Olivewood Turning Blanks

Highly prized for it’s exceptional grain, Olivewood has become a favorite of woodturners. The heartwood is nutty brown, interlaced with fine veins of dark brown and greenish hues. The sapwood is a base of creamy yellow with similar striping. Olivewood is hard, heavy and fine textured. It turns and polishes beautifully. These turning blanks are available in an assortment of sizes for bowls, platters, carvings, bottle stoppers, chess pieces, tool handles, table legs, spindles, finials, candlesticks and whatever else your imagination can conjure up!

Due to high demand and limited supply, we cannot always guarantee that this item will be in stock. Turning Blanks come rough sawn to nominal thickness and are coated with wax. Botanical name: Olea europaea. Native to: Northern Africa, the Middle East and Southern Europe. Also grown in California, Florida and Arizona. Tree: Olive trees may grow to 25' tall, with trunk diameters of up to 12", and may live as long as 1500 years. Heartwood: Nutty brown with veins of rich green and dark brown. Acquires a rich patina with exposure to UV rays. Sapwood: Creamy golden color, interlaced with darker stripes. Texture: Fine, with closed pores. Working Characteristics: Routs and planes well with carbide cutters. Turns and carves beautifully. Sawing and drilling are somewhat difficult. Keep tools very sharp. Prebore when nailing and screwing. Movement: Unstable. Exhibits great movement with humidity changes. Odor: Emits a faint, sweet aroma when machined. Polish: Can be polished to an exceptional sheen. Strength: Very hard, heavy and strong.

Customer Reviews and Photos for: Olivewood Turning Blanks Average Rating: 4.8 (5 customer reviews) Add your review...

1) Submitted by David Mills, from Bolivar, TN on 3/4/2011 Customer Rating: I made a deer grunt call and it is a beautiful wood. The grain and finish are truely super.

2) Submitted by Charle E. Hess, from Henderson, KY. on 6/7/2009 Customer Rating: This is as fine a piece of Olive I've ever turned. Very well pleased with. Made some beautiful short-reed goose calls.

3) Submitted by John Horrocks, from Milford, CT on 2/18/2009 Customer Rating: The knife in the photo is not even the nicest knife I made out of this piece of olivewood, the nicest one sold immediately. This wood turns beautifully, it polishes nicely and smells like there is an air freshener in the room when you work it. The piece I recieved is very heavy making a nicely balanced oyster knife. I highly recommend this turning wood to anyone. (click to see full-size picture in new window)

4) Submitted by Randall Lewis, from Pikeville, TN on 12/25/2008 Customer Rating: I loved the olivewood. I made pens and they were great.

5) Submitted by Bert Atsma, from Hackettstown, NJ on 9/29/2008 Customer Rating: As you can see from the photo, the product description is pretty accurate: brown and creamy yellow with an interesting grain pattern. These items are from two different pieces purchased from Rockler. The first (the bottle stopper) was a little more dense and harder (you can see the grain is tighter). The second was just that little bit softer that made it easy to work with, but still plenty hard and durable. These are both sanded to 600 grit and then finished with tung oil, and 3 coats of clear shellac. Olivewood (click to see full-size picture in new window)