endgrain loses water far faster than does the side grain. For a bowl I just coat the endgrain on the outside.
Thanks for the replies. I knew there would be people who could provide guidance.
I had looked in Mark Baker's book "Wood for Woodturners", but he doesn't mention this species in there for some reason. I hadn't thought ot look in his Projects book.
I am going to try both green and seasoned turning, so there is room for experimentation, but then that is always the best way to find out! The base of this tree is still a good 3 foot even though it has split at some time in the past, so there is going to be plenty of scope for different things.
Marvin The best bet in this part of Canada, I live in Nova Scotia, is to order direct from UCCoatings. They have a net order system and a toll free number. Plus they ship out of Ontario so no customs hassle. I think that a 5 gallon bucket (for me that's a lot) ships for $79. I get it within a week of ordering.
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