Ilex opaca (American Holly)?

SpaceForRent

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I know it’s not a common wood for instruments, but has anyone used American Holly (Ilex opaca) before? If so, in what capacity? How would you describe the experience and the final outcome?

Here’s some info on its properties. Seems to have a number of interesting things going for it, but also some drawbacks.

https://www.wood-database.com/holly/

I’m noodling around with the idea of building an instrument (someday... probably not my first build, though) with woods native to my area - New England. Not necessarily sourced locally, but species that could have been. Sides, back, and neck have lots of good options. Sound board would probably have to be eastern white cedar. Maybe holly could serve for the finger board or headstock veneer. Not sure if larger pieces would bend well enough for sides or binding, but that pure white could be striking. Anyway, I guess I’m just doing some fact finding.
 
Google "Kevin Ryan The Lindisfarne guitar inlay by Larry Robinson"
That guitar is made from holly.

It is traditionally/usually used for binding, white purfling and inlay stuff, not back/sides.

Looking at the wood database stats, the dried weight and janka hardness indicates that is should sound good (the numbers are close to Koa). However the tangential (across the grain) and volumetric shrinking is higher then koa but no more than african ebony.

I have a stick of it but never bothered to tap it to see if it rings, but i will and get back to you.
 
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English holly is usually from small trees, so tends to be used only for binding. And it stains soon after cutting unless processed exactly right, so I read, which makes it expensive because there's a lot of waste.

Is American holly available in larger boards? If so, go for it!
 
Is American holly available in larger boards? If so, go for it!

It's available, but rare, and therefore expensive. Up in the northern latitudes, it often doesn't grow much bigger than a shrub. Where I am, it'll get to 30-40ft. In the Mid-Atlantic, it grows larger, and older specimens can have a 2ft trunk. But another problem is that holly has lots of branches and therefore lots of knots. You really have to find old growth for large, clear boards. And then there's the staining issue if not dried immediately after cutting.
 
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