Spent yesterday helping a friend saw large Pecan trees blown down during our hurricane last Oct. Now the question is; how to best care for the lumber? Some of this lumber is to be used for flooring and some to make furniture. Does it need to be kiln dryed or will air drying enhance the retention of color? Any concise source for this info? All help appreciated. Thanks, Phil
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Drying Pecan
- Thread starter pfduffy
- Start date
If it's fresh cut, for any wood, you should coat the ends with AnchorSeal wax. WoodCraft carries it. Failing that, coat it a few times with paint. Otherwise you will get huge cracks.
And you didn't indicate if you've already resawn it. Resawing into extra thick planks will relieve some of the stress and also allow it to dry faster. You should sticker the stacks to ensure good airflow. And it should be protected from the elements with tarps. When it's dry you can plane the stuff down to size. It's a lot of work, but essentially free.
One of my buddies had a $15k mill, just enough to do the work. Worked great. The hard part was loading the logs and repositioning for the next cut. We air dried everything (Austin, TX). Some of it took 2-3 years but what's the hurry? Air drying is free.
And you didn't indicate if you've already resawn it. Resawing into extra thick planks will relieve some of the stress and also allow it to dry faster. You should sticker the stacks to ensure good airflow. And it should be protected from the elements with tarps. When it's dry you can plane the stuff down to size. It's a lot of work, but essentially free.
One of my buddies had a $15k mill, just enough to do the work. Worked great. The hard part was loading the logs and repositioning for the next cut. We air dried everything (Austin, TX). Some of it took 2-3 years but what's the hurry? Air drying is free.
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I was given some pecan last year. I sawed the trunk into 5 bolts, the longest being about 4 feet so I could manage them by myself. Originally I sawed half into lumber and planned to use the other half for bowl blanks. Before you read on, just remember that NOW I think it’s great for bowls, but if you had asked me 8 months ago…
After green-turning five or six blanks, I decided to mill the rest of it into lumber. The wood was kind of wooly, especially at the bottom of the bowls. I tried spindle-turning some stock (to practice the skew chisel) and got a fair bit of tear-out in spots. A few days after roughing the first bowls I noticed they were warping like crazy. I figured I’d try soaking some fresh-turned rough-outs in Pentacryl stabilizer. That was interesting. I was going to wipe it on. When I poured some into the bowl it was so porous that it leaked all over my bench. I put it in a bucket, but it was still a mess.
The Pentacryl worked, but the wood is pretty plain looking, so unless it is spalted (I hear it spalts well), I didn't think it is worth the extra trouble.
Flash forward to this week. After about 8 months of seasoning, I chucked-up the first bowl. It was not warped all that bad after all. Apparently all the movement was in the first week (or so it seems). Now that it is dry, it turns fantastic with no tear-out at all. It sands easy and polishes very nicely with minimal effort. I finished the bowl with Hut PPP and then a final polish with plain beeswax (no need for a food-safe finish on a bowl that leaks). I now wish I had not sawed up all the bowl stock.
So, although your experience may prove to be different, I would say rough turn the bowls a little thick, don’t worry about the warping or tear-out, coat them with green-wood sealer so they don't crack, and let them season for 6-8 months. They should clean up really good.
BH
After green-turning five or six blanks, I decided to mill the rest of it into lumber. The wood was kind of wooly, especially at the bottom of the bowls. I tried spindle-turning some stock (to practice the skew chisel) and got a fair bit of tear-out in spots. A few days after roughing the first bowls I noticed they were warping like crazy. I figured I’d try soaking some fresh-turned rough-outs in Pentacryl stabilizer. That was interesting. I was going to wipe it on. When I poured some into the bowl it was so porous that it leaked all over my bench. I put it in a bucket, but it was still a mess.
The Pentacryl worked, but the wood is pretty plain looking, so unless it is spalted (I hear it spalts well), I didn't think it is worth the extra trouble.
Flash forward to this week. After about 8 months of seasoning, I chucked-up the first bowl. It was not warped all that bad after all. Apparently all the movement was in the first week (or so it seems). Now that it is dry, it turns fantastic with no tear-out at all. It sands easy and polishes very nicely with minimal effort. I finished the bowl with Hut PPP and then a final polish with plain beeswax (no need for a food-safe finish on a bowl that leaks). I now wish I had not sawed up all the bowl stock.
