Aromazap Shop

NEW FOR 2009—ROUND AROMAZAPS

In January 2009 we tried turning some of our finest Myrtlewood on the lathe to create a round Myrtlezap. The results were so beautiful and functional that we made the decision to produce all Aromazaps in round form.

ART and BEAUTY: When a piece of wood is turned on a lathe, the wood is cut across the grain on the entire piece. This will bring out grain patterns and colors in the wood that would normally be totally or partially hidden if the wood was cut with the grain. The old square Aromazaps were cut with the grain. One or maybe two surfaces of the wood could be very artful and colorful but it was a hit and miss effort. The square design was bulky with grain patterns very different from one side to another. With the new round design all the grain in the entire piece is displayed in beautiful LIVING form. The grain comes alive as it is viewed in round form. Colors and patterns, especially in the new hardwood MyrtleZaps, are fine pieces of art with infinite design and color.

FUNCTIONALITY: The round units just feel better in your hand, period. There are no bulky corners to act as a heatsink for the internal heater so the units run just a tad warmer than the old square Zaps. When we began using Myrtlewood last year we noticed the harder, denser wood seemed to draw a bit more heat from the heatport area which reduced the heat produced to make vapor ever so slightly. The square MyrtleZaps still worked fine but were just a bit lower in the acceptable range of heat produced than the old softwood Aromazap. Vapor is produced within a range of heat, not at an exact temperature. At the higher end of that range, vapor is easier to make and is “thicker”, still not smoke but closer to it than vapor produced at the lower end of the heat range. When we turn a Zap on the lathe, we remove close to 20% of the wood, compared to a square unit. That makes it lighter and the heatsink effect of the hardwood is minimized. They are also a bit warmer to hold. We have been told by many customers that the warm wood is soothing to hands, especially to those of us with older hands.

All round Zaps are hand turned, freestyle. That means they may vary slightly in diameter and some may have a slight taper. Just a bit more imperfection in our beautiful functional art. We do spend a bit more time making the round units but our pricing will remain the same in these troubling economic times.