Pecan Wood

[acaron41120]

My neighbor lost part of his pecan tree. The only thing left was a 4 ft piece of the trunk which was in good condition. He cut that down and ground the stump. He knew I build wood model boats and asked if I wanted it. I said sure and have it in the back by my fence drying out. Now for my question. Is pecan a good wood to use in making a model boat? I have the plans of the Bluenose and I would like to try my first scratch build of the ship using pecan. What say ye master builders?

[mtaylor]

Have a look here:   https://www.wood-database.com/pecan/    They do say this about workability but I'd read the whole article on it before deciding:   Workability: Difficult to work, with tearout being common during machining operations if cutting edges are not kept sharp; the wood tends to blunt cutting edges. Glues, stains, and finishes well. Responds well to steam bending.

[Jaager]

The Wood Database translated to relevant

the wood is hard

it is essentially interchanged with Hickory - which means that it is open pore. The grain and pores do not scale well.  Sealed and painted or hidden, it should do as well as Hickory, Ash, Oak, Walnut.  It is apparently tricky to mill - tearout or burn if tool edges are not really sharp.  

 

If it were Apple or other fruitwood you would want to kill for it.  Nutwood is better for 1:1 scale projects.

If you seal the ends well, debark, protect from rain, give it good airflow, when seasoned  -1 year per inch - you will have a good utility wood - jigs - inside the hull parts.

I can get other nutwood - Oak, Walnut, Ash - already seasoned and in rectangular form from Yukon Lumber right now. 

It is not trash, (anything in the Cottonwood family is trash),  but for a one off, learning to mill, not going to expand to other really desirable and otherwise unobtainable species,  the specific reward from this log will be relatively low.  I would probably process it and try to make something unique from a small fraction of it as a gift to the neighbor.  Now, if you have neighbors with Apple trees, Plum, Crab Apple, Japanese Plum (Loquat), Hawtorn, Dogwood,  possibly Peach if you can beat the fungus,  and given the prices Holly - for us less than snow white and even Blue Mold infected Holly is right at the top of desirable - -- bribe them -  be a wood vampire.

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Have the pecan slab-cut asap and stack with slickers to dry in a covered space (garage or shed) over the winter, then move the stack indoors (adjusting the spacers periodically) for a year.  Dap the ends with melted wax to limit checking.

 

  I was given a freshly cut 3' long x 8" diameter apple wood log by a friend some years ago, and at the time had a radial arm saw with a head that could index 90 degrees,  So I got fancy and figured out a pattern to maximize quarter-sawn pieces.  The whole house smelled like "Christmas" the day of cutting.  The drying was uneventful, and half of the stash remains.