Pen from my Bradford Pear tree

I’ve been staying with my Dad in the KCMO area for the past several weeks while he recovers from back surgery. There are a lot of Bradford pears around here. I can see by your pen that it has a very nice looking wood.

Sometimes that lack of grain is just what you want. It lets the shape of the object speak for itself without the added distraction of fancy grain. I like the shape of your pen. Nice design. Nice work.

-- Best regards, Jack -- I may not be good, but I'm slow -- www.BarnhillWoodworks.com

Jay, more things you can do with plain wood like that is to experiment with dyes and stains. Try used coffee grounds, that always sparks a nice conversation to new prospective clients. Despite what you call plain grain, I think you did good with it. Not to mention that you have enough wood for, say, another couple of pens.

-- Backer boards, stop blocks, build oversized, and never buy a hand plane--

Plain wood can be fantastic. First off this one seems to have a great color (although I wonder how much it’ll darken over time, looking at the log in the back) and secondly it’d be a great wood to couple with another one for a very nice classy contrast. Being so plain you might not even need a wild grained wood, but a “regular” one will probably look very interesting and complex next to this pear already.

Could also be great for carvings that need a wood without much grain to not destroy forms and readability of shapes and such. How hard/easy is it to work with?

Thanks for all the insightful comments! I have plenty of pen blanks so I might try staining them with coffee since that sounds like fun. Bradford pear turns very easily and feels softer than the average hardwood, it sands easily too. I didn’t know what to expect since there doesn’t seem to be a lot of bradford pear projects around here.

Okay the guys above already said it all :)

-- Thomas - There is no such thing as a problem, there only are solutions.

Jay, the pen looks pretty good. Thanks for posting it as I have some bradford pear froma tree we took down last summer and have been wondering how it would turn out. How long did you let this piece dry before slicing it into blanks?

CtL

-- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."

I cut the log into blanks less than an hour after it was cut from the tree. I don’t have a band saw, so it took some elbow grease with a chisel and hand planes. (planing green wood sure is fun!) I figured the smaller blanks will dry much quicker than if I let the log dry first.

I Too made a pen from a bradford pear tree. The log I cut had some wavy(Curley) grain though.

Check it out in my Pictures

-- Pat - Worker of Wood, Collector of Tools, Father of one

I have some Bradford Pear wood from when a windstorm took ours down. Still haven’t gotten around to using it but a pen is on the list.

-- You're a unique and special person, just like everyone else.

The pen does look wonderful. I had heard of the coffee grounds before and had forgotten about them. I will have to try it before I forget again. Again, the pen is great. Maybe you can miss with another species

-- Norman