Wood Gloat!

[Lee Koepke]

Not sure how its gonna turn ... but happened to drive by a co-workers house this AM and saw he had a tree down in his yard from a storm last week. The city had cut it up and left the pile ... Think it was a Bradford Pear tree.

I only took a few pieces... the smaller sections I will cut blanks with my little electric saw, the larger ones I will run through my neighbors wood mizer.

I have seen some BP that looks nice, so I am curious as to what I could do .... :D

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[John Keeton]

Lee, I have some Bradford pear, but have not yet turned any of it. I understand it needs to be sealed pretty quickly, but looks like you made a good haul!! That crotch piece should be REAL nice!

[Lee Koepke]

There is one more piece ... much bigger that I couldnt haul up the hill. Its only been cut ...maybe one day, so when I get home tonite, it will get anchorsealed!!!

[Roger Chandler]

Bradford Pear is prone to cracking. It turns great, and has a subtle grain that does not usually stand out unless a crotch piece is found. DNA soaking is a good prospect for BP, and a tree that has endured wind shake may very well have layer separation, which does not help things when it comes to cracking, but CA glue does a good job a stabilization.

I have turned about a half dozen BP forms, and they all did well, a couple did warp a little because I did not do the DNA method as I was not doing that at the time.

[bob svoboda]

Nice haul, Lee. Will look forward to seeing some of it turned. Have never turned BP myself, but some of what I have seen on this site has been really nice.

[Ron Stadler]

Ah, you just reminded me what I wanted to do on here, and thats go to craigslist and find some free wood.:) Looks like you got some good stuff there, I have a little of that
myself.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Lee - congrats on all the wood! Looking forward to seeing what you turn out of it!

[David E Keller]

Great gloat! It's one of my favorite woods to turn... tight grain, cuts easily, holds detail well, etc. It's a great canvas for pyrography and texturing work if you're interested in that sort of thing.

[Donny Lawson]

Bradford pear turns like butter. GREAT wood to turn(at least when green).I can get bradford pear on a daily basis but I have more wood than I will ever use. I brought home some aromatic cedar and Holly today. The Holly is not very big but it will make some great pen blanks. You have some good wood there. Seal it up and start roughing.
Donny

[Chip Sutherland]

Don't know about Georgia BP...but Texas BP is some hard stuff to turn when dried.. Best done green. That being said, I know I have about 4 more stumps in the garage that I never got around to when green. Oh well...free wood is turning wood.

[Chuck Jones]

I agree with most of what's already been said, especially the DNA routine. I have turned 5-6 small HF's in the last couple weeks and used DNA process. Not a one of them has had a significant problem... except for the crappy pyro designs resulting from my practicing.

I guess everyone has their preferred drying process. I hate them all, but I am having better success with DNA than anything else I have tried.