Holly does the splits

[Globetrotter.uk]

The Holly that I cut a week ago and has been in my living room drying has suffered from splitting, I had placed it between to straight pieces of wood and laid it on the floor. It's my first attempt at drying out holly for stick making, is this a common problem?

 

[Toddy]

Well, I find it to be. Best advice I've had yet is leave the skin on and to seal the ends with wax and set it aside someplace cool and dark. My uncle used to use peg on it to stabilise it for turning from the green.
Beautiful timber though when it does season

cheers,
Toddy

 

[ilan]

I would think the spring would be the worst time to cut wood for drying , even holly I would cut in winter and let it dry as said in a cool place bark on , and dont snett the side shoots off till required

 

[Mesquite]

One of the reasons why it split was you've got it indoors in a warm environment which dries it out too fast. It's much better to air dry things like that outdoors under shelter and seal the ends as Toddy has suggested.

So seal the ends and stick it in your garden shed for 2 or 3 months if not longer depending on the size. Try weighing it as well at the start and then every so often to see what difference there is. Then when you notice no change for a while it's got as dry as it can outdoors. You can then bring it in for a bit more drying.

 

[Globetrotter.uk]

Ok thanks for the info, I will be looking at seasoning some for stick making. But I am looking to make a stick soon for a present. I have noticed lots of people selling what is listed as season shanks. I need a shank to make a stick now. Please can anyone help me.

 

[hiraeth]

I cut some about three months ago, never used holly for sticks before so it never occured to me to seal the ends. Will be checking in the shed in the morning to see if they have split.

 

[Martyn]

The Holly that I cut a week ago and has been in my living room drying has suffered from splitting, I had placed it between to straight pieces of wood and laid it on the floor. It's my first attempt at drying out holly for stick making, is this a common problem?

Wrong time of year to cut it, the sap is rising on everything now and cutting wood now will have it splitting all over the place. Just last week my dad dropped a big sycamore tree. The crown was covered in fresh budding leaves and you could hear the freshly cut logs cracking from the pressure of the sap - the logs were splitting in front of our eyes. About 6 weeks earlier, he had a big silver birch blown down in gales and that was fine because the tree came down before the sap started to rise.