EUROPEAN STEAMED PEARTREE: B
This is a particularly attractive timber but can prove extremely wasteful in conversion. We prefer customers to inspect stocks prior to purchase.

Production: T/T, 1/SE, S/E.

Pyrus communis
Family: Rosaceae

Other names: Wild Pear, Choke Pear (UK).

Distribution: Europe, including the UK, and Western Asia.

General description: The heartwood is pinkish-brown to mellow pink in colour after steaming with very fine rays and pores, straight grained and very fine and even texture. Weight about 700kg/m3 (44 lb/ft3); specific gravity 0.70.

Mechanical properties: Pear is only available in fairly small sizes and therefore its strength is relatively unimportant for the uses to which it is applied. It is a fairly tough, stable wood, but not used for steam bending purposes.

Seasoning: The wood dries slowly with a marked tendency to warp and distort. It is preferable to kiln dry the wood for best results. There is very small movement in service.

Working properties: It is a hard wood to saw with a moderate blunting effect on cutting edges. It is an excellent turnery wood. Nailing and screw holding is good, it glues well, and is particularly good for staining and polishing to a high finish. It is often dyed black to resemble ebony.

Durability: The heartwood is non-durable and liable to insect attack, but the wood is permeable for preservative treatment.

Uses: Widely used for fancy turnery and excellent for carving. Also for brushbacks, umbrella handles, measuring instruments such as set squares and T-squares. In Europe it is used for recorders, and when dyed black, for violin and guitar fingerboards and piano keys. In recent years it has become popular in high quality shopfittings and joinery work.

JBT Comments: It is a particularly attractive timber but can prove extremely wasteful in conversion. It is one timber which we will only sell to customers on inspection as it is very easy to upset a customer if they are unaware of the problems with Peartree and the specification of boards available. In Europe it is common practice to market Steamed Service Tree (Pyrus torminalis or Pyrus sorbus) as Steamed Peartree. We now have a reliable shipper of first quality timber in this species. This is true Peartree not Steamed Service Tree. For this reason the length specification is restrictive, however the quality is excellent with many boards having a rippled figure. We strongly recommend inspection in order to appreciate the quality we offer. UNSTEAMED PEARTREE is an attractive timber and we offer limited stocks but the steaming process changes the colour from pinkishbrown to an even more attractive and distinctive mellow pink colour.

Grade: First quality, selected and produced to customers requirements subject to inspection.

Specification: Due to the limited size of a Peartree, the specifications are normally quite short. Through and through boards 4ft and longer averaging 5ft/6ft. 4ins and wider. The wider logs are normally converted to 2ins or over in thickness.

Stockholding: 400 cubic feet in kiln dried stock 1ins, 11/2ins, 2ins and 3ins thickness.