Wood from Bradford Pear

[JEBMs]

Tree guys cut down a Bradford Pear tree in the cemetery down the road from me. The orange color of the wood made me stop and take a look at it. I’ve never liked these trees due to the smell certain time of the year and the mess when it sheds its blooms. Is this wood good for anything?

 

[david w]

Bradford pear has no intrinsic value.

 

[rchas]

fruit woods tend to be pretty dense. I know pear wood has been used to make musical instruments, but bradford pear? Good for firewood at least.

 

[david w]

Not even goo for firewood. Smells bad.

 

[JEBMs]

Thanks for the replies, they can just keep hauling it off then.

 

[DiMarco_Mercantile]

I for one love Bradford pear wood, it makes excellent utensils, handles for hatchets and knives, and is beautiful when oiled. It’s tight straight grain, with plenty of elasticity and a hardness similar to maple. It carves and polishes beautifully as well.

Since it’s invasive and the tree structure poor, there’s always plenty to be found. It’s truly a gem and I can’t get enough! Anyone who disagrees is wrong

 

[LANEY REECE]

You can turn if you have a wood lathe,makes nice bowls,, nice to carve and make spoons,forks.butterknives,also knives handles as shown above. great color when you stain it. I like it to turn on my lathe, good grain.

 

[James Kibler]

It can be an absolutely fantastic wood, as DiMarco mentioned. I've stocked rifles in it and it's one of my favorites. An example:

https://www.jimkibler.net/rifle-3.html

 

[1950DAVE]

there Was a Bradford pear growing near the door of my warehouse/shop bldg when I was contracting. We had an ice storm and the tree was splattered all over the ground. The wood is very brittle. And I learned t hate the thorns that seemed to be worse with the second growth, and the smell of the decaying flowers smells distinctly of rotting fish.I turn bowls from nearly any wood that grows near me but I refuse Bradford pear as a matter of principal. I rank it with Privet but it seems to be far more invasive.

 

[James Kibler]

In use a stock wood I’ve not found it to be brittle in the slightest.

 

[Brokennock]

I'm finding the polar opposite perspectives here interesting. It certainly looks nice and those who have made items with it and like are showing some beautiful work.
I'm curious as to the differences in experiences with this wood.
Are there male and female trees like some other fruit and nut trees? Could this be a difference?

 

[bgfco]

It can be an absolutely fantastic wood, as DiMarco mentioned. I've stocked rifles in it and it's one of my favorites. An example:

https://www.jimkibler.net/rifle-3.html

What a fine gun in appearance and workmanship. The wood is beautiful. Congrat's

 

[Barry Strickland]

If you happen to know any model ship builders in your area they will prize this wood. With it's very close grain it makes very thin strips of planking for their modeling purposes.
I have another friend who spends all his time in the workshop turning bowls. He also loves this wood.
Barry

 

[Rifleman1776]

You can turn if you have a wood lathe,

I once turned a rolling pin for my wife from Bradford Pear. It was like scraping granite. Turned out OK but wood was feature less. Never again.

 

[1950DAVE]

Avoid it like poison ivy.

 

[rickpa]

We had 2 Bradford pears in our yard that came down in a windstorm. Saved me the trouble of taking them down. The root system is very hardy. Even after having the stumps ground one of them kept sending up shoots for 4 years some as far as 10 feet from the trunk. I had to continously kill them and yank them out. I still have a bunch of wood stored in a closed box along the garage. Might have to check into using some of it for scales and handles. Should be dry by now.

 

[Jay Templin]

View attachment 276692
Tree guys cut down a Bradford Pear tree in the cemetery down the road from me. The orange color of the wood made me stop and take a look at it. I’ve never liked these trees due to the smell certain time of the year and the mess when it sheds its blooms. Is this wood good for anything?

Bradford pear is fine for turning- I’ve used a fair amount of it as one split and fell on a coworker’s car and I was invited to help myself. Free wood is my favorite! It has a decent grain, not as tight as real pear. This is the base for a rushlight.
Jay

 

[James Kibler]

I’ve used 2-3 trees of Bradford peat and they all have been extremely good. Believe me I know what quality wood is! I think it a poor tree, but makes nice wood if that makes sense.

 

[LME]

I'm finding the polar opposite perspectives here interesting. It certainly looks nice and those who have made items with it and like are showing some beautiful work.
I'm curious as to the differences in experiences with this wood.
Are there male and female trees like some other fruit and nut trees? Could this be a difference?

Some times I have looked at a piece of wood and thought it was a certain wood and found out it was something different. I have a shop full of different wood and generally can name the species, whos land it came off of and when it was cut down and I still get some woods confused after many years of working with it?

 

[rp77469]

I've used Bradford pear to make replacement handles for socket chisels I restore. I turn a spigot on my on the end, thread on a brass compression nut, then mount on the wood lathe and turn it into a strike plate using a parting tool. It holds up just fine so far, but I beat on it with a wood mallet instead of anything metallic. Like others said it makes good cups and bowls. The lower trunk and crotches can have some very interesting grain patterns. The wife and I like to use it to smoke chicken as it is a more delicate smoke than mesquite, oak or hickory.