Tips for Working with Pine (and other Softwoods)

For new woodworkers, pine (which for our purposes also include spruce, fir, and the other softwoods) are usually the first wood to be used. It is relatively inexpensive and easy to get. However, the results aren’t always the best. The problem isn’t so much with the wood. It is with the way the boards are manufactured. These woods are easy to get and can be purchased from lumberyards and home centers, which are plentiful. That is the problem, not anything inherent with the species of wood. The boards from the lumberyard or the home center were made for construction. What is needed in construction isn’t the same as what is need in furniture making. The boards are just too wet for the average furniture project.

Pine has a reputation for warping and moving. However, this is undeserved. In fact, the softwoods are incredibly stable. Balsam Fir, for example, has so little seasonal change that when it has been quarter sawn it might as well be plywood as it is so stable. To get these results, these wood needs to be at the proper moisture level. Pine has a reputation for moving because it is sold too wet for furniture making. Any wood that is drying out while it is in a project is going to cause problems. Hardwoods tend to be dried more than their softwood counterparts. That leads to the first tip.

Let the boards acclimate to your shop before you build with them. This is pretty simple to do. It just takes some patience. Grab your lumber and store it in a way that air can get to all sides of each board. For many, this means stack it up with stickers. Stickers are just spacers that go between the boards. If boards are kept in a big pile, the top side of the top boards will dry out faster than the stuff in the middle or bottom of the pile. When the wood is stickered air flow can get to all sides of every board. Once you’ve done this, you just need to wait. The boards want its internal moisture level to equalize with the air that surrounds it. Overtime, it will release excess moisture into 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. Instead, use it to determine when the board is at equilibrium. Take a reading and write that down. Wait a few days/weeks and take another reading. Then repeat. Keep repeating this until that reading is consistent. If the number keeps going down, it means there is still water being released. When the reading is consistent, then it is likely the board has equalized with its environment. How long this takes just depends on the board.

Any warping that may occur will happen here. That is okay. This is why we mill lumber. This brings me to my second tip. Don’t think of these board as ready to go 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 take equal amounts from each face. Additionally, mill slightly oversize and let the boards sit again overnight. The board could move again (this goes for all species, not just pines and other softwoods). Then come back and mill it down to size. This is going to produce a very stable board to build with. Additionally, don’t leave your board sitting on your bench overnight. This can cause a warp. Air is going to get to one side more than the other. Sticker it to equalize that moisture exchange.

Tip number three - when it comes to board selection, look out for the pith. This is the very center of the tree. It looks like bullseye in the board. You don’t want the pith in your projects. Either choose the boards that does not have a pith. Or, choose the boards that have the pith near the middle of the board. I know I just said, you don’t want the pith. If you choose the latter, you’ll need to cut out the pith. Doing this will give you two boards that have vertical grain. Also referred to as quater sawn. I’m not going to go into it in depth here. Just know that you can have flat sawn and quarter sawn lumber. This is how it was cut from the log, more or less. Quarter sawn will see less seasonal expansion and contraction compared to flat sawn. Both cuts have their place in furniture making. I’m mentioning this because cutting out the pith is an easy way to get quarter sawn lumber. After it acclimates, it will be incredibly stable. Plus, quarter sawn white pine just looks good.

Related, tip number four, when choosing your boards go for the widest one available. You’ll tend to get less knots in the wider boards. Plus, there is more material available to cut around knots and other defects. Additionally, if you go for the ones with the pith, you’ll still have decent sized boards after the pith is removed.

Tip number 5. Sharp tools. Dull tools with crush the end grain and tear out the long grain. Hardwoods are somewhat forgiving when it comes to sharpness. Softwards are not. Sharped those tools.

One more - wet the wood for easier chopping. In a spray bottle, add 50% alcohol (denatured or the highest proof grain alcohol you can find) and 50% water. Mist a little on the surface and it will help your tools slice through that end grain.

Bonus Tip - this is a more in-depth topic outside the scope of this post, but let’s talk about alternating the end grain. I’m only bringing it up because it gets mentioned all over the internet. Newbies get told all the time, that the reason their pine table-top warped was because they failed to alternate the end grain. This isn’t remotely true! The orientation of the end grain will have an influence on what a top will look like IF it were to warp. It doesn’t cause the warp. Having boards with the end grain oriented in the same direction can result in a potato chip looking top if it warps. Alternating the end grain results in a washboard looking top if it warps. Either orientation can produce flat or warped tops. In most cases, you can ignore end grain orientation and make the best side of the board the show face. If you acclimate your board and use standard milling practices, you’ll get flat boards to build with. The proper application of joinery will keep those boards flat in the long term. To alternate or not to alternate just depends on what you are making.