# Turning wet bradford pear



## JohnInTexas (Apr 1, 2014)

I recently cut down a bradford pear tree from my yard and essentially used it as an excuse to buy a turning lathe, something I always thought would be fun. I have done a lot of reading about drying green wood and have read that drying the wood is 80% and turning the wood is 20% of your effort. They were right!
Here is a wet turned piece from the center of a log. I haven't photographed the dry piece yet and plan to do that soon.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

The picture is too small to see any details.

You mention the centre of the log. Does the piece contain the pith - the very centre part of the tree? If so, this is likely to crack.

Most turners cut out the pith since it is the part which nearly always cracks.

I have only turned a dry piece of pear. Nice looking wood, tough on the tools. Need to refresh the edge often.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

Bradford pear is a wonderful wood to turn. I like turning it green and drying it and then finish turning it. And as Dave said, cut the pith out of it. :laughing:


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## JohnInTexas (Apr 1, 2014)

Thanks for the input on the photo. Let's try this.


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## JohnInTexas (Apr 1, 2014)

Here is another angle. After it dried out, I recently put it back on the lathe and did a final sanding and sealing. I'll add an update photo soon. You are right about the pith cracking and I have had issues even cutting the pith out. I had so much trouble with cracks that I recently made a turning that I completely hollowed out like a sleeve. I'll also post a photo of that piece. It was from a huge sycamore and that is some pretty wood!


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

If you would like some inspiration of something to turn from pear, check out the *website of Michael Gibson*.


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## JohnInTexas (Apr 1, 2014)

Bill, thanks for the link for Michael Gibson....wonder how he does the teapot spouts.

As promised, here are photos of the final sanding and finish for the pear bowl. I have hinted I had a little cracking trouble :>)



















I still have this log with the nice red streak through the heartwood for a few more projects. Maybe I'll cut down the center and work with the halves. I'm as green as my wood at this point so I welcome all learning experiences.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

JohnInTexas said:


> Bill, thanks for the link for Michael Gibson....wonder how he does the teapot spouts.
> 
> As promised, here are photos of the final sanding and finish for the pear bowl. I have hinted I had a little cracking trouble :>)
> 
> I still have this log with the nice red streak through the heartwood for a few more projects. Maybe I'll cut down the center and work with the halves. I'm as green as my wood at this point so I welcome all learning experiences.


A little epoxy with coffee grounds mixed in to patch up that minor split and it will be good to go. :yes:

Splitting is what green does best and that piece of wood did an outstanding job. Here are a few hints o working with green wood:


When prepping green wood to make half-log turning blanks, make two cuts -- one on each side of the pith so that you wind up with two half-log blanks and one flat slab that will be between one and two inches thick. Make absolutely sure that there is zero pith in either half-log or it will split -- guaranteed.
Make sure to have your half log sections long enough because you will lose a few inches from each end due to unavoidable drying defects.
You can use the wood from the flat slab for smaller projects. Just cut away the pith in the center and you will have two pieces that are good for bottle stoppers, pens, tool handles, and other small items.
Coat the pieces that you won't be turning immediately with Anchorseal and store the wood in a cool dry place out of the weather and especially out of the sun.
Simple shapes like a smooth continuous curve are more stable and less likely to split than abrupt changes in diameter and things that result in wall thickness that is not uniform.
Face grain bowls are less likely to have problems with splitting than end grain bowls.
You can turn green wood all the way to completion if you turn it thin -- a quarter inch or less thickness.
Two things to avoid like the plague -- flat bottom and vertical walls -- they'll split every time -- and that is the most likely cause of your vessel splitting.
The standard practice is to rough turn green wood, coat it with Anchorseal, and then finish turning it after it has dried for about six months. The rule of thumb for wall thickness on a rough turned vessel is 10% of the diameter.


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## duncsuss (Aug 21, 2009)

Bill Boehme said:


> When prepping green wood to make half-log turning blanks, make two cuts -- one on each side of the pith so that you wind up with two half-log blanks and one flat slab that will be between one and two inches thick. Make absolutely sure that there is zero pith in either half-log or it will split -- guaranteed.


Bill explained it better than I've ever managed to put it into words, but I do have a diagram in case it's still confusing ...


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

Thanks for posting the great 3-D picture, Duncan. I was hoping that somebody had a picture to post because a verbal description can sometimes be hard to follow and besides ... a picture is worth a thousand words.

Just wondering ... is that log from an OSB tree.


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## duncsuss (Aug 21, 2009)

Bill Boehme said:


> OSB tree.


:laughing:


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## JohnInTexas (Apr 1, 2014)

I guess I'm slow today because it took a few minutes to figure out the OSB tree stuff. I'm checking on ordering epoxy in a gallon size.

I turned a piece of sycamore recently that didn't split. I took out the entire inside and left only a hollow sleve. It sure moved a lot but didn't crack. I posted photos in the...I think it's called "button wood" thread.

Thanks for the how-to on cutting out the pith. I have two problems and may go to counseling for them. I'm too greedy to cut a piece in half, and I'm too impatient to let a piece dry for six months.


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## duncsuss (Aug 21, 2009)

JohnInTexas said:


> I'm too greedy to cut a piece in half, and I'm too impatient to let a piece dry for six months.


You just have to reframe your view of the wood ... instead of looking at it as a single lump, you might choose to think of it as 2 bowls *plus* some pen blanks or bottle stopper blanks.

Doesn't that sound better than "one bowl (that will probably crack)"?

If the "turn to 10% of diameter" -- "let it dry" -- "finish turn" process is too drawn out for you, that's okay.

You just have to turn much thinner -- and to a uniform thickness -- on your first pass.

