Pecan/Hickory

[Sweetgum]

Out of curiosity, how many of you work with this wood?

I'm sizing up some trees on my family's property for future use (walnut, poplar, sycamore, pecan/hickory) and am considering having some pecan/hickory cut up for a workbench.

Is this wood suitable for building a workbench? I know its hard, hence "pecancrete".

In addition, has anyone here ever built a solar kiln? I'd love to pick your brain(s) about it. Most of my questions about solar kilns that I haven't been able to find answers to deal with monitoring RH conditions, and how much hands-on time is required (I'd also be interested in any "schedules" for achieving desired MC in central SC (my family's land).

I know that RH can be controlled by automation, but I'd prefer to spend as little as possible to construct the shed and equip it.

Also, is mixing woods within the solar kiln recommended, and if anyone has links to any good resources (other than Woodweb) about solar kilns, by all means let me know:-D

 

[DaveO]

I have never worked with either wood, but have read it works very well. It is difficult to dry and you result in a lot of shrinkage. Both are in the same family as walnut and are considered some of the most important furniture woods. Hickory and pecan are often sold as the same, hickory is often used as tool handles due to it resistance to breaking.

Here is a few links about solar kilns:

http://www.allwoodwork.com/article/woodwork/solarkiln.htm


http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Solar_Kiln_Designs_1.html


http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrn/fplrn212.pdf

HTH, Dave

Oops, you said woodweb, not woodnet.

 

[rbdoby]

Never workd either wood so I'm no help there. The University of VA has done some research on solar kilns and has plans for one. Really simple to build but I can't remember the web address for it.

 

[DaveO]

Here's another one

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/8756/solar.html

Dave

 

[Oakwood]

Pecan is a great wood for furniture. In years past a great deal of high quality furniture was produced with Pecan. It is a very hard wood but cuts clean lines and finishes well. Hickory is a bit more problamatic and tends to move more than Pecan with moisture changes.
My son-in-law just called to offer me an 8 foot X18" diameter Pecan log. I am going to take him up on the offer.

 

[Steve D]

I'm building some cabinets right now with Hickory. It is very hard but mackines pretty well. It does tend to splinter some, much like oak. I can't really comment on suitability for a bench but I would think that it would hold up well.

Another option on the kiln - AW had an article a year or two ago about building a kiln using a dehumidifier. I would think that mixing woods might be problematic due to different moisture contents but I have no experience with drying wood.

 

[charlie s]

Sweetgum:

Several years ago I had quite a bit of hickory milled into lumber. I saved it for a special project and this year I decided to replace my kitchen cabinets with new hickory cabinets. Let me answer your question this way: when I finish the cabinets I'm going to take my chainsaw to the remainder of the lumber and turn it into firewood. I've never worked with lumber as problematic as this is. It dulls you router bits and saw blades immediately, splinters with absolutely no warning and splits worse than anything I've used. That said, the finished cabinets look great; it sands and takes stain great and my wife is very happy with what I've finished. I have one more corner cabinet to finish the project and then I'm through with this lumber forever. I'm going to have to send off my blades and bits to be sharpened (again) when I finish this.

Walnut works great and is very stable; my only objection to this wood is breathing the dust that escapes my dust collector. Probably my favorite wood.

Charlie

 

[Big Mike]

I have worked both into boxes at one time or another. A few years ago I had a customer who was an antique tackle dealer. I made tackle boxes for him. I used to go to Raleigh Hardwoods about once a month to pick up a new wood to make a tackle box for him. He used them to display his tackle at shows but I think he also sold my boxes at a handsome profit.

The hickory box was beautiful and machined very well. The hickory I was able to get there was a nice silver color with very few dark streaks. The boxes were dovetailed together. The pecan finished up very nicely but required some extra precautions when machining dovetails to prevent chipping. It was a little brittle but sure made a nice looking box. I have turned some pecan and found it to be a nice turning wood. I have turned some boxes out of hickory and found it to hold detail well and polished up like glass.

 

[kota62]

Ditto what others have said about how Hickory abuses HSS and Carbide, but it can produce some stunning looking pieces... If you look in my Photo Gallery(house) you'll find a few pics of a bed that my friend Ralph & I made for his house, it weighs a ton (which should be ideal for a workbench) and also a pic of a fish tank/wall unit from my house. Both pieces were stained which really enhanced the wild grain.
Gary

 

[NCWood]

Here is another link to some excellent information about solar kilns that was done by a friend of mine who passed away a few years ago.

http://theoak.com/solar/index.html

 

[benzor]

I have quite a lot of pecan, and have made a base for a work bench, and a laptop desk with my son. The wood is very tight grained and can have some beautiful "streaking". I found that it had small chips after comming out of the planner, so plan to sand or scrape these out of your finished surface. Since this is only minimal experience, and not several projects, I don't consider myself an expert. I am looking forward to making other pieces, as the grain and color of the natural wood is very appealing, and the fact that my family has a large pecan orchard (taking me all the way back to childhood, with fond memories of making good money picking up pecans every fall). I have been told that pecan is very likely to get borers after rough sawn, which was not a problem for me, but you can use a borax spray as a pretreat, or post treat if this is a problem. Borax is as safe as table salt, not a harmful chemical.

 

[Handturnedbowls]

When Fran came thru and took down over 20 of my trees, I kept wood from an old pecan that had some spalting present. At that time, I was not into bowls like I am now, but I thought it would be fun to have the stock for later if and when I found time.

4 yrs later, after staying in my attic, it was definitely dry. BONE dry. I can concur with what the others say about dulling tools. It can be very hard, rock hard, when its dry. I wold want some moisture present if I could arrange it. I didnt know any better when I put this wood in the attic.

By the same token it polishes to a surface that is remarkble.

If you can keep your relative moisture intact (5 to 10%) when you start working it, I think you will enjoy the results you get. You may want more than that, but keep in mind the distortion when it drys below that level. Use carbide when possible. On tools you can dictate relief angles, use a lesser angle than you would normally use, but only by a few degrees.

cad