# California Pepper Tree stoppers



## barry richardson (Oct 10, 2014)

Here-to-fore referred to as CPT. Made some stoppers for a local Olive Oil store, they seem to sell pretty good there. I've noticed Olive Oil stores seem to be a new trendy thing, if you sell stoppers, you might want to look for one in your area. Anyhow, wanted to show what some CPT looked like turned. The wood varries a lot, depending on the spalting. The natural color is kinda pink, but as it dries, areas of the wood darkens. Very hard to dry, so far bottle stopper and pen blanks are as big as I can get out of it... and a few call size...

Reactions: Like 7 | EyeCandy! 6


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## Kevin (Oct 10, 2014)

Very nice.


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## manbuckwal (Oct 10, 2014)

Handsome looking ! Very nice color variation


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## ironman123 (Oct 10, 2014)

Looking good Barry.


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## Mike Jones (Oct 10, 2014)

One of my all-time favorite turning woods! Also called myrtle. California bay laurel, California Bay, etc., and there is some interesting history about this tree should you be interested.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbellularia

It can look a lot like olive wood, so it's no wonder that you would find a market for it there, and you are doing a beautiful job with those stoppers.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Norm192 (Oct 10, 2014)

Nice job! None of that growing in North Cakalaki


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## DKMD (Oct 10, 2014)

Nice work, Barry!

Mike, I thought this stuff was different from myrtle... I was thinking Barry has been turning 
_Schinus molle. 
_

Reactions: Agree 1


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## barry richardson (Oct 10, 2014)

DKMD said:


> Nice work, Barry!
> 
> Mike, I thought this stuff was different from myrtle... I was thinking Barry has been turning
> _Schinus molle. _


That's what I think it is too.... and now I'm thinking at least some of it that I have gathered might be Vitex, or Chaste tree, known locally as pepper tree, or monks pepper. Back in the day, it was thought that the seeds had an effect like salt- peter. It's gotta be true, I read it on the internet

Reactions: Funny 3


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## DKMD (Oct 10, 2014)

barry richardson said:


> That's what I think it is too.... and now I'm thinking at least some of it that I have gathered might be Vitex, or Chaste tree, known locally as pepper tree, or monks pepper. Back in the day, it was thought that the seeds had an effect like salt- peter. It's gotta be true, I read it on the internet



Did you have trouble with your stopper after turning these?

Reactions: Funny 4


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## Blueglass (Oct 11, 2014)

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schinus_terebinthifolius
I thought it was this which we have in FL. I have a friend saving some nice crotch sections he has been cutting back. I will anchor seal the whole things after what I've seen about drying the Cali Pepper.


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## manbuckwal (Oct 11, 2014)

My BIL brought this to me a while back . He thought it might be CPT? It does have a nice lil burl on it that should yield a few stoppers .

Reactions: Like 3


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## barry richardson (Oct 11, 2014)

That might be the real stuff, like what Mike Jones was referring to, I'm thinking what I have is different, something maybe they call pepper tree locally but not actually CPT. I didn't see the actual trees my wood came from, just chunks that I was told was CPT.... as of now it is a mystery...


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## Mike Jones (Oct 11, 2014)

I suspect that I jumped to my conclusion, and, I respect that Barry knows his stuff. The pic of the completed stopper, looks like some of the Ca.pepperwood that I have gotten in the past, and, while there are some 40 or so varieties of it, I've not heard of it being problematic in drying.


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## Tim Carter (Oct 12, 2014)

The pepper tree we have in S. Fla. is called Brazilian Pepper and it smells like turpentine when it's cut and termites love it. It turns well and can have some nice figure.


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