Tips for Working with Pine and Other Softwoods
A few panels made from old 2×4s.
For new woodworkers, softwoods (pine, spruce, fir, hemlock, etc) is usually the first wood that is used to make furniture. It is relatively inexpensive and easy to obtain from the nearest home center or lumberyard. However, the results aren’t always the best. Often, new woodworkers discover the project they have spent many weekends on has warped or cracked in some way. The problem isn’t so much with the wood itself but with the way the boards are manufactured. The softwood boards coming from from the lumberyard or home center are made for the construction industry. What is needed in construction isn’t the same as what is needed in furniture making. The boards are simply too wet for the average furniture project.
The reputation that softwoods have have for warping is undeserved. In fact, softwoods are incredibly stable. Balsam Fir, for example, changes so little with the seasons that when quarter-sawn, it might as well be plywood. To achieve this stability for our furniture project, the wood must be at the proper moisture level. That leads to the first tip.
Let the boards acclimate to your shop before you build with them. This is a simple process, but it requires patience. Grab your lumber and store it in a way that allows air to reach all sides of each board. One way to do this is stacking it with stickers—spacers placed between the boards. If boards are kept in a big pile, the top side of the top boards will dry out faster than the pieces in the middle or bottom of the pile. When the wood is stickered, airflow can reach all sides of every board. Once you’ve done this, you just need to wait. The boards need their internal moisture levels to equalize with the surrounding air. Over time, they will release excess moisture into the air and stabilize. You can determine how dry a board is with a moisture meter. In my opinion, do not try to hit a specific number on the meter. Every meter is going to give slightly different readings and what that number should be will be dependent on the wood species, how the board was dried, and where you live. Instead, use the meter to determine when the board is at equilibrium. Take a reading and write it down. Wait a few days or weeks and take another reading. Then repeat. Continue this process until the readings remain consistent. If the number continues to drop, the board is still releasing moisture. When the reading stabilizes, the board has likely equalized with its environment. The length of this process depends on the board. Any warping that may occur will happen here. That is okay. This is why we mill lumber.
This brings us to my second tip: Don’t think of these boards as ready to use straight from the store. Instead, treat them like rough lumber. If you need a 3/4” thick board, don’t buy a 3/4” thick board from the home center. Buy a thicker board and mill it down to 3/4”. Any warping that occurs during the acclimating process can be corrected in the milling process. When milling, try to remove equal amounts from each face. Additionally, mill slightly oversized and let the boards sit again at least overnight. The board may move again (this applies to hardwoods as well as softwoods). Then come back and mill it to its final dimensions. This will produce a very stable board to build with. Additionally, don’t leave your board sitting on your bench overnight. This can cause warping, as air will reach one side more than the other causing an uneven exchanged of moisture between the board and the environment. Use stickers to ensure an even moisture exchange.
Tip number three: When it comes to board selection, look out for the pith. This is the very center of the tree and appears as a bullseye in the board. You don’t want the pith in your projects. Either choose boards that do not contain the pith or choose boards where the pith is near the middle of the board. If you choose the latter, you’ll need to cut out the pith. Doing so will give you two boards with vertical grain, also referred to as quarter-sawn. I won’t go into depth on this topic, but know that lumber can be flat-sawn or quarter-sawn depending on how it was cut from the log. Quarter-sawn boards will experience less seasonal expansion and contraction compared to flat-sawn ones. Both cuts have their place in furniture making. Cutting out the pith is an easy way to obtain quarter-sawn lumber. After it acclimates, it will be incredibly stable. Plus, quarter-sawn white pine looks great.
Tip number four: When selecting boards, go for the widest ones available. Wider boards tend to have fewer knots. Plus, they provide more material to work around knots and other defects. If selecting boards with pith, a wider board will still yield decent-sized pieces after the pith is removed.
Tip number five: Sharp tools. Dull tools will crush the end grain and cause tear-out along the long grain. Hardwoods are somewhat forgiving when it comes to sharpness. Softwoods are not. Sharpen those tools.
One more tip—wet the wood for easier chopping. In a spray bottle, mix 50% alcohol (denatured or the highest-proof grain alcohol you can find) with 50% water. Mist a small amount onto the surface to help your tools slice through the end grain.
Bonus Tip: This is a more in-depth topic outside the scope of this post, but let’s discuss alternating the end grain. It’s frequently mentioned online that failing to alternate the end grain causes softwood tabletops to warp. This is incorrect! The orientation of the end grain influences the way a warped top will look IF it happens—it does not cause the warp. Having boards with the end grain oriented in the same direction can result in a potato-chip-shaped top if it warps, while alternating the end grain can create a washboard effect. Either orientation can produce flat or warped tops. In most cases, you can ignore end grain orientation and simply choose the best side of each board as the show face. If you acclimate your boards and follow standard milling practices, you’ll get flat boards to build with. Proper joinery techniques will keep them flat long-term. The decision to alternate or not depends what is best for the project.
