So, I’ve an opportunity to land some air dried (10+ yrs ) pecan. I’ve seen it, most of it is milled to maybe 10/4… or maybe a bit more. The ricks I saw were pretty nice with what looked like a better than average amount of quartersawn, especially the wider sticks (some over 24 inches.). It’s a fairly long road trip for me to pick some up,and well, if I score some I want to use it. I’ve limited storage capacity.
I (try to make decent,) mostly small to small-middle sized furniture pieces. Thoughts on nice builds using this wood? I’ve never worked it before. Have worked ash (brittle/hard) a bit and never hickory which I understand is similar.
Yes, I know anyone in their right mind would latch onto this opportunity. I’m just interested in thoughts, problems, things to think about…
Any and all comments welcome.
Replies
I've found if you find some nice wood you have to go get it and worry about using it later. If you don't get it some one else will and you'll always wish you had. Some project will come up and you'll be ready to go. Enjoy looking at it in the meantime, it's better than TV.
Pecan is a particular type of hickory. It is similar to ash and white oak. The hickory I used was noticeably denser than red oak; there may be some variation between hickory species.
Unless you have a good way to resaw the 10/4 lumber, you need to think of things to make using it full thickness. A stout workbench, trestle table, or? If you can resaw it, then any piece that could be made from oak or ash will be suitable. The color may be distinctive, or a lot of it may be light like ash. Have fun with it.
Pecan is almost twice the hardness of walnut, and much harder than oak, maple, and ash. Sharp blades a must!
Chairmakers would kill for the wide boards for chair seats. You don't say how much there is, but a nice table & chairs set would fit the bill if there is enough.
Actually, traditional Windsor chairmakers would never have used hickory for seats. Way too hard to sculpt. They often used white pine; in 2" thickness it was strong enough to last. And chairs need to be light.
True enough if you're planning on carving by hand and painting your chairs a hundred years ago, not really the point of my reply to the OP's question though. I think a table & chairs set (never said windsor) would be an awesome use for the material.
Why is making a lightweight chair impossible from a strong or dense material?
I had a pecan workbench for over 30 years made from two pieces of 8/4 stock for the top. It took a lot of abuse and only needed one flattening in that time. Got rid of it in the great downsizing move along with all stationary machinery. One of my worse decisions. 10/4 quarter sawn pecan would make a great bench top. It is heavy and hard, needs sharp tools, and help for large pieces. I milled mine solo on a shop smith saw. Never ever again.
I like #1 phantom trapper's advice the best. Buy it, use some to see how it works. Even after 10+ years of air dry you might find it not suitable for what you want to do with it. Pecan is an exceptionally hard hardwood.
If you can get a good price buy it. How many 2 foot wide planks of pecan are laying about at a good price in your area. You could always clean it up and resell it as needed if it doesn't suit you. There may be some hassle or increased expense (tool use) milling very hard hardwood but those can be sorted out ahead of time.
Pecan is really quite lovely. I have some I've been working with lately and I find it has a lovely reddish tone to it absent in ash and some other hickories. I will say, though, that it is tough. I like to use red oak as a reference point, because it is what I work with most. Cutting anything joinery wise is much more difficult in pecan than red oak by a significant margin, and can tend to be chippy or prone to splintering (it is still a hickory after all). Sharp tools are a must, and you will want to sharpen often. It has a very pleasant smell and feel to it, though, and is really one of my favorites appearance wise. It is also really stiff. A 5/8 thick piece about 2 feet long and 6 inches wide was able to hold my entire hefty weight and not sag or deflect at all. I was quite impressed. I even jumped up and down on it (admittedly not the smartest thing, but I was curious).
Yeah,
some the dimensions and stats on this are extremely nice:
-10/4 thick
-24" wide
-quartersawn
-10+ years air dried
but no mention on the length. 12" or 12' ?
If the length is long enough, how can you not build a work bench out of it? What else could demand such large pieces? I do think you should keep it at these large dimensions, and not resaw it, to honor the tree for the massive size (and successful life) it obviously achieved. Resaw will be hard work - this wood is going to weigh quite a bit - and resawing anything in the hickory family is going to dull bandsaw blades fast (I have seen how fast they dull on green hickory - and once the blade is dull, it needs to be changed ASAP unless you have a REALLY big machine... difference story if you have a carbide blade on there however).
Alternatively, you could make this into flooring. Hickory is a helluva good floor, if the pieces are nice and clean of knots. Those wide 24" will look amazing, heck even 12" would be one of a kind. You could probably find a mill that could make the flooring for you, or you could do it yourself if you have a good shaper - and planer. Obviously, you are resawing 10/4 down into MAYBE 3 pieces (3/4 each) although probably 2 pieces after blade kerf and planing waste.
As long as the price isn't insane, acquiring this lumber is a no-brainer.
Please post some pictures!
Thanks to all of you. I appreciate the insights and suggestions. Getting this lumber will be a serious road trip driving wise, but I hope to make the journey in a few weeks.
Info from wood database:
Janka Hardness: 1820
Shrinkage: Radial 4.9% Tangential 8.9% T/R Ratio: 1.8
Rot resistance: non-durable
Workability: somewhat difficult to work, tear-out common, tends to blunt cutting edges, stains well, responds to steaming well
. . . and keep the scraps for smoking BBQ.