How stable is Oregon Myrtle wood?

L

Leon Husock

Joined
Jul 17, 2019
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I've got a home stabilizing setup and I just took a crack at some myrtle wood. I vacuumed it until the bubbles stopped and let it soak for a week and it barely gained any weight; turns out myrtle is pretty oily which makes it hard to stabilize. I've seen some tricks for dealing with this such as soaking it in isopropyl alcohol to remove the oils, but before I try that I thought I'd ask if anyone has any experience with it un-stabilized. I usually think of oily wood as being reasonably naturally stable. This would be mostly for kitchen knives.
 
I have not worked with it but I have a link that may have some info that can answer or at least help with some of what your asking.
great website,used many a chance by myself.
link:https://www.wood-database.com/oregon-myrtle/

it is generally an easy wood to work with but need to be cautious of tearout and heat when drilling.
the website also tells that it is not very rot resistant and some other issues I don't think that it is naturally stable.
 
My past experience with myrtle was that it was a little waxy and didn't stabilize well. It warped in professional stabilizing by WSSI. Your Oregon myrtle may be different than mine, though? Funny thing is I think I got it from a wood seller in Klamath Falls.
 
Yeah, that was about my experience with it Stacy. I read an interesting suggestion for stabilizing oily woods that involved soaking them in isopropyl alcohol or acetone to strip the oils somewhat before stabilizing. But if anyone had had any positive experiences working with the stuff as-is then I figured I'd try that first.

Evan, I'm not overly concerned about rot or hardness since I'm using it for kitchen knives. My main worry is that it'll shrink or swell a lot with exposure to water (e.g. getting washed at the kitchen sink), and the oiliness gives me hope that that might not be the case.
 
I don't think I'd be too concerned with the oil, like you mentioned that's probably a good thing as long as they're not submerged in a dishpan for an hour to "soak" like so many folks do with their wood handled knives. Ugh. I'd definitely go with stabilizing it though as it's a somewhat soft wood so would probably shrink and expand when wet as well as absorb some nastiness from food .The most important thing is that the wood is very dry before you stabilize it. Show some pics when they're done :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Eric
 
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Leon Husock said:
Yeah, that was about my experience with it Stacy. I read an interesting suggestion for stabilizing oily woods that involved soaking them in isopropyl alcohol or acetone to strip the oils somewhat before stabilizing. But if anyone had had any positive experiences working with the stuff as-is then I figured I'd try that first.

Evan, I'm not overly concerned about rot or hardness since I'm using it for kitchen knives. My main worry is that it'll shrink or swell a lot with exposure to water (e.g. getting washed at the kitchen sink), and the oiliness gives me hope that that might not be the case.
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sorry I managed to dig up an old piece of the stuff from a dispay box i picked up one year while visiting family let me go give a a soak and see what happens.
it absorbed some water on the side with no finish/clear coat enuf that the piece feels damp after two minutes of be rinsed off in the sink.no noticeable swelling or warping after being rinsed off with plain tap water.
 
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Evan Wilson said:
sorry I managed to dig up an old piece of the stuff from a dispay box i picked up one year while visiting family let me go give a a soak and see what happens.
it absorbed some water on the side with no finish/clear coat enuf that the piece feels damp after two minutes of be rinsed off in the sink.no noticeable swelling or warping after being rinsed off with plain tap water.
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Thanks, man! That sounds good. I'm guessing with a nice high-polish finish and a couple coats of wax it should do just fine un-stabilized.
 
I have a fighter I made 15 or so years back with unstabilized Oregon Myrtle burl. It's a closet queen, but I dug it out to check. Happy to say that it hasn't changed in that time. Can't nick the butt cap or guard with a finger nail. Hasn't darkened, either. Pretty wood, too. Not gaudy.
 
fitzo said:
I have a fighter I made 15 or so years back with unstabilized Oregon Myrtle burl. It's a closet queen, but I dug it out to check. Happy to say that it hasn't changed in that time. Can't nick the butt cap or guard with a finger nail. Hasn't darkened, either. Pretty wood, too. Not gaudy.
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Awesome, that's good to know. I think I'll take my chances on un-stabilized then (and frankly, having weighed the blocks before and after stabilization, I think I can almost consider the ones I "stabilized" as un-stabilized too. They gained an average of .3 oz of weight).
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
My past experience with myrtle was that it was a little waxy and didn't stabilize well. It warped in professional stabilizing by WSSI. Your Oregon myrtle may be different than mine, though? Funny thing is I think I got it from a wood seller in Klamath Falls.
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Hah that's funny, I got some myrtle there as well. I used to live about an hour from Klamath Falls when I was working at Lava Beds National Monument in CA. It was the closest "Big City" to us.
 
