poplar or yellow pine
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I would get which ever one was lass expensive. They are both well suited for shop furniture.
SYP equals slivers for me! I cant walk by a pile of it without getting at least one!
I would go with poplar, southern yellow pine has too much sap. I dont like cleaning sticky sap off my tools with kerosene very much.
Living on a farm in the Sandhills, Long Leaf Pine Forest, for over 20 years I have to deal with pine tar,pitch, resin, sap every day. From removing it from hands, tools, automobiles, blades and two youngins. I've tried everything over the years. What works best for me is hand sanitizer. I get the big jug from Walmart. Just pump out a little on your hands and smear it on. Let it sit for a few minutes and wipe off with a rag or scouring pad. Oh, and I would choose poplar but only if it was not too expensive.
If you really want to go with pine, eastern white or red pine doesn't ooze as much sticky sap as southern yellow pine does.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_strobus
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_resinosa
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_strobus
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_resinosa
Steve
I think they are both good secondary woods. Both species vary in quality so you should look closely at what you are getting. In the last 5-6 years I have found it easier to get good wide SYP and then I can usually cut it to quartered stock. It makes very stable wood for drawer sides and bottoms.
For hand planing, I would lean towards poplar-- especially the softer boards. The yellow pine can be a bit more trouble.
Laminated pine for the trestle assembly. Cut and stacked a bunch of 1/2" pine and avoided the mortise and tenon chopping to get this done.
simply
fit the center tenon then laminate the 2 outside pieces to make an 1 1/2 center stretcher. The outside laminate provides the shoulder for rigidity and stops racking. Cleats to the bottom of the table top locks it down.
below
is the foot laminate. Perfect mortises with no chisel-- yellow pine
Curly maple veneer top. Thick veneer for wear worries.
I dont like the look of poplar even though its easier to work that syp. I would go with syp and try and get some that is QS. I used troll the aisles of the Borgs looking for tightgrain 2x12s syp....you could find some clear tight grain boards and rip the QS sections out and that was some nice wood to work with. Turns a beautiful orange color over time.
Keep in mind that 3/4 Birch Plywood is about $1.60 per board foot. No, it can't be planed or edge routed, but for around the shop panels, it can't be beat.
Jim
SYP has it's own character that's for sure. Its not poplar and its certainly not whiite pine. Looking at wood not plywood for joinery, it's common to see it in our area based largely on its abundance. That doesn't make it the perfect wood for every task if you want to optimize your labor efforts.
When building a drawer perhaps for a period piece, its not unusual to find pine of all sorts used. I think the old timers used what was available in the shop if it was dry and stable. I've seen beautiful mahogany or walnut case pieces built with pine and poplar. They both work so I guess they used what was ready??
White pine is my first choice for chair seats on Windsors. It carves easily and it absorbs the shock transferred to the seat where the maple leg is tenoned in to the holes. Don't want a brittle joint. Yellow pine could be used but its a bear to carve. Poplar is usable but the density and hardness of poplar has to be considered with each board. Its a wide range in my experience. There are other woods to consider for the seat like butternut but its cost prohibitive in most cases.
White pine is unbeatable for window sash that you will shape with a moulding plane or router. The edge benefits make it my first choice.
Strength and wear: Yellow pine is tougher by a good bit. Its a much stronger material than white pine. For outside use, I will use yellow or white but when strength is needed I lean towards the SYP.
When I built my small shop, I used all SYP I found from a house tear down. The wood was all 2 x 12 so I ripped all the stock to frame it. That took a little extra time but I was able to build 10' walls and an upstairs that was usable with common rafters at a 12/12 pitch. I am so glad I did not truss this upper deck out. I have so many things I don't use everyday and they go upstairs allowing me more room in my small working shop.
Cost: Here in Durham, we have a source for SYP that I think is just unbeatable. Ricky Pope sells high quality 13" wide pine cut on a bandsaw mill for about 1.10/bf. You can do most anything with it and its dry and stable. I might add.. he's hear on the site and he's happy to work with you on big or small amounts.
I'll leave plywood for another thread.
Dan
I'd be interested to hear a scholarly lecture on NC lumber trees. The conversation about pine inspired me to do a little research:
Southern Yellow Pine is not a species, but a category of four:
White or soft pine is a specific species:
Some helpful general pages: Jeff Pippen's Pinus page, Dr. Van Kley's Pinaceae page, USDA Sylvics Manual
Southern Yellow Pine is not a species, but a category of four:
- Pinus taeda, Loblolly Pine (links: Wikipedia, conifers.org, USDA)
- Pinus palustris, Longleaf Pine (links: Wikipedia, conifers.org, USDA)
- Pinus echinata, Shortleaf Pine (links: Wikipedia, conifers.org, USDA)
- Pinus elliottii, Slash Pine (links: Wikipedia, conifers.org, USDA)
White or soft pine is a specific species:
- Pinus strobus, Eastern white pine, White pine, Northern white pine, Weymouth pine, Soft pine (links: Wikipedia, conifers.org, USDA)
Some helpful general pages: Jeff Pippen's Pinus page, Dr. Van Kley's Pinaceae page, USDA Sylvics Manual
Im a simpleton... when i saw pine on my sawmill if the wood in-between the grain is yellow i call it yellow pine, if it white i call it white pine. My experience tells me yellow pine is sticky mess, white pine sap not so much.
My wife LOVES yellow pine... why i have no clue... but i re-did her whole kitchen in quartersawn yellow pine with the help of FredP. Quarter sawn is pretty stable but most woods are when quarter sawn.
Whatever you do when working with yellow pine, make sure it's kiln died and they set the pitch at the kiln, or eles you'll be cleaning sticky sap of your tools until the cows come home.
Pic of 1/2 the kitchen - its all i could find.
Yellow pine wood chips even stick to my chickens feet - so they don't like it much either.
I might add that both southern yellow pine and poplar grow tall and straight - so you shouldn't have much problems finding good grade long wide quarter sawn boards from local sawmills.
My wife LOVES yellow pine... why i have no clue... but i re-did her whole kitchen in quartersawn yellow pine with the help of FredP. Quarter sawn is pretty stable but most woods are when quarter sawn.
Whatever you do when working with yellow pine, make sure it's kiln died and they set the pitch at the kiln, or eles you'll be cleaning sticky sap of your tools until the cows come home.
Pic of 1/2 the kitchen - its all i could find.
Yellow pine wood chips even stick to my chickens feet - so they don't like it much either.
I might add that both southern yellow pine and poplar grow tall and straight - so you shouldn't have much problems finding good grade long wide quarter sawn boards from local sawmills.
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Ricky Pope
1407 John Jones Rd
Bahama, NC 27503
919-485-9996
cedar and live edge slabs for sale
maple, walnut, pine and more
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