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| Home Painting Skills and Basics Paperhanging Home Decorating Interior Decorating Wood Identification |
PearPear is a northern temperate tree widely cultivated for its fruit, and most of the timber available commercially  comes from old orchard trees. The tree is at best of only modest size, lorn or exceptionally 10 m high, and often of poor stem-form. Similar woods are produced by the mountain ash, or rowan, by wild service and by whitebeam, although these tend to be a little paler than pear.Pearwood is pale pinkish-brown with a uniform and very line texture, liner than that of apple, and a straight or irregular grain according to the shape of the stem. It is moderately heavy, about the same weight as beech. Pear dries slowly with a tendency to distort, especially if the grain is irregular. It is strong, with a reputation for toughness, and is difficult to split. It is fairly hard to saw and, though it machines well and takes a line linish, it has a moderately blunting effect on cutting tools and care is necessary with wood of irregular grain. It is not resistant to decay. Because supply is irregular and availability mostly in small sizes, the use of pearwood is limited to small turned and carved items and to inlay and marquetry. It turns extremely well and is used for bowls and the backs and handles of brushes; it is sought after as a carving wood due to its very line texture. It has been used for drawing instruments, T-squares, etc., for recorders and as veneer in cabinetwork; a special use is for laps for polishing the jewels used in clocks and watches. Extract from 'The International book of WOOD' curtesy Michael Beazley Publishers Limited 1979. |
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