1-Olive Wood

2022-11-08

1- Olive Wood
The olive wood, farmed form the trees of Olea europaea, is a hard and rich in color wood that is prized all around the world for its appearance, density, straight grain and fine texture. Originally found around the eastern coast of Mediterranean, Olive trees managed to spread outside of Europe, thanks not on the need for wood exploitation, but for the growth of its delicious olive fruit that demands very little upkeep and attention during seasonal growth. The most recent reports claim that olive tree is currently being commercially farmed for its fruit in over 20 countries, with 60% of all trees being located on the territory of European Union (with five leading countries being Spain, Italy, Turkey, Greece, and Syria).

Olive lumber is very strong, but it has a high sensitivity to outside elements and insect attacks. Because of this, it can most commonly be found only in indoor furniture and smaller wooden objects. Visually, olive wood is famous all around the world for its consistent texture, grain and a very distinct and fruity scent when being worked.

Since it has lower durability and resistance to elements and is not therefore used for mass production of flooring, paneling and structural construction, and has spread around the world where it is planted anywhere where it can grow in hot and dry environments, olive wood is currently not strongly exploited for lumber on the worldwide market.
This helped it to remain unlisted on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Olive wood is versatile and easy to work with, but even though it is hard and strong, it is not used for outdoors applications since it lacks the ability to survive in the open for long. It is very rarely available for purchase in lumber form factor.

However, it is excellent for indoor use, and therefore it can easily be found in these kinds of objects:
· Indoor furniture (especially high-end)
· Turned objects
· Veneer
· Various small specialty wood items
· High-end knife or tool handles
· Art objects
· Small decorative items
· Carvings
· Flooring and paneling (in rare cases)