Pear

[Johnpl315]

Hi.

I have come across a decent lump of pear. I have had a search of the forum and the general consensus seems that is worth milling.

Now I don't really want to through saw it as that would involve digging out chainsaw milling kit and I know pear is very hard so I would rather cut it with the turbosaw.

Any advice for what spec to cut it to? I am thinking maybe just cut it in to large posts and sell cheap and the buyer could resaw to whatever spec they want?

Thanks

[nepia]

I'll be watching this: I have about 25' of average 16"dbh straight pear that's sitting in 7-8' lengths. Some of it's spoken for but I'll be looking to have the rest milled.

The suggestion I've had so far is to mill it into 3" boards, cut them into lengths double the trunk thickness and dry them as woodturning blanks.

[gobbypunk]

Hi the only thing with the turbo saw is how wide a cut can you do I know you can cut from both sides to get a wider board but if you have an alaskan it seems a shame not to get the full width even if you just do the widest buts that way , then you are not just selling wood turning blanks as I think you would have to sell alot of them to make any good money but I love my alaskan so I may be biased good luck with which ever way you choose some pics would be good

Cheers Mark

[Johnpl315]

I was hoping to avoid chainsaw milling, what if I just cut it all to 6x2 or 8x2?

[gobbypunk]

Whats so wrong with chainsaw milling , 12x2 or 16x2 would be of alot more use to a wider range of people but I make tables so I would say that

[agg221]

Think about what people might want to do with it.

 

Pear is very hard and dense, with a fine, even grain. This means it takes a good finish and once dry is very stable (although it can crack badly during drying). It is fairly pale and does not have much grain.

 

This means it makes rather bland furniture - it lends itself better to pieces where the design or carved detailing are the feature, rather than the timber itself. Smaller pieces are also used for carvings, musical instruments etc where the natural properties lend themselves to it.

 

I have some nice boards for making a longcase clock case from at some point. This will be in late C17 style, as pear was used as a substitute for ebony as it can be stained black with iron and then highly polished. Otherwise I have dropped some very wide boards off with se7enthdevil and have three more to get over to him - not sure what he wants to do with it.

 

6" x 2" doesn't allow much scope.

 

Alec

[Johnpl315]

I know there is nothing wrong with chainsaw milling but I personally find it hard work, hard on the kit, use a lot of fuel and time consuming. I hear what you are saying about the width though. Food for thought.

[se7enthdevil]

in my opinion there are two things you should do to mill a good sized pear.

first one is to take it to a band mill and go through and through in 1" and a couple of 2" boards, these can then be used for furniture.

 

the second is to cut it up for endgrain engraving blanks. these are often 4"x6" and one inch thick of endgrain to be engraved for printers blocks. boxwood is usually used but for the larger sizes this is almost impossible to get so substitutes are used.

[agg221]

in my opinion there are two things you should do to mill a good sized pear.

first one is to take it to a band mill and go through and through in 1" and a couple of 2" boards, these can then be used for furniture.

 

the second is to cut it up for endgrain engraving blanks. these are often 4"x6" and one inch thick of endgrain to be engraved for printers blocks. boxwood is usually used but for the larger sizes this is almost impossible to get so substitutes are used.

 

I think you mentioned you were planning to rip the bits I have for you into 3" squares? I can't remember what for though.

 

Alec

[Johnpl315]

There are a few big branches, would they do for engraving?