U. californica<\/em> occurs in the Klamath, Siskiyou, and Coast Ranges from Douglas County, Oregon south to San Diego County, California, and on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada from Shasta County south to Kern County. It is found along drainages in the Central Valley, California. Umbellularia californica var. fresnensis<\/em> occurs in Fresno County, California.<\/p>\n Distribution of Oregon Myrtle<\/p><\/div>\n For the sake of simplicity and common understanding I will hereafter refer to Umbellularia californica<\/em> as Oregon Myrtle.<\/p>\n The color of the heartwood of Oregon Myrtle tends to be variable ranging from a light orangish brown to gray or olive, sometimes with darker streaks present. The sapwood is pale is in general is well defined.<\/p>\n Oregon Myrtle not infrequently features figured grain patters, including curly, mottled, and burl.<\/p>\n The grain of the Oregon Myrtle is highly variable and can be straight, wavy, or otherwise irregular.<\/p>\n Oregon Myrtle has a uniform texture with a low natural luster.<\/p>\n Oregon Myrtle is highly susceptible to fungal rot including heart rot which is common. Various decay causing fungi are known to inhabit even living trees.<\/p>\n Oregon Myrtle is also non-resistant to insect attack.<\/p>\n Oregon Myrtle is considered fairly easy to work with but in pieces with figured grain tearout, especially when planing or joining, can occur. Because it is hard and pale, Oregon Myrtle also has a tendency to burn during drilling and routing, so adjusting speeds and ensuring very cutters are wise maneuvers.<\/p>\n Oregon Myrtle is reported to have a strong and spicy odor when being worked.<\/p>\n Oregon Myrtle is an expensive wood that is not harvested commercially being rather the domain of small hobby mills and vendors in general. Per board-foot prices are among the highest for domestic hardwoods. Figured pieces and burls are very expensive.<\/p>\n In this blog, I almost always recommend several vendors with whom I have done considerable business and in whom I have great confidence. These vendors are: West Penn Hardwoods<\/a>, Bell Forest Products<\/a>, NCWood<\/a>, WoodTurningz<\/a>, Amazon Exotic Hardwoods<\/a>, Griffin Exotic Wood<\/a>, Exotic Woods USA<\/a>, Got Wood?<\/a>, and Wood Turning Blanks 4U<\/a>. Note: ALWAYS green turn wet blanks from NCWood as their wax will not hold for extended drying periods.<\/p>\n At this time none of these vendors are selling Oregon Myrtle. Most of the above vendors are based in the eastern United States and as Oregon Myrtle is strictly a west coast wood your best chance for success in buying Oregon Myrtle is through specialized or hobby dealers located in the west.<\/p>\n A simple internet search reveals multiple sources of Oregon Myrtle but I don’t have any existing experience of any of them except for Craft Supplies USA which sells a range of sizes under their Turners Choice label ranging in price from $1.35 to $27.95. Larger size bowl blanks are currently listed as out of stock until late May 2020.<\/p>\n Woodfinder is an excellent website that is dedicated to advertising wood dealers. In your search for Oregon Myrtle, this can be an invaluable resource provided you use multiple search terms to capture all the possible listings. I can’t speak to the quality of any of the listed dealers, but Woodfinder does have the advantage of allowing searches to be performed based on location which might allow an interested buyer to visit a listed wood dealer in person to hand pick pieces at a comfortable price.<\/p>\n A significant problem with using Woodfinder is that many vendors are listed for woods that, upon further investigation, they do not offer. I don’t know if perhaps once they did and they didn’t update their listings or if some vendors use a standardized list of woods that include most everything conceivable with the idea that once you land on their page you will find something you want to buy even if you didn’t know it beforehand. It happens to me all the time!<\/p>\n Oregon Myrtle finds a wide range of uses, most of them calling for fairly small sizes of material. These uses include: Veneer, cabinetry, fine furniture, musical instruments (guitar backs), interior trim, gunstocks, turned objects, and other small specialty items.<\/p>\n Oregon Myrtle is not listed as being endangered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II<\/a> nor does it appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. <\/a><\/p>\n To the best of my knowledge, Oregon Myrtle is not subject to any additional special restrictions by any United States government agency.