Question on turning Bradford Pear

Re: Question on turning Bradford Pear

JohnV

ornamental pear warps almost immediately sometimes within minutes of cutting. I've turned quite a bit and found that turning to finish fairly thin usually avoids splitting but it will still warp. Consider it a collaboration with nature on the shape. Turns like butter, be sure to dry lathe parts and tools when finished.

Re: Question on turning Bradford Pear

Pete Kekel

If you want it to be a 'normal' bowl, you will need to twice (at least) turn it. I will rough turn these and leave them slightly thicker than a usual rough out of Maple of Cherry. I will then coat the endgrain with Anchorseal or something similar. Let it sit, not exactly sure for how long. I wait for the tenon to become oval. I will then put it back on the lathe and just skim it over real quick to bring it back to round. I will them let it sit again, probably at least 2 weeks, or when I stumble across it again and then turn to finish. Turns great and will accept detail and texture. Fun to work with. Good luck!

It does warp and check if cut wet, so ..........

JamieDonaldson

...I end seal in log sections when possible. I don't like to turn any wood wet enough to spit on me, then it's too wet to sand and finish. If ready to store wet for bowl blanks, saw the pith out of it and then seal end grain. It is an excellent turning wood, and retains bark very well for bark edge bowls.

Re: Question on turning Bradford Pear

john lucas

I had very good luck with a large Bradford Pear that was cut down at my mothers house. I could not get down there so I had them wrap the ends in plastic and put it in the back of their garage. I went there several times but didn't have my trailer so it was a year before I finally got it home. Then it sat in my shed that has a concrete floor for another year or longer. I finally go around to cutting it up and virtually all of it was useful. It still has some moisture so I twice turn bowls but turn hollow vessels thin and they don't seem to warp very much. I have also milled a bunch of it into flat boards for my hand mirrors. There is some warp in those and small splits at the ends but still very usable.

Re: Question on turning Bradford Pear

David Walser

Barry -- Like many things, I think the answer to your question is "It depends." Mike Peace, a woodturner out of Georgia who has an active YouTube channel, does a lot of his projects out of Bradford pear. He really likes working with it for bowls, boxes, urns, spindles, etc. But, his good experience might have a lot to do with the variety of Bradford pear that grows in his neck of the woods and with the climatic conditions that unique to his area.

Another turner, in another part of the country, might not find as much success with Bradford pear as does Mike. For example, I have a Bradford pear growing -- sort of -- in my back yard. I've used some trimmings from it in birdhouse ornaments, but anything cut from it of any size will warp and crack very quickly. But, then, I live in Mesa, Arizona. It's kinda dry here when compared to where Mike Peace lives. I suspect my Bradford pear would rather be in Georgia.

Re: Galaxy planet mirror

Ralph Watts

Barry, some good advice here. I would add, just in case, that it bleaches quite well and dying is enhanced by bleaching. Also if you do any carving, B. Pear has very good cross-grain strength which reduces the worry of a part breaking. And, if you pierce any work, it will minimize the breakage on thin sections.

Best regards, Ralph

Re: Question on turning Bradford Pear

Philip Duffy

for what it's worth, in all the Pear I have turned I always boil it for 1 hr after the first turn, let it dry for 3 months and then get it down to a finished thickness. Yes, it does move a bit but the boiling seems to help a good deal. - -SE Virginia. P

Turn to finish

Dick Coers

Did this one in 1997, fresh from the log at a John Jordan class at his shop. Once turned, sanded off the lathe when dry. I hardly ever sand on the lathe now. Maybe rough sand the inside, but everything else is done with random orbit sanders off the lathe.

I turn it dry.

John K Jordan

Barry,

I've used a lot of bradford pear. There are lots of ways to proceed. I only turn it dry.

What I do is process the logs with a chainsaw and bandsaw and make blanks and chunks for drying. I seal them well and put them up to dry. It takes several or more years depending on the size. It shrinks like crazy when drying but I haven't had a big problem with cracking.

This is a piece dried for years, turned, then carved. I love working with this wood.

If you want to turn it green (and this time of year is great) then get as long as log as you can, seal the end grain well, store it off the ground, then start cutting off blanks to turn. You don't have to seal the ends, but if not, you might have to cut off the checks on the end before cutting your green turning blank.

JKJ

Re: Question on turning Bradford Pear

Reed Gray

I haven't had much luck with getting pear. It does have a very smooth even grain, and carves well. Other than that I don't really know. I haven't seen anything that moves like Madrone, except maybe sycamore, but you can figure the warp pattern on sycamore. Madrone, you never know what it is going to do. Since it is fall now, it will have less water in it than when the spring sap is rising. It might be worth turning a few bowls to about 1/4 inch thick, round the rims, cover with stretch film, put in a cool spot in the shop/garage and see what happens. They are usually dry in about 7 to 10 days. I use a recess, in part because a tenon would leave too much mass in the bottom which may make it want to crack, but extra sealer on the tenon may help that. If you boil, that does 'relax' the wood so it will dry more normally, and generally without cracking. With Madrone, it does muddle the colors a bit. I like the warped ones though...

robo hippy

Re: Question on turning Bradford Pear

Michael T Peace

I do love Bradfor Pear. Here is a video on Bradford Pear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDuOT5r3g6c

Re: Question on turning Bradford Pear

John Jordan

I've used a ton of bradford pear over the years. I find it quite stable. I never rough turn, and avoid woods that have extreme movement. It will work for end grain turnings with the pith included. Using small limbs etc is not ideal. The trunk of Bradford pear, whatever length that might be, is always round with the pith down the center, and rarely has any cracking/checking in the pith.

John