Pitch pine.

[skeetstar]

I have salvaged some pitch pine from a some old church pews. I guess it is around 130 years old judging by the age of the building.

Has anyone any experience of using this stuff? I suppose it was the cheapest wood around in the late 1800s, would it be worth using for furniture making today, specifically a coffee table. I assume it was a very 'resiny' wood as some of the growth rings just appear as a translucent orange layer. Don' want to spend ages getting it made and then find it won't take a finish or the finish looks poor.

Views welcomed

 

[novocaine]

it's lasted 130 years and you are worried about it not looking good when finished, give it me instead then.

it's a nice pine to work with and dependent on what finish is there already will finish well.

 

[marcros]

I have not worked with it, but have seen the results, and I think that it would be well worth your efforts.

 

[JonnyW]

Nowt wrong with pitch pine. It's a tried and tested cheap material that has been used by furniture makers for centuries. I've seen it waxed, painted, varnished etc etc

My friend bought a load of old pews from a church he was working on a few years ago, and made some impressive fitted alcove units for an old cottage he was renovating. He did spend a little time acclimatising the boards though, as they'd been sitting in an unheated, damp church for years.

Jonny

 

[Argus]

It will be a sight better quality than the pine that is passed off on us nowadays.

Added to that, it'll be well dried.

However, as with all second hand timber, I'd be careful of worm, incipient rot and other peoples nails and screws.


Good luck with it.

 

[SurreyHills]

It's a nice wood to work with. It's possible to get a nice finish and as Jonny says if you don't paint it will look nice with a few coats of wax or varnish. Tends to look a bit orangy in colour because of the resin - so won't be that subtle a grain pattern to it which is why it tends to be usually stained to even the contrast out a bit.

 

[dickm]

It's better than "nice"! I reckon it's one of the best softwoods to work with - beautiful scent, takes a nice finish and, in the right design context, looks super.
Did a lot of refitting of daughter's Victorian end-of-terrace in Lancashire 20-odd years ago. The worst problem was getting hold of old pitch pine and if anything, availability has got worse, so the OP is a lucky guy.

 

[skeetstar]

Brilliant, thanks fellas. I will persevere, now with a degree of enthusiasm. It does plane well, though there are plenty of old nails in it, so need to be careful. Thankfully no worm or rot. Really appreciate yer input

 

[AndyT]

For an illustration of its place in the Victorian hierarchy of woods... our 1897 house has a set of "class distinctions" on the stairs. The best bit, in the hallway, has pitch pine newels, pitch pine balusters and a mahogany handrail. Moving up, the first floor has pitch pine balusters and handrail. The stairs to the attic have a pitch pine handrail with pine banisters. Down in the basement everything is ordinary pine and the balusters are square, not turned.

So it was a good wood to put on show and conveniently close to mahogany in colour. Good luck with your project!

 

[JonnyW]

That's a really interesting post Andy. Right enough, I've worked in many Victorian houses and listed buildings and there has been pitch pine stair cases, architraves, dados etc. Even in our Town Hall there is a pitch pine stair case. God it was so long ago I completely forgot that.

Jonny