Wild Olive

Wild Olive Box

I had a small piece of wild olive and was not sure what to make out of it. I wanted to test my bandsaw re-saw blade and my re-sawing skill ” never done it before”. I veneered the cut pieces on to a piece of MDF and level it out. The box is mainly 45 degree angles and is just glued together with a little bit of pressure. I sealed it with teak oil to keep the natural look but a after tough made me think it need a little bit more color to bring out the natural beauty of the wood. So I use a little amber shellac, don’t know witch one I like best now, the natural look or the film finish?

The wood was sitting in my shop for about six month and it was pretty dry. Olove is a very hads wood and is very srong even in a very thin board. It has a unique aroma that stays with the wood.

Discription:

Botanical name: Olea europea, sub-species africana

Family: Oleaceae

Local name: Olienhout

English name: Wild olive

Distribution: Widely spread in Africa, Arabia, India to China.

The tree: Evergreen, up-to 14 meters tall. Bark grey-brown and rough, grows in all sorts of habitat, especially woodland, stream banks and rocky hill slopes

The wood: Sapwood light brown and heartwood dark reddish brown to dark brown, attractive light black figure, strong, very hard and heavy (air-dry 1.1 t / m3). The wood darkens with age.

Seasoning: It dries quickly in small dimensions, slowly in large ones.

Workability: It works well on the lathe and with the chisel.

Use: A popular wood for turnery, carving, cabinet making and furniture.

Source: www.prosono.co.za