And don't leave the lathe unattended (even for a bathroom break) without wrapping the blank in Saran-wrap. Surface drying leads to shrinkage -- which leads to cracks and to out-of-round forms. The out-of-round is okay when you are done -- but if you ain't finished yet and the outside is oval, hollowing the inside round is going to give you uneven wall thickness (which contributes to cracking ...)


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## JohnInTexas (Apr 1, 2014)

Thanks, Duncan. If I turn it to final thickness while still wet, does that pretty much assume I'll have to hand sand the piece when it's dry since it will probably warp out of round some? I have sanded wet pieces but it clogs up the paper and seems useless to try to go to a fine grit at that point. I expect leaving a peg for my lathe chuck to hang on to would mess up the drying process for a thin piece.

I have a big stack of wet logs. Possibly I should get the chainsaw and cut the pith out of all of the logs and stack them inside my humidity-controlled garage to dry instead of storing as whole logs under a tarp.


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## duncsuss (Aug 21, 2009)

JohnInTexas said:


> If I turn it to final thickness while still wet, does that pretty much assume I'll have to hand sand the piece when it's dry since it will probably warp out of round some?


True. For sanding (when it's dried out) I use a hook/loop disk system in my cordless drill and it goes pretty fast. You'll probably have to sand the base/foot to stop it wobbling too.



> I have sanded wet pieces but it clogs up the paper and seems useless to try to go to a fine grit at that point.


I subscribe to the opinion that bowls turned to completion while green do not need to be sanded to the same degree. They will be a bit "rustic" anyway, so I wouldn't go for a super-smooth gloss finish.



> I expect leaving a peg for my lathe chuck to hang on to would mess up the drying process for a thin piece.


Not sure ... it could (because you have different thicknesses which will create internal tensions as they dry at different rates), but it might not.



> I have a big stack of wet logs. Possibly I should get the chainsaw and cut the pith out of all of the logs and stack them inside my humidity-controlled garage to dry instead of storing as whole logs under a tarp.


IMO this is a good idea. Slap some Anchorseal on the ends too (or a couple of coats of latex paint if you don't have Anchorseal). I usually don't paint the face-grain, just the end-grain. The objective is to slow the rate of drying through the ends, otherwise they will dry and shrink much faster than a few inches in from the end (= trouble.)


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## JohnInTexas (Apr 1, 2014)

Excellent! I'll sharpen the chainsaw and create a little sawdust. 

Here is the sycamore....I'm a little distracted from the pear wood after turning this piece. I LOVE the colors!


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## ghost5 (Aug 19, 2012)

I turn a lot of Bradford pear and if it is green I turn it thin to finish the hope for the best. I have 2 kilns and some time so now I dry it but it throws some mean chips when dry those things hurt when they hit skin.


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## JohnInTexas (Apr 1, 2014)

The comments and advice have been most helpful. I cut a few pieces down yesterday for drying and I picked out a piece to turn wet. I tried turning a bowl with bark left on the rim. The piece was right for it but the operator made too many slips and knocked the bark rim off. I can tell I need to invest in a motorized tool sharpener.

I'm doing some final sanding on the bowl, just a simple one but the pear wood speaks for itself. I turned it thin and it was almost dry by the time I was ready to sand it. I still need to remove the chuck stem, so photos will come later.


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## ghost5 (Aug 19, 2012)

JohnInTexas said:


> The comments and advice have been most helpful. I cut a few pieces down yesterday for drying and I picked out a piece to turn wet. I tried turning a bowl with bark left on the rim. The piece was right for it but the operator made too many slips and knocked the bark rim off. I can tell I need to invest in a motorized tool sharpener.
> 
> I'm doing some final sanding on the bowl, just a simple one but the pear wood speaks for itself. I turned it thin and it was almost dry by the time I was ready to sand it. I still need to remove the chuck stem, so photos will come later.


John when I do one like that after I sand it I put it in an inside closet for 4-5 days maybe longer depending on how thin. It seems to help a lot on movement. Be sure to remove the tenon before drying that can cause major crackage.


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## JohnInTexas (Apr 1, 2014)

Ghost, this inside closet thing is intriguing....thanks for the tip but isn't it the humidity or lack thereof that you are seeking...or are you true to your namesake and just like dark places? :>)

Regarding my small bowl in progress, you are probably right that failing to remove the tenon before drying can cause major crackage. It's also true that failure to properly secure the bowl WHILE removing the tenon can also cause major crackage. Here is a photo with the "major crackage" turned around to the back.


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## JohnInTexas (Apr 1, 2014)

Ghost, since you turn pear, have you had trouble sanding out what would appear to be tool marks but the never go away? I think the streaks around the upper half of the bowl above are examples. I tried sanding again after coating with some....I forget the brand but it's like tung oil....and letting it dry overnight but the rough patch persists. Maybe my oil isn't soaking in far enough to keep the deeper fibers adhered?


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Removing tool marks can be a challenge.

The sander is not getting into the smaller areas due to having a much larger surface area than the tool which made the marks.

You either need to take light scraping cuts with the wing of a fingernail grind bowl gouge or a scraper, or a card scraper. I saw a demo a few weeks ago where the person used a card scraper on the outside of a bowl.

I tried this myself. It does work. A lot of control from the card scraper. The burr will not last long, so be prepared to refresh the burr often. It leaves a better surface than sanding, but not as good as the bevel rub from a turning tool.

A card scraper may get rid of your "streaks".


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## JohnInTexas (Apr 1, 2014)

Thanks Dave! I'm learning something new with each piece...just goes to show, one good turn deserves another.


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