newly cut wood

[wickens]

I have used wood purchased through the internet in the past but now I have an opportunity to get some pecan. I live just outside New Orleans and our area had massive structural house damage due to fallen trees. We were one of the few who came away with minimal damage. A friend of mine has offered me some pecan from her property. She had over 50 trees down during Katrina. This wood has been sitting on her property since the storm. What do I have to do to use this wood? And what project lend themselves to pecan? (ie intarsia, boxes....???)

[PeteB]

Interesting question, so I did some Googling.

Pecan is part of the hickory family. It is very hard and tough, with a Janka hardness rating of 1820, not far below purpleheart at 1860, and its most typical uses are furniture and flooring.

If you do an image search, you'll see a lot of furniture, and also many turned items, like bowls and pens. I really liked the looks of the bowls.

Pecan apparently has a tendency to warp and twist, which would indicate to me that some special handling would be desirable during drying. Maybe some of the experienced lumber guys here will have a suggestion or two.

Pete