Can You Make Furniture from Olive Wood? The Truth About This Luxury Wood

If you have ever wanted to make or even purchase olive wood furniture, I’m here to show you which furniture can be made from olive wood, how quality it is, and, of course, whether olive wood furniture is expensive.

Is Olive Wood Good For Making Furniture?

It’s impossible to make everything from olive wood, and that’s why I’m writing this section.

Olive wood is hardwood, which makes it a perfect choice when making furniture. It has a Janka Hardness Rating of 2690. When compared to Oak (most used in the furniture industry), olive wood is more than double as hard.

Also, olive wood is easy to work with because it’s easy to turn and carve despite its hardness. You can carve it with hand tools pretty easily. It also can be glued and finished well, which is fantastic.

Let’s see some disadvantages now. The biggest problem with olive wood is that it’s hard to get lumber from it. It takes years for olive trees to fully grow, and even then, the trunk is very curvy, so it’s impossible to make high-quality and straight lumbers, which are important for making larger pieces of furniture.

Olive wood should also be dried slowly because it could wrap if you dry it forcibly. Another disadvantage of olive wood is that it can’t survive for too long in the open. That’s the reason you should only make indoor furniture from olive wood.

Because of its own oils inside, olive wood may be resistant to water-based finishes. That’s why many people seal the wood with a shellac wash coat, which is compatible with olive wood. Another thing, many olive trees will have gaps in trunks, which isn’t a good thing when it comes to industrial furniture.

So, even though olive wood has some great properties (check them here), it’s not suitable for most furniture manufacturers.

Types of Furniture Made From Olive Wood

Because of all of the above, not many types of furniture are made from olive wood. Yet, some of them may be very interesting to you, so you can buy them or even make them if you’re a woodworker.

As you can see, not many types of furniture are produced from olive wood. Again, the reason lies in its size and availability. All of this furniture will be high-end and will cost you much more than furniture made from oak, for example.

Larger pieces of olive wood furniture can be made by gluing slabs and planks. That way, you won’t have problems producing larger furniture such as dining tables. But again, not many people make that.

Olive woods are usually twisted and curvy, which makes them a fantastic choice for making epoxy tables. That way, you can show all the olive wood beauty, while still making the table extremely durable and staunch.

Olive Wood Epoxy Tables – A Stunning Alternative

Because olive wood comes in small, curvy pieces, making large furniture can be tricky. But there’s a way to work around that – epoxy tables.

These tables combine olive wood slabs with epoxy resin, creating stunning “river tables” or solid surfaces with a unique mix of natural wood and glossy, colorful epoxy. The gaps, cracks, and irregular shapes of olive wood actually make it perfect for this technique.

Woodworkers often use clear or tinted epoxy to fill in the spaces, making the table strong, durable, and completely unique. This method also allows you to create larger dining tables or coffee tables that wouldn’t be possible with olive wood alone.

If you love modern but natural furniture, olive wood epoxy tables are a fantastic choice. They highlight the beautiful grain of olive wood while adding a sleek, artistic touch.

Of course, like all olive wood furniture, they’re pricey – these tables easily sell for €5,000 or more, even here in Croatia. In more expensive countries, prices can go much higher. But if you want a one-of-a-kind statement piece, they’re worth every cent.

Why Is Olive Wood Furniture Expensive?

Olive wood is extremely expensive because of the wood’s availability, price, and size. Also, people working with olive wood mostly make only high-end furniture, and that’s one of the reasons, too.

The availability of olive wood is very limited, and that’s mostly because people use it for olive fruit production, and it’s not worth selling the wood. Also, in some countries, it’s even prohibited by law to cut olive trees (for wood).

All that makes olive wood lumber, slabs, and slats hard and expensive to get. For instance, lumber prices start at $26 per board foot but can easily cost more than $100. That’s what makes olive wood furniture extremely expensive. Much more than furniture made from some other types of wood.

How To Care For Olive Wood Furniture

If you already have some olive wood furniture or are planning to buy it, I want to share a few tips and tricks on caring for olive wood furniture. That way, the furniture will last for years.

Don’t use products such as Pronto for cleaning and maintaining olivewood furniture. That’ll make it greasy, it’ll change the appearance of furniture, and also may „kill“ the olive wood’s natural smell.

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