Reportedly there are about 20 species of pear that grow in North America, Europe, and parts of western and southeast Asia. Most are fruit trees, all are small by lumber standards, and at least one, the Bradford pear (P. calleryana) is a fruitless ornamental tree.
The exceptionally fine, smooth, texture make this an ideal wood for carving, and since the tree is small this wood is pretty much limited to carving, turning, and small ornamental objects. Lumber and veneer production is mostly from the common pear (P. communis) and the Swiss pear (P. nivalis). When steamed, it takes on a brighter pink color than unsteamed.
Reportedly subject to severe twisting during drying.
my samples:
both sides of a sample plank listed as pear / Pyrus spp.
end grain and end grain closeup of the sample plank directly above
both sides of a sample plank of pearwood / Pyrus communis
end grain and end grain closeup for the piece directly above
small piece and end grain. This sample, at least, is a delightfully smooth even-grained wood; I'll bet carvers love it. This was presented to me as French pearwood.
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
Bradford pearwood, donated to the site by Harold Stroud, whom I thank very much. Color is quite accurate although I had to turn the white sheet background slightly orange to get the wood to look correct. Like the French pearwood above this, this wood is very smooth and fairly even-grained (although less so than the French) and feels as though it would carve well. Although you can't particularly tell it from the pics, I fine-sanded this and it feels wonderfully smooth to the touch, and the end grain closeups directly below show the smooth grain and small pores.
end grain closeups of both ends of the piece directly above --- the color has a slight red tint where it should have a slight orange tint
the rest of the plank donated by Harold Stroud --- again, the color is correct although on this shot there is maybe just a hint too much gold/orange
end grain closeup of the piece directly abvove
a small plank and a sliver of Bartlett pear, donated to the site by Roy Gobets, whom I thank. One side of the sliver has a deep patina and the other side is the relatively freshly cut side.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
curly swiss pearwood veneer --- very smooth to the touch and with a pleasant curly figure
quartersawn Swiss pearwood
quartersawn Swiss pearwood with minor ray flakes that you can see better in the enlargement
quartersawn Swiss pearwood showing some nice ray flakes
flat cut veneer sheet and closeup --- no designation other than "pearwood" was given but this looks exactly like the curly Swiss pearwood at the top of the page except that the curl is less pronounced.
veneer, flat cut and with a very slight curl and just slightly more color shading in the color than the very uniform pinkish color of the quartersawn veneer sheets above. Down below in the web pics section, there is a large batch of veneer sheets listed as all from the same vendor. These sheets are from that vendor and are noticibly darker in color than the pics he presents but that may be because it's a different flitch for all the others.
flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
pearwood (Pyrus communis) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views
web pics
log section
plank with wet and dry sections
slabs
planks
planks --- I REALLY doubt the bright orange/gold color but I cannot say with absolute certainty that it is false
flat cut planks
plank
plank from a vendor whom I know distorts the color in his pics to make the wood appear more colorful than it is.
curly turning stock
two shots of the same plank
veneer
curly veneer
burl veneer
crotch veneer
Asian
Australian --- both sides of a plank and the same plank moistened with alcohol
European
European, end grain
European, specifically listed as Pirus [sic] communis
planks listed as figured European pearwood / Pyrus communis
planks listed as European pearwood / Pyrus communis --- these were not listed as curly but they clearly are
planks listed as pearwood / Pyrus communis
planks listed as Swiss pearwood / Pirus [sic] communis
European, figured veneer
North African
Swiss pearwood planks
Swiss pearwood plank moisten (and with a dry corner)
Swiss pearwood turning stock
figured pearwood pen blanks
Bradford pear pen blanks
flat cut "figured" Swiss, but not much of a figure
mottled Swiss veneer
bookmatched pearwood veneer, left to right: flat cut figured, flat cut plain, quartersawn, quartersawn figured
quartersawn Swiss veneer
flat cut Swiss veneer
two large pieces of flat cut Swiss Pearwood veneer
Swiss pearwood veneer, all from the same vendor
Swiss pearwood veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement available --- these are from the same set as those directly above
Swiss pearwood veneer
Swiss pearwood veneer; color is very unlikely
Swiss pearwood, flat cut figured veneer
figured swiss pearwood with wet and dry sections
Swiss pearwood, quilted veneer
two large pieces of quartersawn Swiss Pearwood veneer --- not listed as curly, but it obviously is.
curly Swiss pearwood veneer, all from the same vendor --- as you can see, the amount of curl ranges only from moderate to light, unlike the heavy average curl in some species.
curly Swiss pearwood veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement --- these are from the same vendor as the set directly above.
curly Swiss pearwood veneer
Swiss pearwood burl veneer, all bookmatched
crotch veneer
more web-pics of planks --- I'm dubious about the richness of the red/orange in these 3 pieces, but that could be just my inexperience.
pen blanks
spalted pen blanks
african pearwood; looks like a crotch area and/or with some spalting
Bradford pear turning by Harold Stroud (who contributed the Bradford pear sample at the top of this page). This has been dried in alcohol and finished with tung oil and wax
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