Is this commonly available? I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. Where does it grow? Anyone here used it?
Thanks.

JP

On 4/28/2009 5:49 PM Jay Pique spake thus:

Is this commonly available? I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. Where does it grow? Anyone here used it?

Dunno where to find it, but I remember years ago from a previous life
when I was doing musical instrument repair that holly is used for
stringing and purfling around the edges of soundboards, etc., so it may
be available at places that stock wood for instruments. (These are
pretty thin pieces, so don't know if they'd be big enough for you.)


--
Save the Planet
Kill Yourself

- motto of the Church of Euthanasia (http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/)

In article , Jay Pique wrote:
Is this commonly available? I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. Where does it grow? Anyone here used it?

My friendly neighborhood hardwood dealer usually has it.
www.northwestlumberco.com
If you can't find it locally, I think they'll ship it to you.

Grows through most of North America, as far as I know, including in my back
yard.

I've never used it for anything but small turnings -- you'd better have sharp
tooling if you're going to turn holly.

"Jay Pique" wrote:

Is this commonly available?

Yes.

I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. Where does it grow? Anyone here used it?


A ship builder's favorite.

Biggest application is with teak to build a teak and holly sole
(floor) in a boat.

The holly strips are laid about 1/16-3/32 proud of the teak to provide
traction when sole is wet.

Typical spacing would be 3/8 holly, 1-5/8 teak.

There are some simple tricks that can make fabrication a more simple
task.

Lew

Jay Pique wrote:
Is this commonly available? I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. Where does it grow? Anyone here used it?
Thanks.

It grows all over the place but is rarely grown commercially. Small trees.
Very, very white wood. Only time I've ever seen it for sale was at
Woodcraft and it was expensive like ebony is expensive.

If you google "Holly lumber" you'll find some sources.

"Jay Pique" wrote in message
...
Is this commonly available? I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. Where does it grow? Anyone here used it?
Thanks.

If you have trouble finding holly, a nice piece of #1 hard maple would
probably do you just about as well.

Tom Dacon

I had a large holly cut off at 10' by the power company one year - this
was on the west coast in a redwood forest land. I went down with my
saw and got what was left. Got the rest as well later.

I turned the holly green - it was winter and almost dry as it was.

The grain was very beautiful - almost blond and tan - but stringy
in texture. I made a desk set for my wife and a pencil and clip holder
for myself. Turns nice. Holds form.

Have a small one in front of me on top of my desk - now 10 years later.

Martin

Jay Pique wrote:
Is this commonly available? I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. Where does it grow? Anyone here used it?
Thanks.

JP

"Jay Pique" wrote in message
...
Is this commonly available? I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. Where does it grow? Anyone here used it?
Thanks.

JP

The largest Holly Trees I have ever seen grow in south Maryland... along the
Chesapeake Bay.
Some were well over 40 feet tall with trunks big enough for making some saw
timber. That area used to have a lot of builders of wooden boats.

Axel

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article
, Jay
Pique wrote:
Is this commonly available? I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. Where does it grow? Anyone here used it?

My friendly neighborhood hardwood dealer usually has it.
www.northwestlumberco.com
If you can't find it locally, I think they'll ship it to you.

Grows through most of North America, as far as I know, including in my
back
yard.

Agreed, Holly gorows most every where in the U.S.


I've never used it for anything but small turnings -- you'd better have
sharp
tooling if you're going to turn holly.

Why do you say that? I have found it to be pretty soft relatively.
Marginally harder than Black Walnut which IMHO is pretty soft. I have never
had a problem Holly pen blanks.

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
Jay Pique wrote:
Is this commonly available? I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. Where does it grow? Anyone here used it?
Thanks.

It grows all over the place but is rarely grown commercially. Small
trees. Very, very white wood. Only time I've ever seen it for sale was at
Woodcraft and it was expensive like ebony is expensive.


Expensive but only about 1/2 the price of Ebony, at Woodcraft.

On Apr 28, 10:08*pm, "Lew Hodgett" wrote:

Biggest application is with teak to build a teak and holly sole
(floor) in a boat.

