The heart pine is not soft. it is not your typical run of the mill pine. old growth , tight rings, these was from long ago when the pine trees were not harvested as they are now for the lumber yards. this is hard to find. Myself and my wife bought a 2nd home in Georgia last January, and we have been working on it pulled up the carpet to see what was underneath, it had covered the most beautiful hardwood floors, the living and dinning room is parque oak and the hall and bedrooms are, quess what, heart pine. we plan on redoing them at the end of the month, will post pix when complete. the pen blanks were from tobacco sticks that were used in the 50,s to hang the tobacco in a barn for heat curing, so they are even harder than you can imagine.