What type of wood is Unicorn calling Pear??

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BradNSW

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Most of the wood Unicorn uses for planking interior cabins has a VERY red hue. IMHO it is not pear, as advertised.

I was trying to add additional walls in the shot locker, so I pulled out some leftover pear from my HMS Serapis build. When I put the same clear WATCO oil on and compared it to the planking supplied by Unicorn it is totally different (see photo below).
20240511_153223.jpg
I also took a picture of the planking for Unicorn's Bonhomme Richard and compared it to the planking on my scratch (alder and pear) Serapis and again, the Unicorn planks have this unnatural red hue, compared to the alder and pear in the Serapis.
20240511_153113.jpg

Can anyone give insight into what this red hued wood Unicorn is calling pear planking might be? For the price, I was hoping to get pear for the interior cabin planking.

It seems the structural elements Frames/Riders/Beams also have this red hue but not the the extent of the interior cabin planking sheets.
 
BradNSW said:
Most of the wood Unicorn uses for planking interior cabins has a VERY red hue. IMHO it is not pear, as advertised.

I was trying to add additional walls in the shot locker, so I pulled out some leftover pear from my HMS Serapis build. When I put the same clear WATCO oil on and compared it to the planking supplied by Unicorn it is totally different (see photo below).
View attachment 446785
I also took a picture of the planking for Unicorn's Bonhomme Richard and compared it to the planking on my scratch (alder and pear) Serapis and again, the Unicorn planks have this unnatural red hue, compared to the alder and pear in the Serapis.
View attachment 446786

Can anyone give insight into what this red hued wood Unicorn is calling pear planking might be? For the price, I was hoping to get pear for the interior cabin planking.

It seems the structural elements Frames/Riders/Beams also have this red hue but not the the extent of the interior cabin planking sheets.
Click to expand...
The wood I got from unicorn for the Bonhomme was definitely pear.
From your picture this wood looks like purple heart but I can’t see them using that.
If you paid for pear it sure doesn’t look like it.
 
Can anyone give insight into what this red hued wood Unicorn is calling pear planking might be? For the price, I was hoping to get pear for the interior cabin planking.

actually it may not be pearwood Pyrus communis

what might be in the kits is Baillonella toxisperma
Heartwood is a rather uniform pinkish brown, sometimes darker reddish brown. Color tends to darken with age. Sapwood is grayish brown. Figured grain patterns are also seen, such as pommele, quilted, mottled, and beeswing.

the trade name is African Pearwood so if your being sold "pearwood" it is not real pearwood but sold as pearwood. Same as Castello boxwood it is not boxwood that is only a trade name.

i can not see steamed pearwood being used in production kits because of the cost. I use to buy pearwood at $9.00 a board foot then $12.00 and now $26.00 a board foot.
 
Dave,
Thanks for the feedback!

You said the... "Color tends to darken with age. Sapwood is grayish brown. Figured grain patterns are also seen, such as pommele, quilted, mottled, and beeswing."

I'm sure hoping it darkens toward the brown hues and not darker red.

There is almost no visible grain in the wood and it seems significantly softer than the pearwood I've used before.

Oh well...I'll work with whatever it is. Maybe experiment with some stains to see if I can get the pink hues to lean toward brown.
 
BradNSW said:
Oh well...I'll work with whatever it is. Maybe experiment with some stains to see if I can get the pink hues to lean toward brown.
Click to expand...
Try potassium permanganate crystals dissolved in water. By varying the strength you might get the colour you want.
 
Alan,

Thanks for the response. I googled it and lots of woodworkers and gunsmiths are using it to age wood.

I ordered 16oz's and will see what it does to rid the wood of this red hue! I'll post results of my trials and results.
 
whiskers said:
The wood I got from unicorn for the Bonhomme was definitely pear.
From your picture this wood looks like purple heart but I can’t see them using that.
If you paid for pear it sure doesn’t look like it.
Click to expand...
The picture shows the kit wood with a coat of clear Watco Swedish wood oil on it. The oil made it drastically redder.

Certainly not like my stash of pearwood, treated with the same oil.

I'm going to play with some things to see if I can get rid of this strong red hue. Will keep all posted.
 
Dave Stevens (Lumberyard) said:
a pink hue is common in steamed pearwood to the left is natural pear, Steamed pearwood has a wide range of color i have seen it as dark as Mahogany.


View attachment 446861

the pinkish plank looks like steamed pearwood or Moabi sold as pearwood

View attachment 446863
Click to expand...
Praise be! finally someone expresses the natural characteristics of timbers, their idiosyncratic colour variations and natural maturations. --- I love it. Thank you Dave Stevens.
 
BradNSW said:
Most of the wood Unicorn uses for planking interior cabins has a VERY red hue. IMHO it is not pear, as advertised.

I was trying to add additional walls in the shot locker, so I pulled out some leftover pear from my HMS Serapis build. When I put the same clear WATCO oil on and compared it to the planking supplied by Unicorn it is totally different (see photo below).
View attachment 446785
I also took a picture of the planking for Unicorn's Bonhomme Richard and compared it to the planking on my scratch (alder and pear) Serapis and again, the Unicorn planks have this unnatural red hue, compared to the alder and pear in the Serapis.
View attachment 446786

Can anyone give insight into what this red hued wood Unicorn is calling pear planking might be? For the price, I was hoping to get pear for the interior cabin planking.

It seems the structural elements Frames/Riders/Beams also have this red hue but not the the extent of the interior cabin planking sheets.
Click to expand...
Pear varies, you can get light or dark from Hobbymill. This looks pretty similar to the dark I have.
 
The pink pear you show looks pretty much like the pear I have received in kits and is, to me, what I'm looking for in pear. I think it is what is called Swiss Pear which has been steamed. I actually love the look of it, and prefer it to natural pear, but of course that is a personal preference.
 
Alan Smith said:
Try potassium permanganate crystals dissolved in water. By varying the strength you might get the colour you want.
Click to expand...
Alan, I tried the potassium permanganate. It's actually sold on Amazon as an algicide for Koi Ponds. (see photo below)

It turned the wood a nice dark brown and got rid of the pink/red hues. (see photo 2 below). Middle piece is raw...top and bottom planks were treated on the left side.

Unfortunately, it was too dark, at any strength to bring out brown hues and hide the reds. I'll survive with the colors; it was just all the thin planks for the staterooms and shot locker seem totally different (much redder). Oh well.

Anyway, thanks for the hint on potassium permanganate...it may come in handy some time down the line.
20240526_150223.jpg

20240526_145934.jpg
 
If you use Potassium Permanganate try some on some scrap first and let it age for a while. I used it to stain a curly maple muzzleloading rifle stock and found that it can produce an objectionable green tint.

Roger
 
Roger Pellett said:
If you use Potassium Permanganate try some on some scrap first and let it age for a while. I used it to stain a curly maple muzzleloading rifle stock and found that it can produce an objectionable green tint.

Roger
Click to expand...
Can't find the test strips I did a few months ago to see if this happened. Thanks for the heads up and I'll keep this in mind if I decide to use it in the future.
 
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