Anyone ever used Pine?

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whegge

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Joined
Oct 5, 2010
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59
Location
Roscoe, IL
Our Associated Pastor is leaving. My wife wants me to create a pen and pencil set for him. I am going to make a segmented section that is a cross with the cross being Ebony and the surround be Maple probably.

We have been trying to figure out what to make the rest of the set out of. I looked up his home state's tree, White Pine.

So 2 questions:

1 - Has anyone turned pine before? Any thing to watch out for?

2 - Does anyone have White Pine that can be made in to a blank?

Thanks for the help,

Wes
 
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aggromere

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Mar 27, 2009
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Tampa, FL
I turned a piece of pinon pine once. It was very soft and smelled like pine cleaner while I was turning it. I guess they same would go with white pine.
 

pianomanpj

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Sep 24, 2007
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Augusta, Maine, USA.
White Pine, eh? I can only assume he is another fellow Mainer. :biggrin:

Although pine is wonderful wood, it isn't so much on a pen. Unless its burl or dyed or both, it will be very plain, at best. It's also REALLY soft. If you really want to turn it, though, just buy some from Home Depot or Lowes. You'll find that the fibers get really fuzzy unless your tools are super, super sharp.

One thing you may to consider is have some pine cones cast. I'm not sure if this is the right time of year for finding them, but it's worth a thought. Not sure how it would look turned, but it would be worth trying!

Another thought, too, would be to cast some dry pine needles. Hmm.... I got the gears turning now!!

Shoot me a PM if I can help in any way. :)
 

whegge

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Oct 5, 2010
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59
Location
Roscoe, IL
Actually, he is from Michigan.

The pine needles, now that is an idea.... Problem is I only have until Nov. 7th to get this done. I have not made resin casts before. Been looking to do it though. Maybe this is what I need to push me.

Now where can I get the needles...? The neighbor has pine trees but I think those are Blue Spruces.
 

Pens By Scott

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Feb 20, 2010
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
I haven't tried White pine, but have done Sugi, which is Japanese Pine, if i'm correct.
It was a nice one to turn, soft though, take it easy on barrel trimming. With this one, the sister blank ended up coming apart at the growth ring line, near the end of the blank.
 

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dgscott

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Aug 17, 2008
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Portland, Oregon
I framed my house in white pine -- does that count?

Seriously, don't worry so much about "meaningful." Make a pen that's beautiful and functional, and he'll treasure it, no matter what it's made from.
Doug
 

Rmartin

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Joined
Jan 14, 2007
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Location
Columbus, Ga, USA.
I have some southern yellow pine reclaimed from a 100 year old barn. It's heart pine with very tight grain. If you'd like a couple of blanks let me know.
 

Pastors Pen

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Jul 1, 2010
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Location
Wheelersburg, OH
I have made a couple pens from White Pine. As already stated, pine is soft. I have found that if I stop short of turning down to the bushings, and saturate the wood with thin ca and let it cure, I can easily sand it down to the right diameter and eliminate the rough and fuzzy issues. Plus the ca hardens the wood considerably.
 

Mark

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Oct 12, 2009
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Location
Pottstown PA
I've done two pine and one hemlock. Both smelled nice while turning. Both were very soft. I got lucky and had several knots in my pine. Other than the knots, they looked pretty plain.

Good Luck.
 

sbwertz

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May 11, 2010
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Phoenix, AZ
I've done two pine and one hemlock. Both smelled nice while turning. Both were very soft. I got lucky and had several knots in my pine. Other than the knots, they looked pretty plain.

Good Luck.

I vote for the knots! I LOVE knots! I have turned "knotty" pine into some pretty pens. Go to HD or Lowes and look for some 3/4" lumber with small tight knots. Cut your blanks to maximize the knots. Cut the blanks at about a 15 degree angle to the grain to make it swirl a bit but not make it turn like cross grain (bad news on soft wood!)

Glue the knots well with thin CA before and after cutting the blanks. Turn down close to final size and finish sizing to the bushings with sandpaper. I have put a little maple gel stain on the pine after sanding and before micromesh. It penetrates a little and leaves just a hint of color in the grain after the micromesh takes off most of the surface stain. Use a CA finish to protect and harden the soft wood.

