Bradford Pear - Turn Green or Seasoned?

[Bill Wiggins]

Today I'm cutting down my daughter's Bradford Pear tree that was destroyed during the recent Nor'easter. I was hoping to make some peppermills. It seems like a lot of people make bowls from this wood. It seemed like most of the suggestions on this site were to turn it green.

Do I need to turn it green? Or can I let it dry and turn it later? I don't have heat in my workshop and winter is approaching. I'd like to just turn some blanks, put on some Anchorseal, and finish turning in the spring.

[David E Keller]

It's fun to turn either way. For the most part, I'd use it dry for anything functional like a mill. Roughing it out will speed the process. Like any 'fruit' tree, it is someone prone to checking and cracking. Congrats on the wood!

[Richard Madden]

I think I've turned most Bradford Pear green and using the 10% guide for roughing followed with DNA soak.

[Dave Ogren]

I have only turned green. Great wood to turn. Really warps when drying.
Good Luck,
Dave

[Steve Harder]

I've had very good luck turning green and then anchorsealing an entire bowl, or just the outside and rim of an endturned vase - then letting them sit for a year.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have turned a couple of pieces. I turned it green and the 10" bowls I left 1" then achorsealed the whole thing like Mike Mahoney does. Both bowls sat for 9 months then finished. They were fine.

[Gary Herrmann]

Turn some green, cut some for blanks to dry and decide for yourself. I've turned it both ways. Dry pear is pretty hard. In the .7 specific gravity range?

[Thomas Canfield]

I like to rough turn bowls green, coat with anchor seal, and then return after they dry. For hollow forms, I like to turn green to completion and then apply first coat of oil to retard the drying, and then finish by hand sanding if distorsion prevents power sanding. Dry BP is hard. I have saved some BP wood that had been sealed and will be used for end grain work such as small hollow forms or spindle work and there you really need to cut the pith out and seal well.

[Tony Pridmore]

I'd like to just turn some blanks, put on some Anchorseal, and finish turning in the spring.

That's exactly how you'll need to go about successful drying. The key is to rough turn everything. Taking off the sharp edges helps reduce the amount of splitting. Make sure you don't simply round out the bowl blanks and call it done. You'll need to rough turn them to a somewhat consistent thickness of about 10% the diameter of the bowl (as mentioned above). Then it's a matter of slowing down and evening out the rate of drying. Others will have to help with any potential freeze issues. While you will still lose some to checking and splitting, I expect it will be worth the effort.

Generally I only turn wood from local trees and Bradford Pear is my absolute favorite. Enjoy!