Pecan wood for turning

[Don McClure]

I have an opportunity to pick up a pecan log 18" in dia. X 12 ft just felled. How well does it turn? I had plan to rough out bowls then DNA them for drying. Any other suggestions?

[Edward Bartimmo]

Don,

I turn a lot of Pecan and it is nice. Depending upon the species the wood grain can be quite different. Pecan is in the hickory family, but the wood is not quite as dense as hickory. It is easy to work when green. The wood color runs from cream, beige and tans with occasional red brown heart.

The only caution is that should there be any blue stain spalting don't use any time of tung oil finish...it will bedome a nondiscript mottled black. Use lacquer base coat is any bluish spalting of wood. Well...I guess this advice applies to all wood with blue spalting.

Enjoy

[Nathan Hawkes]

Funny, I thought it was harder than the other hickories that I've worked with, but to be fair, there isn't a huge amount of hickory around me. I've turned shagbark and pignut as well as pecan. Pecan was markedly harder than either of the other two; the shagbark was a very close second, from a tree less than 15" in diameter and 100+ years old. It sands and finishes beautifully, and as long as you take carefully controlled cuts, doesn't tear out terribly on end grain. If you take hogging cuts, get out the 80 grit!

[Edward Bartimmo]

Nathan,

Typically, the grain is tighter in hickory than pecan, which is why hickory is preferred for tool handles. That said the difference is marginal by turning standards and most people can't tell the difference between the two woods if they were handed a board of each. The wood density can vary based on the species of pecan and hickory as well as the location where its growing environment. In either case, both woods are equally punishing to turner and tools when completely dry.

Leftovers and cut-offs from both are good for cooking over.

[David E Keller]

I think of pecan as being a fairly plain wood in general based on the few pieces I've turned, but crotches can be very pretty. Like most things, it turns well when wet. It's as hard as a woodpecker's lips when it's dry.

[David Hostetler]

I've swiped a piece or two from the smoker pile and shoved it on the lathe. I have literally soaked the wood to get moisture back in, and turned it green. It turns very nicely when green, and a given piece can have a WIDE color range, especially when hit with BLO and beeswax... My last Pecan turning had colors ranging from, well cream with coffee (not the other way around) to a dark reddish brown, and this included some beautiful caramel colored swirls... Grain is very tight, and it will generate a LOT of heat and dull your tools pretty quickly, but it is worth a try. It really does come out nice...

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have turned quite a bit of pecan. I would get as much as you can.

[Allen Neighbors]

Some folks love it.
I hate to turn Pecan-crete. :D