Holm oak

[Johnpl315]

Hi all, following my thread in the milling forum, I have some holm oak rings, can anyone advise me if it's worth leaving any large holm oak rings in case I find a market for turning?

I have no experience of turning, is it something you can do with unseasoned wood or does it need to be dried?

I am not expecting this to be a big earner as I am well aware this forum is full of tree people who come across such wood on a daily basis.

I would of said though that a large ring when split for firewood would fill a net bag so firewood value around £4 when seasoned

Thoughts?

[se7enthdevil]

what sort of size are they?

 

 

just leaving them in rings for months will turn them in to firewood as they will split and crack badly, if they are to be turned it needs to be done as soon as possible after the tree is felled.

 

my limited experience with holm oak say to me that it splits easily and shrinks a hell of a lot radially.

 

a bowl i turned with half a ring of it about 7" diameter was wet turned and sealed in pva and left to dry. it died very quickly and this was the only bit that didn't split but the radial shrinkage made the rim of the bowl look like the peak of a roof.

 

once i finish turned it though it was a very nice wood.

 

 

seal all the endgrain you can with thick pva or a couple of coats of paint from any old pot's you may have knocking about.

[Johnpl315]

Most of the pieces I have are about a foot long and a foot diameter.

I saw a photo of a bowl on a previous thread here, it looked fantastic and it's probably the reason I haven't started splitting this lot up yet!

[se7enthdevil]

this is the one i was referring to.

 

it finishes so smoothly...

[Johnpl315]

Yeah that is beautiful! Wish I could make stuff like that!

[se7enthdevil]

i'll teach you if you like.