The holly strips are laid about 1/16-3/32 proud of the teak to provide
traction when sole is wet.

I've been around boats for 50 years, and I know I don't have nearly as
much experience as you, Lew, but I've never seen the holly raised. I
guess it would add some traction (if someone was barefoot), but it
presents more problems than benefits.

How do you clean in the corners between boards? There'd always be a
grit/grime/dirt there.

How do you refinish the floor? Hand scraping or sanding a floor is
bad enough, having to break out the fussy tools to do it is onerous.

The proud holly would take the brunt of the wear, and being the
lighter colored wood, it would wear more and show it sooner.

I did a quick Google to see if I could find any examples of a cabin
sole with the holly sitting proud and I couldn't find one. All of the
examples I found were flush, the materials suppliers (both bonded to
plywood and separate strips) sold only uniform thickness material.
All of the refinishing instructions showed flush floors - even the
"good" web sites like Practical Sailor.

So, where do you see the holly sitting proud? What type and era of
boats?

R

Leon wrote:
"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article
, Jay
Pique wrote:
Is this commonly available? I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. Where does it grow? Anyone here used it?
My friendly neighborhood hardwood dealer usually has it.
www.northwestlumberco.com
If you can't find it locally, I think they'll ship it to you.

Grows through most of North America, as far as I know, including in my
back
yard.

Agreed, Holly gorows most every where in the U.S.

I've never used it for anything but small turnings -- you'd better have
sharp
tooling if you're going to turn holly.

Why do you say that? I have found it to be pretty soft relatively.
Marginally harder than Black Walnut which IMHO is pretty soft. I have never
had a problem Holly pen blanks.

A comparison of various woods on the Janka hardness scale:
Yellow Poplar: 540
Honduras Mahogany: 800
Black Cherry: 950
Holly: 1020
Black Walnut: 1010
White Oak: 1360
Sugar Maple: 1450
Hickory: 1820
Persimmon: 2300
Mesquite: 2345
Ipe: 3680
Lignum Vitae: 4500

In article , "Leon" wrote:

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. ..

I've never used it for anything but small turnings -- you'd better have sharp
tooling if you're going to turn holly.

Why do you say that? I have found it to be pretty soft relatively.

Which is why you want the tooling to be very sharp. Turning soft woods with
dull tools creates a lot of tear-out; turning hard woods with dull tools
creates a lot of sawdust, but much less tear-out. Don't misunderstand me:
that's not a good thing either; turning tools should always be as sharp as
possible. I'm just saying that the consequences of *not* having them sharp are
worse with soft woods than with hard ones.

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article , "Leon"
wrote:

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
.. .

I've never used it for anything but small turnings -- you'd better have
sharp
tooling if you're going to turn holly.

Why do you say that? I have found it to be pretty soft relatively.

Which is why you want the tooling to be very sharp. Turning soft woods
with
dull tools creates a lot of tear-out; turning hard woods with dull tools
creates a lot of sawdust, but much less tear-out. Don't misunderstand me:
that's not a good thing either; turning tools should always be as sharp as
possible. I'm just saying that the consequences of *not* having them sharp
are
worse with soft woods than with hard ones.


Ok, thanks. I have not really turned enough yet that I have had any really
dull tools when turning. I'll know what to watch for if that becomes a
problem.

I do recall having a problem once with Palm and a mixture of oat meal flakes
and something else when turning pen blanks.

On Wed, 29 Apr 2009 01:21:33 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article , Jay Pique wrote:
Is this commonly available? I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. Where does it grow? Anyone here used it?

My friendly neighborhood hardwood dealer usually has it.
www.northwestlumberco.com
If you can't find it locally, I think they'll ship it to you.

Grows through most of North America, as far as I know, including in my back
yard.

I've never used it for anything but small turnings -- you'd better have sharp
tooling if you're going to turn holly.

And generally a six inch board would be a BIG peice of holly from what
I've seen.

I've never used it for anything but small turnings -- you'd better have
sharp
tooling if you're going to turn holly.

