While olive trees are praised around the world for their fruit, their lumber has also managed to capture the attention of the worldwide woodworking community, who has found great uses for this hard, heavy, dense, and very strong type of wood.
What is so special about olive wood?
Many first-time olive wood consumers buy it for its rich blend of caramel tones rippled with dark brown grain, but it is more than it looks. Olive wood is an incredibly dense hardwood that makes it less susceptible to stains, odors, and bacteria. It can be used as cutting boards, dishes, and other common food utensils.
Is olive wood a good wood?
Durability: Olivewood is moderately durable and is susceptible to termite but somewhat resistant to fungi. Uses: It has been used since ancient times for small woodenware objects, spoons, bowls, boxes, carvings, turnings, inlays, small decorative items and it also makes excellent, but very expensive flooring.
Is olive wood safe to burn?
Olive wood is a great hardwood, it burns much like pecan or oak. It has a large flame and is clean burning with very little ash and is easy to light. It is also excellent firewood for your fireplace or outside firepit.
Does olive wood last?
It is an extremely hard, dense wood making it more stain and odor resistant than most – an important characteristic in a hard-working kitchen tool. With proper care and maintenance, your olive wood will last a long time.
How long does olive wood take to season?
Usually the alcohol treatment will dry the rough turned object within 2 weeks which is great, and then you can remount the piece and do the final turning and sanding and finishing.
What can I do with olive wood?
Most commonly, olive wood is used to make small furniture, bowls, cutting boards, eating utensils, boxes, carvings, and other pieces of decorative adornments.
Is olive wood valuable?
The supply of olive wood is rather limited because the main source is pruned branches and trimmings. Every few hundreds or more years, when an olive tree finishes fruiting, the whole tree can be cut down for timber. Olive wood is a rare (and, thus, expensive) material.
Is olive wood rare?
Because the fruit of the Olive tree is olives, there is a limited supply of Olivewood that is made available to the US.
Is olive wood water resistant?
The natural oils in olive wood make it water-resistant. Add to that the coat of finishing oils and waxes that usually cover store-bought olive wood products, and it is even more water-resistant.
Which wood should you not burn?
Don’t burn treated, painted, or sealed wood in your fireplace. Treated/painted/sealed wood will release chemicals during burning, many of which are cancer-causing chemicals. Don’t burn green/wet wood in your fireplace.
What wood is toxic burning?
Watch out for any wood covered with vines. Burning poison ivy, poison sumac, poison oak, or pretty much anything else with “poison” in the name releases the irritant oil urushiol into the smoke. Breathing it in can cause lung irritation and severe allergic respiratory problems, the Centers for Disease Control state.
What is considered high quality wood?
Common woods like Black Walnut (1,010 rating) or White Oak (1,360 rating) are naturally prime candidates as sturdy, high quality materials, while softer woods like white pine (420 rating) or Poplar (540 rating) are susceptible to nicks and scratches as soon as the wood is put to the test.
Is olive wood antibacterial?
It’s naturally antibacterial! This is great news when it comes to cleaning olive wood utensils. In fact, gentle cleaning is the name of the game. First, a few don’ts: never soak your olive wood utensils in water, as this can lead to swelling of the wood and will result in cracks in the grain over time.
Why olive tree is expensive?
The species is also considered special as the trees have a long lifespan, with some living for over 1,000 years. The bigger the tree in length and width, the higher the price.
What oil should I use on olive wood?
Mineral Oil
Mineral Oil is the perfect oil to use to care for your olive wood products. Mineral Oil protects and nourishes the wood, preventing it from drying or cracking and prevents the spread of bacteria.
How do you seal olive wood?
Mineral oil is a safe product that is easily absorbed and doesn’t leave the utensil feeling greasy. Place a small amount of the oil on a soft cloth, rub the oil over the entire utensil and allow it to soak into the wood. After the wood has dried, apply a second coat of oil.
Can you burn olive tree branches?
Olive tree branches burning is a common agricultural waste management practice after the annual pruning of olive trees from November to February.
How do you dry olive wood?
Hand-drying rather than allowing olive wood to air dry will keep the wood from swelling or warping over time. Never put olive wood kitchenware in the dishwasher.
Does olive wood need to be oiled?
The oiling of your Olive Wood kitchenware is dependent on the frequency of use. The rate at which you use them will determine how often you need to oil them. If they are used frequently, you have to oil once a week, but if you seldom use them, oiling once in two months is allowed.
Can olive wood be used for smoking?
It’s great by itself, but works well blended with apple, cherry or hickory woods. Oak works well just just about any meat. Olive wood has a similar flavor to mesquite, but it’s a lighter flavor. Olive smoking wood tastes best with poultry.