A.McPherson said:
Hah that's funny, I got some myrtle there as well. I used to live about an hour from Klamath Falls when I was working at Lava Beds National Monument in CA. It was the closest "Big City" to us.
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Not to derail but I was born n raised in Klamath Falls til 76 when I went off to college in Ashland, then Corvallis. My childhood friend is with the count eng dept and we go back when we can, great outdoor activities and climate. Lava Beds is one of the dont miss destinations too we went there a lot.
 
Cook Woods is in Klamath Falls. At the top side of the state is Miles Gilmer with Gilmer woods. I bought a lot of exotic woods from Miles. Their site is really good for seeing exactly which piece you are buying.
There used to be a really nice fellow in Portland who went by Snooky. He owned nearly a block of main street where he had a candy store hardware, and made custom canes and walking sticks. I used to get really high grade long-aged rare woods from him. Snakewood was both of our favorite woods. He was a great guy to know (online) and I made him several knives for his family. IIRC, he was unofficially "The Mayor of Downtown Portland". Long since passed away but still remembered.
 
Cook Woods is where I got this myrtle wood, I'm a big fan of theirs. Woodworkers tell me their stuff is expensive, but when you're cutting up a bowl blank for 8+ handle blocks it ends up being a pretty good deal most times.
 
A.McPherson said:
Hah that's funny, I got some myrtle there as well. I used to live about an hour from Klamath Falls when I was working at Lava Beds National Monument in CA. It was the closest "Big City" to us.
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I looked at buying a ranch in Surprise Valley, there by Alturas, many years ago. Does that count?
 
Ya got me there !! The last time (1964) I was in Alturas maps were on paper, not computers and you got them at your gas station.
 
Eh. I used to think k-falls and Alturas were far apart... Then I moved to Texas. Seriously, I drive an hour and a half to buy groceries. The closest Walmart is 2 1/2 hours away.
Living here has altered my idea of "far" quite significantly.
 
A.McPherson said:
Eh. I used to think k-falls and Alturas were far apart... Then I moved to Texas. Seriously, I drive an hour and a half to buy groceries. The closest Walmart is 2 1/2 hours away.
Living here has altered my idea of "far" quite significantly.
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Yeah its hard for folks that haven't experienced the distances, sometimes considered normal in the west, to understand. My son currently cowboys on a ranch outside of Burns Or. Burns, while the county seat of the third largest county in the US, is only a town of 2500. "Town" is Bend Or, bout two hours away to the west. Prior to that ranch he worked on a place outside of Wells Nv. 2.5 hours west of Salt Lake, 2 hours south of Twin Falls Id and two hours and 15 mins north east of Elko Nv. This was huge ranch even by big country standards of 1.2 million acres. Literally bigger than some eastern states. He started his career, right out of high school, at a ranch 110 miles south east of Burns. By big outfit comparisons a relatively lil place of 380,000 acres, (the ranch does have its own zip code). I'd talk to him often while he was working as his phone worked out on the ranch but where his house was there was no service. One time he called and I asked him what he was doing. He said he was taking some strays back to the next door neighbors. I asked him if he was "tailing" them or trailering them. Tailing them is pushing them horseback, trailering them is giving em a ride in a stock trailer. He said he was trailering them. I asked him how far it was to the next door neighbors and he said "Bout an hour and a half." Thats kinda on a macro scale. On a micro scale he called one time. I could tell he was horseback and long trotting by the rhythm. He would put his phone on speaker and stick it in his shirt pocket when he was horseback. Long trotting is not the slow show ring trot ya might see someplace or on tv. It's a flat out, ground eating, got some place to be, trot. Once a horse is in good shape, he can cover big distances for long periods of time, without getting too winded. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was riding ahead to get the gate. They had 2,000 momma cows and they were moving them to another pasture. I asked him how big the pasture was that he was in and he said he didn't know. He said I left them bout an hour ago. They've been out of sight for 45 minutes and I'm not to the gate yet. We talked for another half hour or so and then he had to go. He was at the gate.
 
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