| Species |
Pine Wood |
| Scientific Name |
Pinus members of the Pinaceae family |
| Wood description |
The heartwood white pine is pale brown, with occasional reddy brown streaks. The sap wood is a pale yellow/white colour. It can have very large knots, that like to crack, very small tight knots, or no knots at all. This pine can be referred to as northern white pine, soft pine. It is a very large tree, although today much of the forest is second growth and thus smaller. |
| Weight |
350-550 kg/m3 |
| Machining Properties |
It is relatively stable, once dried properly, but because it is fairly porous, will cup if it is allowed to absorb moisture from a damp basement. For this reason, thin wood must be keep under weight until it is ready to use. When routing an edge, watch for tear out. It can tend to splinter, so make sure you are going in the right direction |
| Finishing |
It absorbs stain very easily and sand finely. Use a good quality stain, with fine pigment. Pine has a lot of resin, in pockets, that have a bad habit of bleeding out when you least expect it in ally in lower quality wood, so make sure you use a quality, oil based polyurethane for top coating. |
| Drying & treatment |
Drying is very fast. |
| Common uses |
White Pine is the most common craft wood. It is relatively cheap and easily available, from very knotty to totally clear. For these reasons, eastern white is used extensively in all areas of woodworking, cabinets, cable drums, packing, craft work, wood turning for table legs, flooring and wall paneling. The lower grade material goes into pulp & paper, reserving the high grades for lumber and fine furniture, gift items etc. |
| Additional Information |
It is extremely easy to cut with both hand and machine tools. It is “kind” to all cutting edges and can be nailed without predrilling. Sanding is easy, but you must work your way down the grit ladder. It cuts easily with a scrollsaw, but remember that it is not very strong, so don’t leave little strips going across the grain or they’ll break. |
