Are these different species of southern yellow pine?

[Lucas Elef]

I've been scouring the local Lowe's and home depot for good 2x12 southern yellow pine to build a roubo workbench. I found this one very tightly grained board that is beautiful, but i haven't been able to find any other like it. The rest of the SYP that i've seen have the much fatter growth rings. Can anyone tell me the difference between these, and where i could possibly find more like the tight grained one?

[Prashun Patel]

Are you sure that bottom board in the right picture is SYP? It looks like quartersawn oak to me. Is that board much heavier than the other one?

Can you cut the end of the 'tight' grain board cleaner and show that under light in a picture?

[Mel Fulks]

No wonder bench builds take so long! Both are yellow pine. Both look as good as some of the extremely expensive reclaimed old stuff. I would just go on with the build.

[Lucas Elef]

The board in question is the middle board of the right picture. That is the same board as the top board on the left picture. The left picture somehow got turned upside down, but bottom board on the left picture is the same as the top board on the right picture.

The bottom board in the right picture is similar to all the other SYP that i've seen.

[Jason Mikits]

The medullary rays in oak would be visible. It's definitely not oak.

The difference in the boards is the rate at which the tree grew. The next difference can be how it is cut, either flat sawn or vertical grain-quartersawn. Without knowing your location it's hard to suggest where to purchase slow grown, tight ring SYP. A local sawmill is all I can suggest. They might also have another acceptable wood for the bench you would like to build and quartersawn may be a good option.

[Malcolm McLeod]

I've been scouring the local Lowe's and home depot for good 2x12 southern yellow pine to build a roubo workbench. I found this one very tightly grained board that is beautiful, but i haven't been able to find any other like it. The rest of the SYP that i've seen have the much fatter growth rings. Can anyone tell me the difference between these, and where i could possibly find more like the tight grained one?

They could very well be different species, but all look to be pine - IMHO. SYP is not one species to begin with. It is generally considered to be one of 4 species: Long-Leaf, Short-Leaf, Slash, and Loblolly. The vast majority of SYP lumber is industrially grown on plantations and the result is a mono-culture - in the plantation, the mill, and the store (i.e. one pallet will almost always be one species). However, I'm sure there are wild, mixed stands where it's harvested, milled, and sold 'as-found'.

In your case, the differences you note could likely be explained as simple differences in the specific environment where a given tree grew. More water, less shade, deeper soil = wider growth rings.

(All the SYP is a cash crop, and has been studied, selected, and cross-bred for enhanced production for about 70 years now.)

[Adam Herman]

the wide ringed tree looks like radiata pine to me, and the other looks like it was out of the "Douglas Fir" or "structure rated" pile. construction lumber AKA SPF can be many species. Some Lowes / home depots also sell structure grade Fir in 2x sizes. this can also be multiple species, but is generally tight grained, grown in a northern region with shorter growing seasons and plenty of water, thus the tight growth rings. SPF/pine/radiata is generally grown in the south or even in south/central america where they grow quickly without regard for strength. "SYP" is also multiple species, but is usually higher priced than construction lumber, also, these terms get mixed up by the yards all the time.

in conclusion, you usually have no idea what you are actually buying.

I could be wrong about some of that, but this is what i was taught.

[Lucas Elef]

I'm fairly certain this is Southern Yellow Pine. This store solely stocks Southern yellow pine in these larger sizes. They are also labeled as such and it looks quite different from the other doug fir and SPF they sell.

[Tom M King]

One of the things I do for a living is grow Pine trees. The one on the bottom had it's feet in wet soil, like near a stream. Growth rings can vary a LOT depending on the growing conditions for any one tree. The only possibility of a good percentage of low, built in stress in SYP from the milling, and drying process, is to find Weyerhauser Framer Series lumber. It's a higher price product than you can find in Big Box stores, so you might have to do some searching to find it.

[Lucas Elef]

No wonder bench builds take so long! Both are yellow pine. Both look as good as some of the extremely expensive reclaimed old stuff. I would just go on with the build.

That's pretty funny. I'm pretty new to woodworking as i was previously big into restoring classic cars and motorcycles. I'm ready for a change of pace so I've been getting in to hand tool woodworking. This will be my first real project, and as i'm working full time and taking night classes for an MBA i don't have a lot of time to work on the project, so I'm enjoying learning as i go along.

[Marc Jeske]

Malcolm and Adam are spot on in their posts.

That's why I walk away shaking my head when I try to measure SPF and SYP MC at the Lumberyard.

Often have no clue what to set the SG to.

All I know is somewhere in the about 48 - 64 range.

The range above shows about a 4+% difference on same piece of wood.

Ligno says SYP - 64.

Now that I have learned more, it seems they are guessing on that one..WAY at the top of Pines.. would think they would pick a lower # closer to mixed species average.

Any magic solutions besides devoting a week to study discriminating between SYP and SPF varieties, and even then being often unsure ?

I have a Ligno Scanner SD, and far as I know this confusion would affect all MC meters, not just my model.

Hijacking here, will start a new thread. Marc