Holly?

[kayaklogger]

hey guys, a lady just gave me a holly she wants removed. It's 18" diameter for the first 9 feet with all sorts of weird burls, and then splits into three 10 inch straight trunks that taper to nothing over about 15 feet.

I don't know the first thing about holly, I know it's hard and white and I'll use the bandmill to mill it. What I'm wondering, is how much of this is worth anything, what do I keep and what should I toss in the woodstove? Is there a market for holly? I don't do much with hardwoods, mostly just saw big softwood logs for my own uses.

 

[mtngun]

I've never worked with it (unless you count the hollies I chopped down with a hatchet when I was a kid) but here are some links. Looks like holly can be extremely valuable but may be challenging to dry without warping or discoloring.

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Why_Holly_is_Expensive_Wood.html

http://www.finefurnituremaker.com/published_articles/gw_holly_log.htm

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=80835

 

[BlueRider]

Holly is rather expensive when you can find it. it is often used as a substitute for ivory or in veneer work. to say that the grain is sublte is an understatement. It is often described as having no grain and it is this featutre and its whiteness that make it so valuable. I milled a 8" log some time ago and recently used up the last scraps by cutting out two pair of pistol grips for a guy.

The bigget problem with holly is it gets blue fungus stain very easily which will ruin its value. you will need to sticker it imidiately and use dry stickers. I have not tried standing it verticle but have thought I would do that if I ever get another holly log. If you are using a band mill I would sugest you mill anything over 6".

 

[Bryan Hosford]

holly

holly runs about $20 bdft if its a nice size - which yours is. but fungus and warping is why its hard to get good boards. you'll need to kiln dry it, and put alot of weight on the stickered boards(200-300) pounds while it dries.

 

[Backwood]

The one holly I sawed didnt come out as white as I wanted. I am thinking if it was sawed in winter instead of summer it would be easier to keep it white

 

[lmbeachy]

We have some real nice holly in Delaware. I have trees in my woods that are probably20 inches in dia. Anybody want to pay $15.00 a board ft. let me know. Lmbeachy