Need some help with wood ID...

[JeffSmith]

Taking a drive around the island, saw smoke and stopped to check it out (when you live on a small island with limited firefighting resources, its always good to check it out). Turned out to be property owners clearing a section of trees and brush near a very large, very old black walnut. They had felled a couple of smaller trees, had already limbed and were burning the slash by the time I arrived, so no identifiable leaves. There was one longer section of trunk that looked interesting - they were amenable to letting me take a few sections, but they had no idea what kind of tree it had been.
I took it home, sawed into several blanks, roughed one out and sawed a couple of small boards to see if I could figure out what it is...and see how it dries. Photos are of a few end cuts from the logs with the bark intact. Bark is relatively thin, the wood dripping wet, trunk is lobed kind of like young cedar.
No identifiable smell to the shavings...and I don’t know if its a native species.
I know that’s not much to go on...but any help out there?

 

[robo hippy]

Not sure, but it almost looks like a cherry of some sort. If the sap wood was very white when you cut it and then it turned that red very soon after cutting, that would make it a good bet for cherry. Cherry does tend to smell like cherry when you turn it though.

robo hippy

 

[Rick Crawford]

Jeff, considering what I see and where you live, I would agree that it might be cherry.

 

[Gary Beasley]

Could also be a bradford pear, that wood turns orange on exposure to air after cutting.

 

[William Rogers]

I agree with Gary, pear.

 

[JeffSmith]

I'm thinking it just may be Pear. The owners said it was near another fruit tree, although they couldn't identify either one. Both had been planted - not native and not even close to the bitter cherry that's native around here. The thin bark looks a lot like some Bradford pear I've seen on that encyclopedia of all things right and wrong - YouTube. It does turn pretty well, cuts cleanly, at least when wet, and is fairly fine grained.
Any guidance on drying beyond the usual? I'm planning to roughout several bowls and box blanks for twice turning, cut the remainder into box blanks and handle blanks.

 

[Gary Beasley]

It will get very tough once dry, sharp tools and patience required. Takes a good shine just buffing it.

 

[JeffSmith]

Turned a little rice bowl to finish green and wet just to see how it reacts - cuts pretty clean, smells a little like pears. We’ll stick it in the microwave to see what it does when forced dry...

 

[Dave Bunge]

I'm thinking it just may be Pear...

Any guidance on drying beyond the usual?

I've turned a fair amount of Bradford pear. It makes interesting natural edge bowls if you can find big enough pieces, looks like you have.

Nothing unusual about drying it. It does seem to bruise easily, so make sure to grind the heel off of gouge and use light pressure against wood when cutting inside of the bowl.

 

[Perry Hilbert]

Last summer, I cut a plum tree that had bark similar and it was a deep orangish pink when cut and turned to a reddish brown like black Cherry a few days after cut. I turned a few pieces round in March and two pieces split over night almost clear in half lengwise and other pieces still show no checks. Don't know why, the tree died a few years back.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

+1 on the pear..... Just looking @ bowl .....
Pear is lighter color than cherry in my experience ...... They turn very similar

 

[John Hicks]

It looks like Bradford pear to me. Cherry has different bark.

 

[robo hippy]

Pear turns like madrone, can you say butter??? Most of the pear I have seen is very light colored, and not reddish at all. Who knows??? Your small bowl will be dry in a week if it sits on a shelf. I generally wrap the rims of my madrone bowls in plastic stretch film to protect the edge. It looks like the rim of your bowl above has nicely rounded edges. That really helps reduce cracks as well.

robo hippy

 

[JeffSmith]

Thanks all - I’m 99% sure its pear - but I doubt its Bradford. Turns out the land this had come from was part of an old orchard planted very early in the islands history. I’m thinking its some variety of fruit bearing pear. There’s a huge old black walnut reputed to be planted by one of the early settlers nearly a century ago.
So far the little sample rice bowl is behaving well - drying nicely with just a little warp that looks natural and no sign of cracks. It does turn similar to madrone - cuts very cleanly. But the little bugger is porous - nearly lost it in the vacuum chuck finishing the bottom.