Experiment on a little piece turned between centers to get just the right effect with the gel stain. You may need to sand it a little with 400 or 600 grit before the micromesh to get just the right effect with the stain. Done right, it looks kind of like marble. Good luck.

Also, there are some nice cross clips available. I used them on pen/pencil sets for my pastors.
 

kludge77

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Mar 9, 2009
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644
Location
Santa Rosa Ca
Turned lots of it last year (making big mushrooms) It's not much fun to turn.

I'm with the member who suggested you use whatever nice wood you have. I'm sure it will mean the same, and you won't have to turn any pine! :)
 

BigguyZ

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Aug 8, 2007
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Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
I actually want to try to turn a pine pen made from SYP from my house. I did a remodel and I have some cutoffs from the original baseboards. The wood is very different from pine you find at HD or Menards. It's very tightly grained, and the rings a much darker.

But I haven't tried it yet, so I can't offer advice. I do plan on dousing it with CA.
 

OldGrumpy

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Dec 18, 2009
Messages
308
Location
Oak Leaf, TX
Our Associated Pastor is leaving. My wife wants me to create a pen and pencil set for him. I am going to make a segmented section that is a cross with the cross being Ebony and the surround be Maple probably.

We have been trying to figure out what to make the rest of the set out of. I looked up his home state's tree, White Pine.

So 2 questions:

1 - Has anyone turned pine before? Any thing to watch out for?

2 - Does anyone have White Pine that can be made in to a blank?

Thanks for the help,

Wes


I have not done white pine but have done some antique yellow pine. Made it as a slimline and I thought it turned easily and looked good.

If you want a couple of blanks of that I still have a couple I would be glad to send if you just pay the small priority box postage.
 

louie68

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Mar 8, 2010
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364
Location
USA
contact: thepenwizard.com his name is Joe Swall he has sells single molds tell him i told you to call him mention IAP and you will get a discount. If I can help you let me know i have casted about 5 pens and many wood pens.
 

GaryMGg

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Nov 23, 2006
Messages
5,776
Location
McIntosh, Florida, USA.
White pine is soft, plain, and one piece is pretty much indistinguishable from another.
If it were me, I'd find something else with more meaning to your pastor and make a pen from that.
Other types of pine are much nicer. The pen shown below is Antique (Old-growth) Heart Pine and came from reclaimed timbers turned on the bias.
Notice the tight growth rings and rich patina. :biggrin:

BigguyZ, my advice is "Just do it!" :wink:

1_endGrainAHP_1.jpg
 

Muggsy1776

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Jan 8, 2010
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Location
Shelby Township, Mi
I've not done pine, but black spruce is really nice. If he's from Michigan you can always use Cherry- the northern part of the state is known for the cherry trees, in fact Traverse City has a cherry festival which is a huge event every year.
 

sbwertz

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May 11, 2010
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Location
Phoenix, AZ
I actually want to try to turn a pine pen made from SYP from my house. I did a remodel and I have some cutoffs from the original baseboards. The wood is very different from pine you find at HD or Menards. It's very tightly grained, and the rings a much darker.

But I haven't tried it yet, so I can't offer advice. I do plan on dousing it with CA.


I turn Southern Yellow Pine all the time. It is VERY different from standard pine. It is hard and HEAVY. I "acquired" 80 pieces of 5/4 6" wide SYP boards several years ago and it is lovely stuff. Most boards were 6' but a few were only 5. I still have about half of it left. I picked it up on freecycle!
 

BigguyZ

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Aug 8, 2007
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764
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
I don't know if it's SYP specifically, but it definitely is a harder pine. Looks exactly like the pic above.

I can't wait to get my shop running again. It'll be fun to try the material out.
 

whegge

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
59
Location
Roscoe, IL
Thanks for everyone's reply!

I spent yesterday over at a friend's house milling some maple and cherry stock down to make the cross segment. Looks pretty good right now. I think the top of the cross is not long enough but we will see once I turn it. Also a little concerned about the cross area being end grain. We did this so we can cut the segment up and have several crosses to try out. The segment turned out to be 7/8" x 1 1/4" x 24".

How do I send a PM? Have not been able to figure that out.

Thanks again for the suggestions. I would like to get ahold of some of the blanks some of you have offered. Once I know how to PM I will contact you.

Wes
 
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