Hi all,
I was attempting to order Olive Wood from Israel and it fell through. After a month of trying to get the wood, I gave up.
Now I’m in a pinch. I’m looking for Olive Wood planks between 12-16″L x 4-6″W with a 1/4″ thickness.
Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks,
Chris
Replies
Hi Chris,
how about egypt ? Here´s the mail adress of a german who is dealing and working with olive wood.
[email protected]
:-), have fun with the wood :-)
What country are you in, Chris? You can put your location in your profile.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Chris,
I can't help you with getting the wood, but 2 footnotes from Israel:
1. It is illegal to cut down olive trees in Israel, except under very unusual circumstances. You can therefore see that there won't be much on the market.
2. What can be found by private means is invariably filled with stones and iron. This stems from the fact that the tree grows with large gaps in the trunk, and locals fill those gaps with whatever comes to hand in order to keep snakes and other critters from using them. The tree grows around the stones as time goes on. But no sawmill will touch an olive log even if they have the chance.
regards from the holy land,
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
"This stems from the fact that the tree grows with large gaps in the trunk, and locals fill those gaps with whatever comes to hand in order to keep snakes and other critters from using them."
What? Why do they do this?
Rob
Rob,I don't really understand it - I think the gaps are beautiful. The trunk of a 200-300 year old olive can have hollows that a child can climb into and hide. But animals do too, and vipers are known to climb trees. It has become a widespread custom here to pick up stones from the orchard and use them to fill the gaps in the tree trunks.regardsDavid Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
Thank you,The group uses trimmings and the web site states they do not cut down the trees.They are beautiful trees and it's absolutely amazing how the trees form gaps in the trunks and are as healthy as ever. The wood is just as beautiful.-Chris
Hello Chris, I have bought severial boards from Israel from two different sources. Here is one that I have bought from the most:
http://www.bethlehemolivewood.net/
The second on is on ebay, the seller is holyland_products. I have had better luck with the http://www.bethlehemolivewood.net/ for olive wood slabs and turning blanks. The http://www.bethlehemolivewood.net/ does stock some wood in Texas, but large orders are sent from Israel. But allow severial weeks for it to ship if it comes from Israel.
How many boards are you looking for? If you buy more that 10 you get two free.
Good Luck
Mike
Hello,I actually was trying to order from Bethlehem Olive Wood but they've been unable to complete the order. The order was made on Nov 8, and I understand the logistics involved. I should say they are extremely responsive and I will order from in the future. I'm located in Virginia and I may have found a mill in Maryland that can provide the Olive Wood. It's called Exotic Lumber (http://www.exoticlumberinc.com/). I'll see if they can get me the wood since they are the next state over.Thanks all,
Chris
Chris,
You might try contacting this group to see if they can steer you to a source. I don't know where you are (profile not filled in).
There are many thousands of acres of olive groves in California. I drive through northern Cal and Redding/Red Bluff areas along I-5 are full of these groves. I would imagine that as trees become damaged or quit producing as needed that they are removed and replaced. As done in many fruit orchards I would guess they cut it and sell for firewood or just burn it in place in the fields.
Just a thought.
bum
http://www.olivecouncil.com/
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...
Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home.
...aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
Edited 12/15/2007 1:01 am by oldbeachbum
Thanks,I'm reading up on the council right now.
-Chris
Try these guys:
http://www.northwestlumberco.com/
I'm in indiana and I've been to their showroom- they some olivewood at the time, turning blanks I think. It's not listed on their price list, so I would just call them. They are a very friendly family owned business.
For an olive tree to be productive they generally are >20 years old. I have seen olive trees that were probably around when Christ walked the earth. Generally these are gnarled, twisted and full of voids and holes.
In mediteranean countries where there is very little meat, most of the fat in the diet comes from olive oil. The thought of cutting down an olive tree tree to a sicilian like me is completely anathema.
Frank
Olive oil replaced acholol in my diet years ago. I use it on pasta, salads and poured directly on a baked potato as a substitute for butter. I eat two baked potatoes w/skin a day.
Beautiful wood and nice by-products of Omega 6 oils. :>)
Sarge..
If I had the time, I would contact my wife's second cousins in Cosenza who own an Olive Orchard for some trimmings, but alas, my Italian is terrible and time is short.
In the old days, people would burn the trimmings in the house in little braziers for heat. The oil i the wood makes a hot fire.
Frank
13650 TI Blvd, Suite 101
Dallas, TX 75243
Thanks all for the information and suggestions. The Exotic Lumber group out of Gaithersburg, MD came through (http://www.exoticlumberinc.com). The wood is of African origin, but it will work nicely.
I'm going to follow up with Bethlehem Olive Wood and order some from them still as it's cool to make some Christmas gifts from Olive Wood from the town Christ was born.
Thanks all, now I just need to build my gift before Christmas!
-Chris
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