Hi, I’m Scott and I’ve just joined knots and I am posting to seek a sharing of the wisdom from folks who have used green pear or perhaps fruitwood in general.

I have recently obtained some Bradford pear in the green condition which I used to make a slew of spoons, scoops and other treen items. This is a great wood for this stuff. Like elm, it just won’t split and it cuts very nicely. Some sections also had fiddleback figure which shows quite nicely.

One problem is that the surface of the wood seems to discolor rather like a cut apple. If left to dry in the rough, final shaping usually gets rid of the grayish brown discoloration. In addition, when I use a power tool aggressively it seems to darken the wood at some distance in from the worked surface. This seems to be a cooking of the sap rather than burning of the wood. Can anyone shed some light? Is this discoloration related to the “steamed pear” that Mr. Krenov uses? What exactly is steamed pear?

Thanks,  Scott