Southern Yellow Pine are Tough Wood

[John Schreiber]

No. That’s not a grammar error. I’m building a Roubo style workbench following Chris Schwarz’s book. Per his suggestion, I’m using southern yellow pine (SYP) because it’s heavy, stiff and relatively cheap.

Depending on the grain, dryness and the amount of pitch in the wood, SYP can feel like a tropical hardwood or basswood. Honest, some of it is harder to work than cocobolo.

When the wood is dry and thick with pitch, a plane iron just skips off of it and jointing an edge requires a complex plan of attack. When the winter/dark rings are thick, they are about as hard as aluminum, but the summer/light rings are soft as butter.

The grain almost always looks pretty straight, but I can hardly predict which way it will plane without tear out. I usually look at the wood and think of smoothing down the grain with the plane, but about a third of a time, it works the other way.

I’m still having fun, but it’s been frustrating and I need to blow off some steam and no one around here knows what I’m talking about. Thanks for listening.

[Neal Clayton]

yeah, and the old growth stuff is even more fun.

my stepbrother found some old 6x6s stuck in the attic of an old storage building on a jobsite he was working on in new orleans a few years back, one spot had 50+ growth rings in an inch of wood, they couldn't discern well enough with a magnifying glass past 50 to get a precise count, but either way they had the bright idea of taking chunks out of it to make paperweights with, too bad a constantly oiled chainsaw would barely cut it.

[Frank Drew]

Around here we call the stuff reclaimed from ancient buildings Old Pine, and it's very popular for built-ins like bookcases and kitchen cabinets. It can be very beautiful, and very hard.

[Pat Germain]

Consider yourself lucky. I can't even get SLP here in Colorado. Oh sure, I could order it. By the time I pay for shipping, I might as well buy hard maple.

[Hank Knight]

I grew up eith SYP, it was the only wood available in South Carolina when I was a kid. Most of it was nasty - pitchy, wet and warped, but we built tree houses, rowboats, dog houses and everything else with it. The only tools we had were a saw and a hammer, but we got by just fine. When I became interested in more "refined" woodworking, I naturally started with SYP because that's what we had. The first time I used walnut, I thought WHOA! what have I been missing. KD Oak, maple and cherry followed in quick succession, and I never looked back at SYP. After I discovered real cabinet grade hardwoods, I considered it "trash" and I still shudder to think of making anything "nice" out if it. The recent interest in SYP has been kind of amusing to me. I agree that it will make a pretty good workbench and I applaud Chris Schwartz for introducing it to neanders as a recommended bench material. But, John, you're right, it a Bi*ch to work; and I get a chuckle every time I read a post that complains about it's scarcity. It's growing in my back yard. I will say, however, that I love old growth longleaf pine - especially the timbers salvaged from the old textile plants that are being demolished in my world. It is beautiful - a rich dark honey color with very close grain. It's a different wood all together from comercially available SYP.

Just a passing comment, worth less that my customary $.02.

Hank

[Jacob Reverb]

Some of the old longleaf SYP you find in old buildings gets as hard as cast iron...you can barely drive a nail into it.

One nice thing, though, that I've found with (loblolly) SYP is that it's straight, strong and stable.

[Peter Quinn]

In a recent basement remodel I saved some SYP T&G that was used to box out a root cellar's walls below the porch. Man, I'm with you on hard. You would swear some of that pine was jatoba or something. Other pieces felt like balsa wood. I'm going to recycle it for a wine cellar floor next winter.

I think the Jenka scale agrees with your assessment also.

[John Callahan]

Ditto on the longleaf. Some years ago I picked up a stash of boards that had been hidden at a Houston lumberyard (now closed). Talk about hard!!......... made the last batch of ipe I had seem like balsa wood. SYP makes a beautiful floor. Friend's place has it, screwed and plugged- one of the prettiest wood floors I've seen. Worked on a steakhouse project with SYP floors and Waterlox finish- pretty floor and amazed how well it held up under all the foot traffic.

[Dave Lehnert]

Just two weeks ago I had the chance to see Chris S. workbench made of SYP in the Popular woodworking shop. Based on that I am using SYP to make some small router planes. (One of the first attached below) Also based on a Popular woodworking design. Looks like it will hold up well and cheap too. I figure when I come up with a design I like I will make that out of Hardwood.

[Neal Clayton]

Ditto on the longleaf. Some years ago I picked up a stash of boards that had been hidden at a Houston lumberyard (now closed). Talk about hard!!......... made the last batch of ipe I had seem like balsa wood. SYP makes a beautiful floor. Friend's place has it, screwed and plugged- one of the prettiest wood floors I've seen. Worked on a steakhouse project with SYP floors and Waterlox finish- pretty floor and amazed how well it held up under all the foot traffic.

all my trim and floors are old growth longleaf pine with waterlox on them too. the funny thing is back in the day (1800-1920 or so) that was their cheap lumber, used it for everything from ship keels to studs to roof decking. now the trees are all gone due to overcutting and you pay 5 dollars a board foot for it.

the worst part about it is how much of a fire hazard it is, though. i don't mind working it, it's harder to work but easier to finish since it sands so easily, so it's kinda 6 in one half dozen in the other to me, but the only downside is if a building built with that stuff ever catches fire, you can kiss it goodbye, all the water in the ocean wouldn't put it out.

the dryads YMCA building in new orleans caught fire a few years back and it was all framed with longleaf pine beams, circa 1905 or so. put off the prettiest blue flame you've ever seen visible from miles away and all the fire fighters could do was watch it go and wet the adjacent buildings, putting water on it just made steam, didn't even phase the fire.

[John Schreiber]

I figure when I come up with a design I like I will make that out of Hardwood.

I've been saving out some of the really tough pieces and plan to see if I can use them for tool handles. Believe me. It's hard wood.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

One thing I have against using SYP is that it is some of the splinteryest (how 'bout that for a word ?) stuff I handle. I know for the next two days I'll be harvesting splinters unless I use glove, which I don't like to do. And with a natural finish it's OK, I guess, but putting any kind of stain on it makes it look like mud.