<\/p>\n I realize that inherent in working with wood is the killing of a part of the natural world that may be slow to return and if I become deeply concerned about this fact, I will have to find a new hobby. I hope that such a time does not come to pass or at least not any time soon. In part because I am concerned about legally and responsibly obtained wood, I am reluctant to buy from sellers outside of well-established and known vendors. I am highly unlikely, for example, to purchase any wood from auction sites, such as Ebay, because of uncertain sourcing and documentation, as well as the potential, even likelihood, of material being misidentified in order to achieve a higher selling price.<\/p>\n However, due to the commercial scarcity of some woods, resorting to auction sites such as Ebay or Etsy may be the only way to obtain some desirable domestic, or in some cases exotic imported, species that are not routinely commercially harvested. The potential risks of buying in these marketplaces have to be balanced against the desire to work with a specific species of wood. That is inherently an individual decision.<\/p>\n I also realize that many, if not most, wood workers do not have endangered species lists memorized, therefore I think it worthwhile and important to do even a small amount of research before purchasing any lumber, domestic as well as imported, to be certain of the potential impact you are having, even in a small way, on threatened or endangered populations. This information is easy to come by and takes only minutes to locate through any Internet search engine, including those you can access on your phone as you are standing in the lumber yard or store. Unfortunately, you simply cannot count on a vendor to tell you a product they are selling is endangered.<\/p>\n In addition to the usual hazards posed by wood dust, it is important to note that Oregon Myrtle has been reported to be a skin irritant as well as a sensitizer although severe reactions are uncommon. As always, caution is essential until you are certain you are not sensitive to Oregon Myrtle.<\/p>\n It is important to remember that although many people may, or may not, be sensitive to any given wood, the only experience that truly counts is your own, so use reported side effects as guidance but not as a substitute for cautious and safe practices.<\/p>\n Appropriate protective equipment is therefore always recommended when working with this, or any other, wood, exotic or domestic, unless you have worked with the species before and are certain you are not sensitive to it.<\/p>\n Complete information about health hazards<\/a> associated with a wide variety of exotic hardwoods is available from The Wood Database<\/a>. Additional information about how to best use a dust collection system and personal protective equipment, such as respirators, can also be found through this excellent and comprehensive resource.<\/a><\/p>\n Fortunately, I experienced no negative side effects when working with Oregon Myrtle.<\/p>\n This is my first time turning Oregon Myrtle and thus far I am quite pleased. After working with soft woods that don’t cut cleanly it is so nice to work with a wood hard enough to cut super clean and that requires, therefore, little sanding. The olive green coloring with darker stripes is appealing. And Oregon Myrtle has been a dream to finish, easily taking an EVEN and high shine with little effort. I will be happy to work with Oregon Myrtle again in the future and I believe that I have at least one more piece in my ample wood stocks.<\/p>\n Oregon Myrtle Bowl<\/p><\/div>\n All cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool<\/a> system on my Robust American Beauty<\/a> lathe. Forward chucking was in a Nova Chuck,<\/a> while reverse chucking was done using a Nova Chuck with Cole Jaws<\/a>. Sanding was with Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks<\/a>. Final finish is Shellawax<\/a>.<\/p>\n As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever your wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is my first time turning Oregon Myrtle and thus far I am quite pleased. After working with soft woods that don\u2019t cut cleanly it is so nice to work with a wood hard enough to cut super clean and that requires, therefore, little sanding. The olive green coloring with darker stripes is appealing. And Oregon Myrtle has been a dream to finish, easily taking an EVEN and high shine with little effort. I will be happy to work with Oregon Myrtle again in the future and I believe that I have at least one more piece in my ample wood stocks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":2962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[135,128,136,137,129,138,139,130],"tags":[154,168,171,181,183,200,210,217,230,239,240,241],"yoast_head":"\nGeneral Characteristics:<\/h2>\n
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