Pear Stocked Mountain Rifle

[Jim Kibler]

Moderator's Note: This thread began as a For Sale ad.  The kit has been sold, but there is some discussion on working with and finishing pear wood.  So, with Jim's permission the thread has been edited and moved to Gun Building.  -Ron

Hello everyone.  I ran a stock out of pear wood the other day.  It came out beautiful except for a small bark inclusion on the cheek side near the toe, which I repaired by gluing in a patch.  The pear wood is quite nice.  It's extremely dense and has some pretty figure. 








Thanks,
Jim

[Treebeard]

If a forum member has this finished it would be interesting to see how the pear wood came out. Pictures?. I have only worked with walnut and maple and find these other woods facinating.

[webradbury]

What species of pear? I tried to work some Bradford pear one time and it did not work well. Went to pieces when I put the rasp to it. Just curious.

[Dennis Glazener]

I have one in pear, I can assure you its not Bradford pear that's an ornamental tree and its so brittle that I doubt you can make coat racks out of the wood

I have not built mine, hope to get to it soon but the wood reminds me of Red Maple or maybe cherry.
I only tested a place on the butt.
Dennis

[Maalsral]

Go to Jim Kibler's website and look at rifle #3 in his portfolio to see a pear wood finished rifle.

[Treebeard]

Go to Jim Kibler's website and look at rifle #3 in his portfolio to see a pear wood finished rifle.

Thanks for the tip Maalsral. The wood on that rifle is very attractive but the quality of the workmanship more so.

[smart dog]

Hi Jim,
How does the pear wood compare with cherry with respect to density and working?  I ask because I have some wheellock projects working their way into my queue and on one I was going to use cherry that would likely be ebonized.  However, a lot of 16th and 17th century wheellocks were stocked in pear, particularly those in which the wood was almost completely covered or darkened. Is there any reason to prefer pear wood over cherry?

dave

[David Rase]

Dave,
pear and sugar maple are very close in density when comparing weight per cubic foot with pear weighing 38 to 45 and sugar maple coming in at 39 to 50.  The little bit of pear wood I have used I have found it to work like a plain hard piece of maple.  It cuts very clean.
On speculation, I would think that pear wood would ebonize very nicely.  The European guns would of probably of been stocked in European or Swiss pear.
David 

[JBJ]

The following site will give you all of the data you can hope for re pear and a multitude of other species:
http://www.wood-database.com/pear/

Hope this helps.
J.B.

[helwood]

Greetings
Question anyone have sources for the Swiss Pear wood blanks.  I have a wheellock project that I would like to find a stock for.  The other thing that I would like to find pear wood for was sliding box lids.  John Bivins use to use  pear wood that he had ebonized for some of his box lids and would like to have some in my stores.  Also he said it was the desired wood for making wooden patterns for castings. "Sand Cast"  Thanks Hank

[Ron Scott]

Gilmer Wood in Portland Or has European Pear. They have a good website.  Same place your burl Camphor came from.

[Hemo]

What's the technique for ebonizing?

Gregg

[Jim Kibler]

I'm not certain of the species this pear is.  I bought the tree already cut up.  As to density, it's comparable to the upper end of sugar maple.  It really is heavy stuff.  It cuts very well  though, and is more friendly to work than sugar maple.

It's significantly heavier and harder than any cherry or red maple your likely to encounter.  The grain has a smooth and silky texture.  Really nice cut and exceptional to carve.

Jim

[yulzari]

Pear wood is one of the best for carving being dense, stable and with little grain to worry about. I have used it as a Boxwood alternative for wood engraving. I have also ebonised it with strong tea (as a source of tannin) and then iron sulphate. Pure black.

However. Like Boxwood it does need to be well seasoned. I buy an occasional tree shaped plank cut through the heart of the tree from a local woodyard of 5cm thickness cut it to fit my van and then keep it a further year in my workshop during which it will demonstrate any warping, cracks or checks. Then you will need to be creative to find a large enough stable area to fit a long rifle stock. Looks very plain when finished but oil or varnish brings out a lovely subtle grain.

[helwood]

Thanks much Ron, I should have known.       Later, Hank