California Pepper

[Norm Zax]

Gotta start using that alcohol. I posted this semi finished bowl just to show a wood type I havent seen mentioned much on the creek and to boost the moral of anyone loosing a bowl to distortion. It came form a 13 inch trunk I cut down for a neighbor 3 months ago. Drank 3 dishings of mineral oil and still thirsty. Maybe it'll go back for finishing, maybe not. Lets just call it "rustic" for now. :o

[Steve Schlumpf]

Norm - that is some interesting wood! Really like the grain! Yup - looks like it has a positive warp factor and will have to be considered a 'rustic' piece! Actually looks pretty cool and there are lots of folks out there that love this kind of bowl!

Also - really like the composition of your first photo!

[Brian Brown]

Norm,

That is some really nice looking wood. Not every bowl has to be perfectly round, and the warpng can be a real nice feature. About the DNA bath... I don't think it will help you in the warping department very much by itself. DNA is used mostly to speed up the drying process. The woods will still warp when they dry. The real trick is to control the drying so that it is evened out over the entire depth of the wood. Search this forum, and you'll find lots of information on drying to minimize cracking. Even if you dry your wood in the most controlled manner, you will still get warping. If you insist on "un-warped perfectly round bowls" you need to rough cut the bowls to a wall thickness of approximately 10% (varies a bit with wood species) of the bowl diameter, and then dry the wood completely before finish turning. A forum search will also bring up an enormous amount of information on this subject. I'm impatient and want that instant gratification thing, so sometimes I cut the finished bowl too early. Warp city every time. Now I know why people rough cut so many bowls and have them sitting on a shelf waiting. Good luck and happy rounding.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking wood and the bowl is a beauty. I like the rustic look of it. Brian hit the nail on the head in that if you use the DNA process you need to leave the walls at least 10%. On bowls I do 10" or larger I leave them 1" to 1 1/4" thick till dry and then return the to the lathe to finish.

[Curt Fuller]

Norm, that's some really great looking wood! And although you might have lost the bowl to distortion, you gained a piece of art for it. I personally love warped, twisted, and otherwise distorted wood. It has character!

[curtis rosche]

ive never heard of pepper before, how does it turn? any smell to it?

[Reed Gray]

No, no, no, not 'Rustic' call it 'Organic'. Much better selling point. I am curious as to what the Pepper tree is as well. I know that some times Myrtle is called a pepper tree, but that doesn't really look like Myrtle (aka California Bay Laurel).
robo hippy

[Norm Zax]

Like many things called “California,” California pepper trees aren’t. Schinus molle comes from the inter-Andean valleys of Peru. The tree, a broadleafed evergreen, is distributed all over the world now, used as a landscape and street tree in arid and semiarid areas. Those broad leaves aren’t so broad in appearance; they just aren’t quite conifer needles, but finely divided compound leaves like soft miniature palm fronds. The “peppers” are clusters of pink to red berries that persist long enough to be a decorative asset, and are small enough not to be too much of a mess when they do fall. From: http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2005-02-22/article/20801?headline=Pepper-Trees-Graceful-and-Tough-By-RON-SULLIVAN-
Image, here: http://lh3.ggpht.com/_KvSZWY_fJcY/RurzzxHZnuI/AAAAAAAAASE/ZCu1WEJ2JYs/100_0386.jpg
No particular odor, grows like grass (the trunk I sliced is growing limbs all over. I remove them every 4 months as the delicate leaves cover my porch regularly).

[Barry Stratton]

I like the distorted look. Neat wood too!!