So, although your experience may prove to be different, I would say rough turn the bowls a little thick, don’t worry about the warping or tear-out, coat them with green-wood sealer so they don't crack, and let them season for 6-8 months. They should clean up really good.
BH
Maybe I got lucky Bob, or mine are extra thick. I roughed a small batch of Pecan around September last year and they haven't warped much. They are pretty thick though (about 1.25" for 12" bowls). And the grain didn't seem all that fascinating but it looks like some nice creamy color. So maybe they will get stained or decorated some way when they get finish turned.
Someone told me they get hard as a rock when dry (i.e. pecan-crete). But a lot of the woods in Texas are like that so I'm getting accustomed to working with hard pieces.
Someone told me they get hard as a rock when dry (i.e. pecan-crete). But a lot of the woods in Texas are like that so I'm getting accustomed to working with hard pieces.
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That is FUNNY. Maybe you could be the first guy to specialize in turning petrified wood.
BH
BH
Pecan wood
Somehow I missed this thread! I was 'given' the branches from a monster pecan that had blown down in VA's Northern Neck area over a year ago. Although it had been on the ground for almost a year, everything was still very wet and some of the branch pieces I harvested were over two feet in diameter. The trunk has been since sawn into about 700 board feet of lumber and the parts I got have been sitting at the end of my driveway. I have turned four bowls thus far out of it (probably twenty more to go!) and in spite of it all being reaction wood, have had great success. For the last piece, I used the microwave trick, but not to completely dry. It did warp slightly around the rim, but the base is still flat. The color variations along with some bark inclusions have made this a serious attention-getter at the craft fairs my wife and I have been doing. There's no way I'd turn any of the rest of it into lumber.
Somehow I missed this thread! I was 'given' the branches from a monster pecan that had blown down in VA's Northern Neck area over a year ago. Although it had been on the ground for almost a year, everything was still very wet and some of the branch pieces I harvested were over two feet in diameter. The trunk has been since sawn into about 700 board feet of lumber and the parts I got have been sitting at the end of my driveway. I have turned four bowls thus far out of it (probably twenty more to go!) and in spite of it all being reaction wood, have had great success. For the last piece, I used the microwave trick, but not to completely dry. It did warp slightly around the rim, but the base is still flat. The color variations along with some bark inclusions have made this a serious attention-getter at the craft fairs my wife and I have been doing. There's no way I'd turn any of the rest of it into lumber.
Steve Worcester
Admin Emeritus
In my experience with Pecan, the best stuff for bowls is usually the closest to the ground. It will have nice red spots in it, that will dry to a creamy brown.
It does warp a bit, tears out wet, dry is nice to turn, but is pretty hard. We call it Pecancrete down here.
Anchor seal the bowls when done and let air dry a year or so out of the sun. It will spalt easily if turned wet and wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, like butchers use.
Air drying will retain more color and figure than kiln drying.
It does warp a bit, tears out wet, dry is nice to turn, but is pretty hard. We call it Pecancrete down here.
Anchor seal the bowls when done and let air dry a year or so out of the sun. It will spalt easily if turned wet and wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, like butchers use.
Air drying will retain more color and figure than kiln drying.
RE: pecan-crete: I bought some pecan boards about 20 years ago for the kids to use in my shop class. The boards quickly dulled my planer knives and I almost went deaf from the noise. It was the last time I ordered any. Really HARD stuff when dry!!
Joe
Joe
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Pecan is a hickory
Pecan is a Hickory and Hickory gets harder and harder as it dries and heavy too.
Pecan is not very abundant in Maryland but last year's hurrican toppled several very large ones. One was loaded with bird pecks and was quite nice.
I prefer to turn this wood green.
Happy turning,
Al
Pecan is a Hickory and Hickory gets harder and harder as it dries and heavy too.
Pecan is not very abundant in Maryland but last year's hurrican toppled several very large ones. One was loaded with bird pecks and was quite nice.
I prefer to turn this wood green.
Happy turning,
Al