Anybody use Pecan?

[Dan Gill]

Who has experience with pecan? I'm considering it for some small pieces that will be template routed. Does it chip out much? Is it relatively stable? I know it's quite hard and it's hard on tools.

[Dennis Peacock]

Pecan machines well, finishes well. Very pretty wood and many older furniture pieces are made from pecan as well, depending on the locale of where the furniture was made. I have several turnings made from pecan and sure is nice stuff.:D

[Jamie Buxton]

Like Dennis said. And it has a very pleasant odor while you're working on it -- kinda sweet.

[Jay Knoll]

I was at a client's yesterday and they had a pecan tongue and groove floor in their family room -- it looked fantastic!

Jay

[scott bonder]

Pecan is a pretty decent smoking wood. You can use it for making ribs, pork and brisket. too strong for fish.

[Kurt Forbes]

substituted for Hickory alot of times in my understanding and machines about the same.

[Tom Hamilton]

I'm using pecan to build the Quilt Light Valence from a recent issue of Am Woodworker.

It cuts cleanly, doesn't ding during handling, and glues up nicely. Finishing starts today.

I'll save the chips for the BBQ!

Merry Christmas, Tojm

[Charlie Plesums]

substituted for Hickory alot of times in my understanding and machines about the same.
For those of you who remember wood expert Jon Arno, he explained that Hickory and Pecan are so close that they cross pollinate... up north, you will find pure hickory, down south you will find pure pecan, and in the center of the country, there are few genetically pure trees.

I have also heard that the government grading allows hickory and pecan to be mixed and sold as either. (Doesn't sound bureaucratic enough to me, but that's what I heard.)

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I use it for BBQ mostly, but as with Hickory, it can be used for furniture and it's very pretty wood. A little hard on blades and bits, but it's worth it!!

[Jim Becker]

Only the nuts...but that's because of geography. Pecan isn't a locally available species for the most part around here!

[Mark Singer]

Only the nuts...but that's because of geography. Pecan isn't a locally available species for the most part around here!

Jim,
Since you mentioned nuts I thought I should ask something....Any pie recipes?:confused:

[Paul Canaris]

Very Hard wood. I would tend to use it for projects where extreme wear surfaces are needed.

[Wolf Kiessling]

I use pecan strictly for turning and sculptures (carving). It turns beautifully (IMHO anyway) and finishes even nicer when done with oil. I particularly favor danish oil and/or TruOil (the gunstock finish). It has great depth, wonderful color and looks almost luminous. It is a lousy wood for carving because it is not only hard but is also gummy at the same time. Much tool sharpening involved. However, it is not bad for power carving. In fact, it is real good for power carving. My last project in pecan was a large bowl that was carved strictly using hand tools and it took me seven months. It was worth it, however, because it turned out so pretty. In fact, it took Best-Of-Show in Fredericksburg.

[Jim Becker]

Since you mentioned nuts I thought I should ask something....Any pie recipes?

Best resources for pecan pie recepies are Southerners...and Texans... ;)

[Dan Gill]

Well, I bought some today and put it to the test. It's beautiful wood with a broad color variety. Unfortunately, it didn't work for the purpose I had in mind. I'm template routing 1/4-inch stock in an irregular shape, and big chunks of pecan went flying through the air. I got two good pieces out of six. I'll go back to QSWO for this use and use the pecan for something else. NO wood is ever wasted . . .

[Tom Hamilton]

Mark, at your request, with Jim's encouragement a Texas Pecan Pie recipe just for you:

1 C White Karo
1 C brown sugar
1/3 tea salt
1/3 C melted butter
2 tea vanilla

Mix the above and add three beaten eggs and 1 1/2 cups pecans.

Bake at 350 for 45 min or so.

There are as many pecan pie recipes as BBQ sauce recipes. So you may be covered in alternate. But, this one is good! :D

All the Best, Tom

[Cecil Arnold]

Mark, Tom's recipe sounds about right. If you really want to make it sinful you can add some chocolate chips before you bake.

[ROBERT SCHUMAN]

I have milled thousands of feet of Hickory /pecan they are both hard heavy and finish very nice .slivers are bad , wood has lots of checking ,its the ones you dont see that get you ! :) .It has open grain but polishes very well .The wood is very brittle and chips out or burns if your tools are not sharp.but even with all the problems it is my favorite wood to look at when all is done!I just turned a 3.5 by 60 inch post today!

[Martin Shupe]

Bad pecan crop this year...

Our area of Texas has been in a drought since June. I am told we had some ice last week, but not any significant moisture. There is a rumor of rain tonight, but none so far. They also say we may have some rain this weekend, hopefully we will.

We have one tree with a few pecans, but we won't be able to ship to relatives and friends like we usually do.

I was told by my forestry prof friend that if I have a poor crop this year, I should have a bumper crop next year. Here's hoping we get some rain, and soon.

I have some wormy pecan from when I built the house. The mill I took it to ruined it, as I could not find a woodmizer guy locally at the time. I think it would take a lot of work to make it useable. May just end up burning it in the BBQ.