Why is that? Very hard? Sap filled? Not familiar with the type of wood
but always learning!
--


Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
01.908.542.0244
Automatic / Pneumatic Drills: http://www.AutoDrill.com
Multiple Spindle Drills: http://www.Multi-Drill.com
Flagship Site: http://www.Drill-N-Tap.com

V8013-R

"Joe AutoDrill" wrote in message
...
I've never used it for anything but small turnings -- you'd better have
sharp
tooling if you're going to turn holly.

Why is that? Very hard? Sap filled? Not familiar with the type of wood
but always learning!


HEY! PAY ATTENTION. LOL Holly is relatively soft, he told me that sharp
tools cause less tear out on the soft stuff.

"RicodJour" wrote:
................................................. ..
I've been around boats for 50 years, and I know I don't have nearly as
much experience as you, Lew, but I've never seen the holly raised.
................................................. ...

Frankly, neither have I, was relating a tale as told to me by an old
time wood boat builder about "woodies" before my time.

I wouldn't want to do either the installation or the maintenance of a
raised holly sole.

................................................. ...........................
So, where do you see the holly sitting proud?
................................................. ....

I don't.

................................................. ............
What type and era of
boats?
................................................. ........

Before my time.

Lew

R

In article , "Joe AutoDrill" wrote:
I've never used it for anything but small turnings -- you'd better have
sharp
tooling if you're going to turn holly.

Why is that? Very hard? Sap filled? Not familiar with the type of wood
but always learning!

See my response to Leon, upthread.

On Apr 29, 4:18*pm, wrote:
On Wed, 29 Apr 2009 01:21:33 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article , Jay Pique wrote:
Is this commonly available? *I'm looking for a board about 48" long to
rip into decorative strips. *I haven't called around to the local
dealers yet. *In thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen it
anywhere I've been. *Where does it grow? *Anyone here used it?

My friendly neighborhood hardwood dealer usually has it.
www.northwestlumberco.com
If you can't find it locally, I think they'll ship it to you.

Grows through most of North America, as far as I know, including in my back
yard.

I've never used it for anything but small turnings -- you'd better have sharp
tooling if you're going to turn holly.

And generally a six inch board would be a BIG peice of holly from what
I've seen.

Ilex Opaca, aka American Holly, is EXPENSIVE!!!

Perhaps a nice piece of maple will do the trick after all. Maybe I
could bleach it a bit, too.

Thanks for the replies.

JP

Why is that? Very hard? Sap filled? Not familiar with the type of wood
but always learning!

HEY! PAY ATTENTION. LOL Holly is relatively soft, he told me that sharp
tools cause less tear out on the soft stuff.

Sorry. Was scanning the messages. Ever since the spammers made it hard to
determine a legitimate post from a #$#$% post, I've scanned headers and
caught only the occasional internal content.
--


Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
01.908.542.0244
Automatic / Pneumatic Drills: http://www.AutoDrill.com
Multiple Spindle Drills: http://www.Multi-Drill.com
Flagship Site: http://www.Drill-N-Tap.com

V8013-R

"Joe AutoDrill" wrote in message
...
Why is that? Very hard? Sap filled? Not familiar with the type of
wood but always learning!

HEY! PAY ATTENTION. LOL Holly is relatively soft, he told me that sharp
tools cause less tear out on the soft stuff.

Sorry. Was scanning the messages. Ever since the spammers made it hard
to determine a legitimate post from a #$#$% post, I've scanned headers and
caught only the occasional internal content.


And I hope you realize that I was just yanking your chain. LOL

Why is that? Very hard? Sap filled? Not familiar with the type of
wood but always learning!

HEY! PAY ATTENTION. LOL Holly is relatively soft, he told me that
sharp tools cause less tear out on the soft stuff.

Sorry. Was scanning the messages. Ever since the spammers made it hard
to determine a legitimate post from a #$#$% post, I've scanned headers
and caught only the occasional internal content.

And I hope you realize that I was just yanking your chain. LOL

Oh man... Does this mean I have to recall the hit men? grin

Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
01.908.542.0244
Automatic / Pneumatic Drills: http://www.AutoDrill.com
Multiple Spindle Drills: http://www.Multi-Drill.com
Flagship Site: http://www.Drill-N-Tap.com

V8013-R