Bradford pear rough out

[Scot Roberge]

A while back I posted pictures of a Bradford pear stump and received very helpful comments on how to cut it down into blanks. As other posters have mentioned, I have found this wood to be an absolute joy to turn. I just finished rough turning the fifth blank and thought I'd share some pictures and maybe get some comments. It's 8-3/4" in diameter with a 13/16" wall thinckness. It has some really nice figure in it. This is the most troublesome of the blanks from this tree - it has three bark inclusions. One is low on the bowl's profile and smallish. The second is little more than a crack the crosses the rim in two places. It only goes down from the rim about 1/4" - so this area should remove in final turning. The third is the aggravating one. (3rd picture) A separation extends down from the rim about 1" and the area around the bark is punky, so this is going to need some reinforcement. I figure that whatever I use to fill and strengthen will be best applied after the blank cures, so it's heading for it's paper bag home till this time next year. I seem to remember reading on SMC that some use an expoxy/coffee grounds mix, but I feel the need to add something stronger to this one before continuing . . . Comments?

[Allen Neighbors]

Beautiful rough out. I use epoxy or CA and coffee... not used grounds, but fresh coffee. Sometimes I grind it into powder, sometimes I use it as it comes from the can.

Sometimes I use epoxy and crushed turquoise. Sometimes I've used key filings from the Walmart key machine. I would round the rim on this, and put CA at the ends of the cracks... even while it's drying... it may save the bowl in the long run.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Scot - good looking bowl do far. I agree with Al - put some CA into the cracks so that it wicks into the wood. Hopefully it will help keep the bowl together while drying.

Once you go to finish turn it - you will have all sorts of materials you can use as fillers - just a matter of taste at that time.

Good luck with the drying!

[John Keeton]

Scot, that may be the most troublesome, but it sure has a lot going for it - some beautiful grain the the bottom. That will end up being a fine looking bowl with the proper precautions and care.

[John Hart]

Yup...I agree...put some CA in the crack now to minimize the movement, and over the next year, you will have gained 14,379 new experiences that will help you decide what to do with the filler when it comes out of its bag home. :)

[Bernie Weishapl]

I would CA it and use epoxy/coffee to fill the void. Rough out looks pretty good and can't wait to see it finished.

[Donny Lawson]

I'm glad to see some Bradford Pear used because I have been bringing it home this week from work.The thunderstorms we had this past week brought down alot of them around the city and we have been hauling them away.I have 2 blanks cut out but haven't roughed them out yet.I hope to get to one of them this weekend.Thanks for the pictures.
Donny

[Dave Ogren]

Scot,

I have been turning a bunch of Bradford pear bowls lately also. Great wood to turn, I have not finished any of them yet. Here might be a good suggestion that I got from Reed Gray aka Robo Hippie. Just before I take the bowl off of the lathe I use a strech wrap 5" wide around the outside lip for 2 1/2 turns. Then into the paper bags to dry. I think that that little bit of compression really helps to stop the cracks. I would also CA your third one while it is still wet.

Good Luck,

Dave

[Mike Peace]

In my area Bradford Pear tends to be relatively available. So for me personally, I would not bother with a bowl blank with a bark inclusion except as a practice piece. Unlike some highly figured or spalted wood like maple or cherry where a bark inclusion can be a feature or the wood is nice enought to warrant a repair, I just do not think it is worth my effort to deal with a bark inclusion on Bradford Pear when the repair is likely to look like a repair. Especially since I tend to texture B Pear most of the time since the grain has so little character.

Just my 3 cents.

[Scot Roberge]

Don't know why I thought of letting the blank dry before reinforcing the weak spots with CA. Thanks to everyone who put me straight. I got the worst cracks about half full on the first CA application today - will follow with application #2 tomorrow.

Dave:

Just before I take the bowl off of the lathe I use a strech wrap 5" wide around the outside lip for 2 1/2 turns.

I don't have stretch wrap, but I do have some gonzo sized rubber bands. I'll put a couple around the rim. Great idea!

[Thomas Canfield]

I like to turn Bradford Pear. Turning green it tends to sling sap, and be a mess. I have sealed some rough (wall10% of diameter) with anchorseal and left to set until most of the moisture was out. Dry the wood sands and finishes very well using a poly/oil mix or just using walnut oil for using bowls. I have used an eoxy mix of wood chips, sanding dust, and instant coffee that had been dampened with DNA before adding the epoxy. The result fairly well matched the bark and looked good. I should have a couple to post after a couple more coats of finish and polish. I stop anytime that Bradford Pear is available and like to share it with new turners to practice on.

[Donny Lawson]

I did get to turn one piece of the bradford pear today and it turned out great.No bad spots at all.It was wet though with sap I guess.It was slung everywhere but it was worth it.It is now taking a DNA bath. I will take it out Wed. or Thur. and wrap it up with newspaper to dry for a few weeks and then finish.
Donny

[Leo Van Der Loo]

[QUOTE=Scot Roberge;1439351]Don't know why I thought of letting the blank dry before reinforcing the weak spots with CA. Thanks to everyone who put me straight. I got the worst cracks about half full on the first CA application today - will follow with application #2 tomorrow.

Scot good looking piece of Pear you have there.

I've turned pieces with bark inclusions in them and my way of trying to prevent them from opening up was not only using CA but also a mechanical stop, as the Ca is quite strong it is the bark that fails even with CA in it.

So I use a staple that I make myself for a bowl that has bark in it, as it will open if you don't prevent it from doing so, and the metal staple has worked for me flawlessly every time, I'll add a couple of pictures of bowls I have right now up here with staple in them to show how I do it, I have done others before.

I try to place the staple so that the very small openings are turned away if I can, but if that's not possible the very small openings are easily plugged and no eyesore as such :)

I just return the bowl after removing the metal staple when the piece is dry and stable, HTH :)

[John Hart]

I like that staple idea

[Scot Roberge]

[QUOTE=Scot Roberge;1439351]...I use a staple that I make myself for a bowl that has bark in it, as it will open if you don't prevent it from doing so, and the metal staple has worked for me flawlessly every time...

Thanks, Leo. What wire stock are you making your staples from?

[Leo Van Der Loo]

[QUOTE=Leo Van Der Loo;1440130]

Thanks, Leo. What wire stock are you making your staples from?

Sorry not getting back any sooner Scot, kind of busy around here lately :o

The staples I make are from some stainless steel wire pieces I have sitting here, don't exactly remember what they were for, any way I don't think it is very important what you use, I would use even regular staples if I hadn't this wire sitting around, I use a very thin drill bit to pre-drill the holes and just a little shallower than the staple legs are long, that way I can hammer the staple home very easily.
I also have the holes as far apart or just a hair farther, so the staple will pull the wood together rather than push it apart, hope this answers your question :)