Awful blanks.

[Steve68]

I bought some Olive wood blanks off ebay a while back and decided I'd drill and glue a few to make some slimline pen and pencil sets. I found the blanks to be very, very light with absolutely no weight to them whatsoever. The 7mm drill bit almost fell through them.

The first blank I tried to turn split clean in half as soon as the gouge lightly touched it. It smacked me right in the face

So I discarded that one and went to the next.

This is how they were turning even with the lightest pass...




Then another one cracked open.....



It was like trying to turn driftwood.

So I drilled and glued one of the blanks I bought from Phil Dart.

Look at the difference.....



Needless to say I won't be buying any more blanks from that particular ebay seller.

 

[Vic Perrin]

You win some and lose some Steve

 

[flexi]

I had some Spalted beech go like that.....it's soooo frustrating, maybe that's why I stick to plastic

 

[Gadget-UK]

I cheat and stick all my spalted in the vacuum chamber with the cactus juice.
Never had them split after they go through that

 

[martin.pearson]

Were they Olive wood or Olive root ? I ask because the root wood is more like Bur wood in that it can have all sorts of splits, holes etc & can be very soft & easy to break.
I make most of my own blanks from offcuts of wood from other projects but I buy olive wood blanks, why ??? Well it started because one of my Granddaughters is called Olive lol
I buy both sorts even though the root wood gives me all sorts of problems, guess I am a glutten for punishment lol

 

[Steve68]

Were they Olive wood or Olive root ? I ask because the root wood is more like Bur wood in that it can have all sorts of splits, holes etc & can be very soft & easy to break.
I make most of my own blanks from offcuts of wood from other projects but I buy olive wood blanks, why ??? Well it started because one of my Granddaughters is called Olive lol
I buy both sorts even though the root wood gives me all sorts of problems, guess I am a glutten for punishment lol

It was sold as Olive wood. Waste of money more like

 

[Bammer]

Looks like spalted beech. You can turn it without stabalising. Very sharp tools and soak it with CA. It will turn.

 

[Vic Perrin]

I had some Bethlehem Olive once and I couldn't turn it It was too Holy

 

[Penpal]

The least like Olive wood I have ever seen. I love Olive Wood and if you ever get a log of it it is so heavy wet and takes a long time to dry then compact grain aqnd still weighty.. One of the most stable timbers to turn I have found. Over the years I used to dry it in the roof space with a fan running.

Peter.

 

[fortress]

That looked more like a Lemon Steven, Olivewood? I don’t think so, have you got photos of a before?.

 

[wm460]

What a bugger.

 

[martin.pearson]

I'm not very good with wood recognition plus the pictures aren't that clear so I didn't say anything but I didn't think it looked like Olive wood either, have you checked feedback to see if anyone has commented about any other blanks this seller has sold?

Olive wood also has a very distinctive smell you would notice that straight away

 

[Frederick]

I have had the same problem at times with wood I have found in the local wood. Loads of thin CA and very sharp tools. Worked for me but did take some time.

All the best and hope it works for you.

Cheers
Frederick

 

[Les ELm]

Saturate the square blank with Thin CA.
Knock the sharp corners off.
Continue soaking with Thin CA as you turn it to size.

Les

 

[Bucks]

I also recon that ain’t olive wood