Drying a tree

[Mike Willeson]

Hi all,

Been lurking on Sawmill creek for a while and am a new turner. I have only done a couple smaller projects.

I have an offer for an entire pear tree someone is cutting down. A little taller than a house and the trunk is around 14" in diameter.

The tree is still up and will be cut down whenever someone is ready to haul it away.

I don't imagine there is enough wood there to make boards from, but thought I might be able to get a lot of nice turning wood from it. If I take on the task of hauling it away, what is the best way to cut and dry it for turning? How long does turning wood need to dry and all those types of questions.

Any info you can offer would be great!

Thanks.
Mike

[Thomas Canfield]

Mike,

I found some Bradford Pear in the neighborhood last year. I used the chainsaw to cut out the pith (very important to take a generous cut) to make bowl blanks and then sealed the end grain. It held up fairly well with some checking. I green turned rough bowls to 10% of diameter and resealed the whole rough bowl. It took about 4 months for the bowls up to 8" and 8 months for the larger 14" rough bowls to dry, but the wood finished well. I did turn a bowl green to finish thickness and finished with Walnut Oil and it had considerable warp as result, but made a nice fruit bowl. In short, work some for future final. and enjoy turning some green for imediate satisfaction. The Bradford Pear turned green with minimal effort, but when dry was harder.

The pith slabs make excellent turning stock for small saucers, bowls, or spindle work since they are quarter sawn material when pith is removed.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ditto what Thomas said. The pith area I cut up into pen blanks also.

[Jon Lanier]

I agree with both. Here is a bradford pear I did after the wind storm from Ivan. (an attempt at something new).. but very pretty wood.

[Mike Willeson]

I apprecaite the replies, but if you don't mind, could I back you up a little bit.

So let's say the tree is on the ground and there is 10 feet of fairly thick trunk. What do I do with it? Do I cut sections a certain length and then seal the ends up or do I cut the sections in half right away and then seal end grain? ...heck, do I even cut the log into sections?

I assume there are certain ways you want to deal with areas of the tree that branch off and form crotches, etc.

How small of a diameter piece can you turn something out of....not including a pen?

What I am really hoping for is a basic overview of what I can do with this tree once it is on the ground.

Sorry, but when it comes to harvesting and preparing wood, I am in kindergarten. :(

Thanks,
Mike

[Reed Gray]

For bowl blanks, I would cut a 14 inch tree into lengths 16 to 18 inches long, then rip them down the center/pith. Some times there will already be some splitting off the pith, and I will follow that split if it lines up on both ends of the log. Seal, then cover, keeping it out of wind and sun light. In the summer here, which is our dry season, I will lay a tarp on the ground, spread a thick layer of shavings, wet them down, then put the log sections in standing up on end grain, cover with more shavings, and wet them down, then cover with a heavy duty tarp, and put weights on it. I will return to keep the shavings wet, not just damp.

You can turn the bowls whenever you want to. Two choices, turn thick to 10% thickness (10 inch bowl about 1 inch thick) seal it, then let it dry for some months, then return when it is pretty dry. Other choice is to turn it to final thickness (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch), wrap in paper or plastic, let it dry and warp (about 10 days), then sand and finish. Personally, I like the warped bowls.

robo hippy

[Steve Schlumpf]

Mike - Welcome to the Creek!

Like everything else in turning - everyone develops a method of doing things that works for them. How to process the Pear tree really depends somewhat on what it is that you want to turn and what size your lathe can safely handle.

Unless I am going to rough turn a bowl or hollow form immediately, I leave the wood in log form (bark still on) and cut it into sections as large as I can handle by myself. I anchorseal the endgrain and any exposed branch areas where I cut off a limb. Store the logs out of direct sunlight because the sun will heat the wood and cause it to lose moisture quickly - creating cracks.

When you are ready to turn something - cut only the amount of wood that you need and reseal the freshly cut area to preserve the wood until next time.

Best of luck with this! Looking forward to seeing some of your work!

[Richard Coers]

Jon, you sure about that being bradford pear? Looks like honey locust to me. I thought all bradford pear was cream colored and very tight grain. Yours show some distinct growth rings and open pores.

[Jon Lanier]

Jon, you sure about that being bradford pear? Looks like honey locust to me. I thought all bradford pear was cream colored and very tight grain. Yours show some distinct growth rings and open pores.

Absolutely Positive. It was a favorite tree of a friend. The bowl was something they could remember the tree and the Ivan Storm.

[Gary Herrmann]

Definitely do not leave them in short trunk sections. Pear cracks quickly. Cut the pith out asap as the others have said.

[Mike Willeson]

Gary - Would I be correct in understanding that you mean whatever sections I have cut them in half the long way and then cut some of the very center out?

One more question...do I seal just the end grain or the center part as well?

...I am new to this...



Definitely do not leave them in short trunk sections. Pear cracks quickly. Cut the pith out asap as the others have said.

[Thomas Canfield]

Mike,

The length of the trunk sections needs to be about 1" longer than the diameter of the bowl (wood or bark if included) that is intended for bowls with inside toward pith. For natural edge with inside toward bark, you can make the sections a little shorter. Sometimes the type of bowl will be determined by the blank that you end up with. For larger diameter trees, you can also cut the trunk sections in "pie shape" pieces to get a nice size bowl with inside toward bark.

I usually seal all the end grain and about an inch of the ajacent long grain surface for rough blanks. Blanks need to be stacked off the ground, and bark can be an attraction for bug action depending on wood and may need to be removed for long term storage. Any green wood end cut surface should be sealed as soon as possible, including blanks that were sealed and turned green.