Myrtle Question

[Brian Novotny]

What is the difference between california bay laurel and oregon myrtle???? My parents owe my money and refuse to pay and I just keep looking at their bay laurel tree and all the burl it has on it....I'm not going to do it, but I keep thinking that if they don't pay me I'm going to take that tree:eek: Can burls be cut off of a tree without damaging the tree??? Sweet , sweet burl. looking at all that makes me salivate.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Your parents owe you money? Don't you have that backwards? :confused:

Just kidding..... Perhaps you could persuade them that the tree is OBVIOUSLY sick, burl is a disease, and it would do the tree some good in removing the burl or the entire tree. Plus, it would increase thier view.

Any tree, except for Albezia is worth turning. If it's related to Myrtle, it should be nice.

[Brian Novotny]

Your parents owe you money? Don't you have that backwards? :confused:

Just kidding..... Perhaps you could persuade them that the tree is OBVIOUSLY sick, burl is a disease, and it would do the tree some good in removing the burl or the entire tree. Plus, it would increase thier view.

Any tree, except for Albezia is worth turning. If it's related to Myrtle, it should be nice.

cal. bay laurel is myrtle , but different than oregon myrtle.

You from da big island brah? former pahoa punatic here. I guess once a punatic always a punatic. I miss da big island. It's so funny to here albezia.....I wouldn't turn ohea either, hardest wood if ever seen....plus spiritual tree. I've cleared sooooo many albezias I can imagine the rain mist falling on me. the spalting on albezia could fool any woodturner, and albezia is soo porous it's really a waste of mother nature. I tried turning it once and it crumbled..... albezias pau. We took out a 60 ft albezia with a 30" trunk with a 12" echo.....cant burn it, build with it, or give it away. I would really like that cheap koa sent out to da mainland via priority boxes......I know how cheap it is out there.....you can barely give it away. There's nothing like living in a rainforest on top of an active volcano......except the vog on a bad day. When I left I left my shoes and got on the airplane barefooted, guarenteeing that I'll be back one day.....probably to hilo or mt view/volcano.....some nice folks out there. You must've seen my Rabbit story.......If you are on da big island. I could make it worth your while to drive down close to da lava flow where most of my turning tools are....there would be alot in it for you.

As far as fooling my parents, they already caught me cutting a small burl off of the side of the tree and know what I'm up to.
aloha,
Brian

[Jarrod McGehee]

I've never been to Hawaii but I had 2 friends that went this summer and I asked them both to get me some nice koa but it never happened.

[Brian Novotny]

I've never been to Hawaii but I had 2 friends that went this summer and I asked them both to get me some nice koa but it never happened.

I think it only grows on the big island because it only starts growing at the 3000ft. level. We were getting logs 4 ft. long x 1' for $15 highly figured. It turns SOOOOO nice even if it's been overdried. I think the people to work with are some folks in mt. view I think at bigislandkoa.com There you can't give it away, but here I would say it's a very rare wood. I found some milled 4/4 boards recently of some low grade koa and they wanted $50 /b ft.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Brian, I'm originally from Kauai. Now residing on Oahu. I just thought I'd throw in that Albezia is a tree that is a total waste. Like you said, can't make anything out of it. Balsa would be better to turn.... Any other wood is wood that can be turned. Plus, it's an ugly tree. :)

[Brian Novotny]

I think anything it touches literally infects it. It was just funny to hear that name, when I asked you if you were FBI (from big island) I only said it because you said albezia, I didn't even look until later where you were from....just assumed hawaii because I have only seen it there. So many fine woods EVERYWHERE! It's wood heaven. If you ever make your way to the big island I have some lazy people that have most of my turning stufff and would be worth your effort to drive down towards the lava flow and pick the stuff up. Not a bad scene at all and there would be alot of tools in it for you. Just something to think about. Nice people, just too lazy to send it like promised.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I'll keep that in mind next visit there.

[Scott Hackler]

Ah you guys are making me sick for wanting to return to the islands. I was on Maui and Oahu last summer. 2nd trip and we are probally going back next summer. Boy do I love Hawaii. Speaking of which.. what does the Eucalyptus look like as a turned bowl?? The forrest smells like a Halls cough drop!

[Brian Novotny]

I'll keep that in mind next visit there.
many mahalos

[Brian Novotny]

Ah you guys are making me sick for wanting to return to the islands. I was on Maui and Oahu last summer. 2nd trip and we are probally going back next summer. Boy do I love Hawaii. Speaking of which.. what does the Eucalyptus look like as a turned bowl?? The forrest smells like a Halls cough drop!

The eucalyptus on the islands varies greatly from what we have in Cali. The rainbow eucalyptus is nice....as there are something like over 100 species of eucalyptus. thing only thing is it's alsmost guarenteed to check from the knots which I fill in with crused gemstones. It's a beautiful wood thats nice to turn with a nice orangish color. If you like to inlay your pieces, or start, its great. Wish I had the pictures of my many eucalyptus pieces, but their all down by the lava flow in hawaii. Check out the big island and rent a car. much to see as one side is a rainforest and the other side is a dessert. The hidden beaches on the kona side are breathtaking and the big island has MANY turning galleries to stroll thu. the pro golfer Jim Hass lives in mt view and is a carver and jimmy buffet has a place in volcano. the big island is very non touristy and with a car and a good guide book is a really fun adventure! For lodgingi in waikiki, go for the beachcomber as it's only $110 a night and right on the strip across the street from Dukes and waikiki bay and Diamond head......and jimmy buffets bar/restaraunt is in the hotel.....good times.

[Brian Novotny]

The eucalyptus on the islands varies greatly from what we have in Cali. The rainbow eucalyptus is nice....as there are something like over 100 species of eucalyptus. thing only thing is it's alsmost guarenteed to check from the knots which I fill in with crused gemstones. It's a beautiful wood thats nice to turn with a nice orangish color. If you like to inlay your pieces, or start, its great. Wish I had the pictures of my many eucalyptus pieces, but their all down by the lava flow in hawaii. Check out the big island and rent a car. much to see as one side is a rainforest and the other side is a dessert. The hidden beaches on the kona side are breathtaking and the big island has MANY turning galleries to stroll thu. the pro golfer Jim Hass lives in mt view and is a carver and jimmy buffet has a place in volcano. the big island is very non touristy and with a car and a good guide book is a really fun adventure! For lodgingi in waikiki, go for the beachcomber as it's only $110 a night and right on the strip across the street from Dukes and waikiki bay and Diamond head......and jimmy buffets bar/restaraunt is in the hotel.....good times.

Here is a eucalyptus bowl that I found on the net. It's much more brown that any eucalyptus I've worked with, but It just so happens that this guys fills in his cracks with gemstones too......you're ususally looking at a much more orangish wood.

http://www.lynneyamaguchi.com/Images/110eucalyptus_a.jpg

[Reed Gray]

The California Bay Laurel, and the Oregon Myrtle are the same tree, also some times called a pepper tree. It grows from about San Francisco to Brittish Columbia. I don't know why we call it Myrtle here as it is not a myrtle, or even related to the Myrtle that grows in the Holy Lands, or the stuff that grows on the East Coast. Marketing I guess, kind of like Brazillian Cherry/Jatoba.

robo hippy