Yes, ring shake is pretty common in R. O.
Hello,
I have turned a small amount of Russian Olive, I like the color and grain. However all the stuff I have used had a terrible problem of ring shakes in it. I was turning it once at a comfortable speed and the whole thing flew into pieces
Is it common in Russian Olive, or did I just get a bad tree?
Thanks in advance,
Wyatt
Hi Wyatt!
I have gotten wood of Russian Olive from at least 6 different trees (all grown in or around Ames, Iowa) over the past few years and virtually every one had ring shake in at least some part of the wood. Other members of our turners group report this is their experience also. I would consider ring shake common in Russian Olive. Fortunately, I keep an eye on it while it's on the lathe, and have never had a break-apart episode (...yet???).
This summer, my neighbor across the street had a large Russian Olive taken down in their front yard that was about 2 feet in diameter at the trunk. They asked if I wanted the wood, and of course I said yes.....the tree service guys were thankful that they didn't have to load it, and my hand truck and chain saw got a great workout. I managed to get some excellent wood out of the tree, particularly at the trunk, which is not as susceptible to wind and ice build-up stresses as branches are (this is the likely main cause of wind shake; branches are worse than trunks, in my experience).
Russian olive has a fairly attractive figure with good earlywod/latewood contrast. I've probably sold about a dozen or so pieces turned out of it, and it finishes pretty well. It's not overly prone to tear-out, and it sands fairly easily. It's also fairly porous, so I use a 1-pound cut of blonde shellac as a sanding sealer before progressing to film finishes.
When the wood stays together, it makes an attractive piece! Good luck!
Rob Wallace
