By: Don Woodward

Don Woodward — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 01:09:59 +0000

Nice article and picture on Holly. I have a hundred or so mature trees, and I do not create the bone white wood, but use as is. It is a beautiful wood, very colorful and marbled, especially in the stump. Very hard to tame down, as it likes to warp and crack, but well worth the effort. I find tiny (1″ to 6″) burls from time to time below ground, and use these in inlay work. I produce some striking spalted wood also. Thanks again, and Happy New Year!

By: Matt Furjanic

Matt Furjanic — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 12:40:16 +0000

Thank you for the credit on my picture! That is a portion of a dining table made for my daughter. The holly used in the pattern is called “Line and berry,” a popular pattern used in Pennsylvania around the beginning of the 19th century. Holly stringing very flexible, and readily bends to reasonably small radii. It can be easily coaxed to bend to an extremely small radius by applying heat.
A note on harvesting holly: It is a very white wood, but if not harvested in the coldest part of winter and immediately put into a kiln for drying, it will not remain white. Any sap left wet in the log will start to ferment and stain the wood to a gray, green, or blue cast. Perfectly white holly is scarce. Holly trees have tons of branches too, and therefore holly lumber tends to be very knotty. Clear runs of over a foot or two are hard to find.
The wood is rarely used for anything but accents and inlay material, as it is pretty uninteresting, having no grain pattern to speak of. As an inlay or marquetry material it is highly useful for the creamy-white color, it’s ability to take dyes, and workability. It also has a very tight grain and turns nicely. It is also a very stable wood, once thoroughly dry. I know of a woodworker that used holly for gears in a wooden clock.

Comments on: Christmas Wood and the “Poor Man’s Ebony”

By: Don Woodward

By: Matt Furjanic