Pine is a pain

[Old Goat]

Pine can be a real snot, but this was special. A few years ago my brother was cleaning out my dad's garage and found a sawhorse from our great-grandfather. Most of the wood had been rotted away or been chewed up by saws, but we remembered it from our days as kids and playing around behind his workshop (he was born in 1898, retired in the late 1950s, and passed in 1978). He saved a few pieces that he could and gave them to me to do something with so I ended up making six small bowls (one for each of my brother and my kids so the great-great-grandchildren) and a pen for each of us. Soaked the pen blanks in wood hardener several times, but finally got them done.

 

[wimkluck]

Great idea. Years ago I received a beam from a house built in the year 1860. Type of wood not entirely clear. Pine wood. Very yellow, Oregon pine? 8 meters long 35 cm high and 12 cm wide. Hard to lift with two people. Most of it has now been sawn, which was not easy because of the resin. I didn't think to use this for a pen. When the temperature is more pleasant in my shed I will start.

 

[Old Goat]

Great idea. Years ago I received a beam from a house built in the year 1860. Type of wood not entirely clear. Pine wood. Very yellow, Oregon pine? 8 meters long 35 cm high and 12 cm wide. Hard to lift with two people. Most of it has now been sawn, which was not easy because of the resin. I didn't think to use this for a pen. When the temperature is more pleasant in my shed I will start.

I cut the wood to 3/4 in blanks and soaked in wood hardener for a couple days and let dry. Then I cut and drilled the blanks and soaked them again so the hardener was on the inside, too. Don't have a vacuum chamber and cactus juice so this was the best I could think of. Still had one split during turning, but found the piece and CA'd it back on while it was on the mandrel. Made sure to use a lot of CA in the finish, too. Also broke a couple of the bowls but still had enough wood to get out the 6 I needed. I forgot to take pix earlier and I took my brother his pen and kids' bowls Sunday (and sent one bowl to my son in Texas), but still have these around here until Christmas when my other two kid's get theirs.

 

[gbpens]

Definitely something you cannot buy. Great idea!

 

[Kenny Durrant]

There are things made that just blow me away. That being said I like the stories that go with some of the more plain pieces the most. Thanks for sharing both.

 

[leehljp]

Great idea. Years ago I received a beam from a house built in the year 1860. Type of wood not entirely clear. Pine wood. Very yellow, Oregon pine? 8 meters long 35 cm high and 12 cm wide. Hard to lift with two people. Most of it has now been sawn, which was not easy because of the resin. I didn't think to use this for a pen. When the temperature is more pleasant in my shed I will start.

After you cut it to rough size, or cut several pieces, they can be baked in the oven to crystalize the resin. Works for pine and fir.

"Kiln drying wood to 170 F will crystallize most of the sap and prevent oozing."

 

[leehljp]

I have been helping with the building of a rural church (with volunteer labor mostly licensed contractors) that got started almost a year before Covid. Because the material was delivered in 2019, it was not until 2022 summer did we find out that two sets of capitals (fancy ornaments for the top and bottom of the columns) were missing. The company said they delivered them and we couldn't argue it this far from the delivery, plus that model had been discontinued. We looked online for a similar set of capitals and they were going to cost $400 per set.

I said that I could make them since I have a lathe capable of 16 inches. But being on the outside of the church, I had to make it of pressure treated pine. As Kelly (Old Goat) wrote, Pine is difficult. I had to take some 2x6 pine and segment them together in an 8 sided circle double layered plus a third layer of 3/4 inch, epoxied, clamped and nailed in specific spots. I made a jig to mount them on and turned two 16 inch capitals for the bottom and two 14 inch for the top.

Working with pressure treated pine like that was difficult and a pain. It required constant re-sharpening and honing the chisels, but I got it done and everyone was well pleased with the work, as they matched the originals.

 

[Woodchipper]

Yep, pine is difficult to turn.
An aside on history: My parents built a house back in 1969. The fireplace mantle was a piece of a wood beam about 12x16, (species unknown) that was about 8 feet long. It was from an old house over 100 years old.