Pre hollowed timber

[bodrighywood]

I have access to an old, long felled holly tree and quartered a big 15" piece today. Turned three of the pieces and found the wood was about as un-holly like as you can get. One piece in particular is ready hoolowed with a girt big lump missing from the middle. My original idea was for goblets but with the spalting and the natural hollows I think that is out and it will be a case of working with nature and seeing what comes out the other end.

[seventhdevil]

suits your rustic tendencies then...


not being funny but the rays on the quartersawn surface make it look remarkably like maple or sycamore, are you certain it's holly?

[edbanger]

Will be fun to see what comes off the lathe Pete

Ed

[bodrighywood]

I am told by the person that cut it down it was a holly tree. I wouldn't have thought it was one that was easily mistaken but am always open to other opinions Steve. The bark looks holly like to me. See what the rest loks like when I pick it up.

Hopefully somthing other than bits and pieces come off the lathe Ed, never know wuith wood like this.

Pete

[Les Symonds]

A few years back, when I first started turning and using this forum, I acquired a big batch of spalted holly from a tree that had been down for several years. Most of the wood was too rotten to use, but what was saved was amazing stuff. When wet it was black, red, purple and green, although the colours all faded as it dried. The most striking feature was the smell...it was foul! Even 30months later, when I turned my last piece, as soon as I cut into the blank, the smell returned and it generally took a month or two to wear off after I'd worked each piece.



Les

[fuzzyturns]

I think I am with Steve, this looks suspiciously like spalted sycamore to me. There are some sycamores that keep a quite smooth skin. The other option, which would also explain the smooth bark, is beech.
At any rate, these look like they have some very nice features.

[steve w]

i would go with Holly - i had a huge holly tree fall about 5 yrs ago and cut it all up for blanks - most have split even though i prepared them the best i could and kepth them cold but dry in a well vented area,  the bark is the same,

[GBF]

You would think the man that cut it down would know what it is but again the Forum Know all's think they know better.

Regards George

[bodrighywood]

Had a word with the man who cut it and his comment was "unless there is a variety of sycamore that has dark gree prickly leaves it's definitely holly" so I'll go along with his definition I think.

Pete

[Les Symonds]

Had a word with the man who cut it and his comment was "unless there is a variety of sycamore that has dark gree prickly leaves it's definitely holly" so I'll go along with his definition I think.

Pete

Tous chez!

Les

[Bryan Milham]

Golly does not keep well, be interesting to see what you magic out of these pieces.

[seventhdevil]

i should have said in the first comment that i do think it is holly as it has lots of old branch scars which are synonymous with holly trees as are the rotten voids, i was merely commenting on the fact that the rays visible in the quartersawn grain look bang on for quartersawn sycamore.