Working Bradford Pear

[David Dockstader]

I need to see if what I am experiencing is just normal. I had a Bradford Pear in my front yard that was pretty in the Spring. I found out later that they are an invasive species. Anyway, it died about 3 years ago and I finally took it down in July. I had heard that the wood was pretty, so I was going to try some turning and maybe scroll saw work. The tree was THOROUGHLY dry when I took it down, so I cut a couple of logs, split them, and took them to the shop for machining. Ran one over the jointer until I got one side flat, then resawed on my band saw and went to the planer to smooth them out. When I turned on the dust collector, I couldn't get any suction. The planer and joiner share the same dust collector. Went through everything and finally determined that the dust collector was clogged just in front of the impeller. The shavings coming off the Bradford Pear aren't saw dust. They are more like hairy little toothpicks and they cling together and clog the dust collector piping. I've done it 3 or 4 times now and I'm not certain I've cleared the whole run yet. Is this what Bradford Pear acts like? Is there anything I can do to prevent this? If this is just the nature of the beast, pretty wood or not, I may just turn it all into firewood. :mad:

[Jim Becker]

I cannot comment on Bradford pear specifically, but I've found that a lot of ornamental trees are, um...ornery...when it comes to drying and milling for flat work. So any of that stuff I've had was relegated to turning stock where movement is expected for green material, etc. There are any number of species that produce "sticky shavings"...even pine...that can clog up the works sometimes when milling. Been there. Done that. :) :D

[Cassius Nielsen]

No idea what Bradford Pear wood even is but this happened to me with pine on my little 1hp single hose DC at the intake where there is a little cross to keep your hands out of the impeller. I removed one of the crosses so its just a single bar and it helped out. It has not happened bad enough for me to take out the second cross at least. Slower feed rate on the planer/ jointer helped but that became almost as infuriating as cleaning the clog. I'm pretty sure the hairy toothpicks are good, means your knives are sharp?

[Richard Coers]

Actually bradford pear wood is very boring to look at. It's like basswood in appearance. It's best feature is the fine details it will hold while turning. Fruitwoods were used in the very early days of printing, when letter blocks were made of wood. Straight hard grain and no figure. If you normally get dust off your thickness planer, something is wrong. Long stringy curls are not unusual. I've even had that with poplar.

[Roger Feeley]

I had two Bradford pears years ago. I hated those things cause they were hard to mow around without getting poked in the eye.

One of them split down the middle. When my wife got home I had cut them both down. She asked what happened an I told that the chainsaw slipped. My one regret is that I didn’t save some wood and make a toilet seat.

[Aiden Pettengill]

From a landscaping perspective, pretty wood or not DO NOT PLANT THESE TREES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (a) They are invasive as David said, and (b) are some of the worst trees to have in your yard. They are famous for splitting because they have very weak crotches so it isn't uncommon for one to literally fall appart. Cut them down if you have them, enjoy the wood, and slap a non invasive, beneficial fruiting pear in its place. Oh, and did I mention that their seedlings have thorns? As with Rogers trees, a little chainsaw slippage on Bradford Pears wouldn't be a bad thing.

[Stan Calow]

Once very popular around here, now mostly "half" trees. I haven't found it to be stringy, but was usually working with green wood (from cruising streets after storms). It is very plain, and compare it to maple in appearance and workability. But have also worked with larger pear wood from other varieties and its great stuff. Some with curl, and more pinkish when freshly cut.

There's a abandoned cattle pasture near us that practically filled in with bradfords after just a few years. Pretty when they bloom.