Anyone have experience with pearwood?

paul ron said:
i have an 80 year old pear tree in my back yard. i often cut old dead branches and save them as fire wood... never thought of using it for ships till i joined here.

so should i cut the wood while its fresh or let it air dry for a certain time, then cut it into workable billets or planks? what is a good diameter of a branch for cutting into planks?
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With branches of 3" in diameter or less one old UK method is to cut them into short lengths - say 12 inches or less if the branches are not straight and split them down the middle with an axe- the split will follow the grain. Then they are stacked horizontally and turned now and then. After a yearn a dry place the bark will almost fall off. Strip the bark and leave them to dry a little more and then saw them to whatever size you want.
 
Jack Sparrow said:
Just wondering if pearwood is a difficult material to work with? does it sand well? does it cut well?
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Pear wood is a great material to work with. Very easy to sand. It has a very tight grain and is relatively soft and does not split when making small or delicate cuts. The colour is great too
 
The pear wood is good to use, but the fruits are also good to use, try to make "Poires au vin". Those are delicious. Here is the recipe:
It consists of pears, fruity red wine (usually Beaujolais), and flavorings such as honey or sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, orange zest, peppercorns, and cloves.
The pears are poached in wine and other ingredients, and the combination is then brought to a boil. The pears, still slightly firm, are drained, while the remaining ingredients are thickened into a sauce which is then poured over the pears when served.
 
Steef66 said:
The pear wood is good to use, but the fruits are also good to use, try to make "Poires au vin". Those are delicious. Here is the recipe:
It consists of pears, fruity red wine (usually Beaujolais), and flavorings such as honey or sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, orange zest, peppercorns, and cloves.
The pears are poached in wine and other ingredients, and the combination is then brought to a boil. The pears, still slightly firm, are drained, while the remaining ingredients are thickened into a sauce which is then poured over the pears when served.
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that sounds delicious. I wonder if white wine would be good too?
 
Keef said:
Pear wood is a great material to work with. Very easy to sand. It has a very tight grain and is relatively soft and does not split when making small or delicate cuts. The colour is great too
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that's great to know, thanks
 
Getting a hold of pear is sometimes expensive and difficult to get correct. Workability - lovely. Carving to …..
Other woods of course for specific areas.
My favourite is English lime, pear, apple, box wood etc…. There are others.
If you have keep your hands on them… or the Humphrey’s not only take milk :)))
 
As others have noted, there are varieties of pearwood. I was given a lovely board of dark pearwood that has been useful for many projects. I made the blocks for my 1/96 model of the schooner Elsie with this wood because it held up better than boxwood for the smallest blocks. I recently finished this 1/96 model of the armed colonial schooner, using Harold Hahn's plans for Hannah. using pearwood from an old tree in our back yard. Deadeyes and cleats were purchased from Model Dockyard, but all else was made from the old tree's wood. This includes cannon barrels and anchors, stained with MinWax Ebony (possibly no longer available). The old wood was temperamental, but it was an enjoyable project

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If you can saw your own planks and wood to smal usable pieces, search the internet or stores around for second hand furniture that are made out of cherry. There was a time this was very populair to use for furniture. And therefore easy to get for a low price, just need to watch out for a cheap deal. I did and I have a lot for a few Euro. And cherry is perfect to use for modelling, it is like pear but harder. You even can use it for carving.
 
Swiss Pearwood (Pyrus Communis) or European Pearwood is extremely desirable for all aspects of model ship building from Keel to frames, planking and beyond. It is relatively expensive but for a project that will take years I wonder what other hobby is so inexpensive in the long term. English Boxwood (Buxus Serpemvirens) is the wood for miniature sculpture, Blocks, Deadeyes, Cleats, Belaying Pins etc. Of course bleached Holly has been used for decks by many along with other accent woods.
I use Japanese Plum (Eriobotrya Japonica) it is also known as Loquat here in Florida it is abundant as a decorative tree and the wood is very uniform, tight grain and machines easily. For this you would have to see when neighbors are trimming or cutting the tree and you can pick up for free. In my opinion it is just as good as Pear if not better.
Another excellent wood is Cafe-Wood (Caffea Arabica) but very difficult to obtain. Light uniform creamy tight grain machines beautifully. English Plum and Zapote these two have an intense deep reddish brown color to them and are similar in hardness and grain to English Boxwood. Finally Buxus Serpemvirens is rare commercially but it grows in many regions. Most of the wood in the images is Japanese Plum, the darker brown is Zapote and the little man is Boxwood (Buxus…..!) not Castello.

Roman

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Jack Sparrow said:
Just wondering if pearwood is a difficult material to work with? does it sand well? does it cut well?
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I used Alder for the hull of my scratch build of HMS Serapis.

BUT I used Pearwood for all the carvings. I found it easier to carve, sand and file. It also seemed to accept the different WATCO wood oils better than the alder. Buy some and I think you will love it!!

Figurehead is Pear

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As well as the Quarterdeck and Stern decorations

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My memory is that the steamed has a more distinctly pinkish colour. I have just cut a pear tree in my yard and the natural tint of the wood is not so red, at least not in the fresh cut surfaces.

I have found pear a very nice wood to work, with similar hardness but more even grain than apple. As noted above, I would not used it for sculptures. The grain structure is fine enough to mimic many shipbuilding woods at scale and tends to cut cleanly. It also does not get fuzzy when sanding.
 
No wood is forgiving when carving at the scales we use. Obviously the larger the figure the more options one has in wood species. When I carved these figures for my good friend Vic, he wanted them done in Pear. I found myself coating them with Saflower Oil to harden the surface as the carvings progressed it was getting too fussy for details. Boxwood would have given them more definition (sharper details)

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fred.hocker said:
But look at what Brad did in his post just as I was writing mine! Nice carvings.

Fred
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If it is dried well and it is the right part of the tree not impossible. Also a drill with dental cutters is the best option, you sand the wood and not cut. In that way you can make little details. I used Apple for a few weeks to try carving. And there is a lot possible.
This is Apple, shellac and bitune/beeswax finish.
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