seasoning holly
- Thread starter EdS
- Start date
best thing to do is melt some candles in a pot , cut your wood a bit bigger than the intended use then dip the end grain into the wax a couple of times each end to seal it , this wont guarantee no splits but it slows down drying so there is less chance.
One of the pole lathe turners made me a beautiful spindle whorl from green holly. It was splitting before it even came free from the mandrill 
I took it home and soaked it in a bucket of water for a few days and then lifted it out, dried it with paper towels, and covered it in the teak oil stuff for the garden chairs. I left it sitting on the cool dark shelf where I store plant pots and I came across it six months later, neat and trim as anything I can still see where it split though. It's still better than the first Holly one I had that I just couldn't stop it splitting and eventually gave up on. My Uncle, 86 y.o. joiner, said Holly is better split into lengths and then waxed as Singeblister advised. He also said it takes 3 years to season properly for Holly up to 3" diameter.
It's a beautiful timber though, just a lot of bother.
cheers,
Toddy
I took it home and soaked it in a bucket of water for a few days and then lifted it out, dried it with paper towels, and covered it in the teak oil stuff for the garden chairs. I left it sitting on the cool dark shelf where I store plant pots and I came across it six months later, neat and trim as anything I can still see where it split though. It's still better than the first Holly one I had that I just couldn't stop it splitting and eventually gave up on. My Uncle, 86 y.o. joiner, said Holly is better split into lengths and then waxed as Singeblister advised. He also said it takes 3 years to season properly for Holly up to 3" diameter.It's a beautiful timber though, just a lot of bother.
cheers,
Toddy
In normal conditions, a good holly stick can take 3-7 years to properly season. So on average, 5 years - though I often get away with 3 years, due to temperature, thickness (density), original liquid content (due to time of cutting) and airflow when hung.
But my father, in his 80th year, recently took some hanging holly from his garage to inside his house to work on. Within days it had star shake!!
He hadn't weighed the pieces, monitored them, tested with a digital device ..... just relied on his instinct and experience. This time, that was sadly wrong! It happens :-(
Any dense wood like holly will take a lot longer than hazel etc to season. But getting it 'right' can be a problem! Out of the 60 or 70 sticks I have seasoning, around 10 are holly. There are over 400 varieties of holly and over 200 in the UK. I'm lucky to have certain trees where I know I can harvest superb holly sticks, for fantastic grain. My 'main' stick is beautiful....superb grain, though it was just a white stick when I removed the bark!
My tips: always cut longer than you want: cut all off-shoots about 2-3 inches from the main stem, not close to it: do not rush the seasoning process - it's a dense wood and will take a lot of time to season: if you moved an electrical item from very cold to hot you could easily cause condensation problems.....moving cut wood to a high-change environment can also prove difficult: just give it time & 'cook' slowly, LOL!
For more info of my own experiences please visit http://www.shootpics.co.uk/beating_sticks.html
Stickler
But my father, in his 80th year, recently took some hanging holly from his garage to inside his house to work on. Within days it had star shake!!
He hadn't weighed the pieces, monitored them, tested with a digital device ..... just relied on his instinct and experience. This time, that was sadly wrong! It happens :-(
Any dense wood like holly will take a lot longer than hazel etc to season. But getting it 'right' can be a problem! Out of the 60 or 70 sticks I have seasoning, around 10 are holly. There are over 400 varieties of holly and over 200 in the UK. I'm lucky to have certain trees where I know I can harvest superb holly sticks, for fantastic grain. My 'main' stick is beautiful....superb grain, though it was just a white stick when I removed the bark!
My tips: always cut longer than you want: cut all off-shoots about 2-3 inches from the main stem, not close to it: do not rush the seasoning process - it's a dense wood and will take a lot of time to season: if you moved an electrical item from very cold to hot you could easily cause condensation problems.....moving cut wood to a high-change environment can also prove difficult: just give it time & 'cook' slowly, LOL!
For more info of my own experiences please visit http://www.shootpics.co.uk/beating_sticks.html
Stickler
Last edited:
BTW, I have a number of sticks 'hanging' where I've left the off-shooting branches intact. It can be really interesting to see just how long the buds/leaves on those branches survive after cutting and hanging.
My recent ones still look very healthy....so are still drawing on the liquid content of the main stem.
Stickler
My recent ones still look very healthy....so are still drawing on the liquid content of the main stem.
Stickler
