Pine Wood for Furniture

Pinewood has been very popular in the woodworking industry since long ago. The pine trees can be found in many places around the world. The pine trees spread throughout Europe and North America and are well known as the evergreen trees. But some species of pine wood are also available in the equator area. The wood has been used to make many wood products, such as furniture, houses, fences, and many household products. Although it is classified as the softwood, it is quite strong and tough. He has medium hardness and is easy to be handled and processed in the woodworking industry. He has a yellowish-white light color with beautiful wood grain; with proper finish, it can give a beautiful appearance. With its less expensive price, it becomes the favorite substrate for many woodworkers.

There are many species of pine wood, each of which can have different properties. In general, the pine wood has a beautiful grain pattern. With his light (white), it can be finished with a wide range of colors with an attractive appearance. The grain pattern, color base, and physical properties of this wood could be varied depending on the species and origin of the wood. 

pine finish

Here are some things that need to be considered when we deal with pine wood.  

•      The fungal attack.

The pine wood is susceptible to the fungal attack. To avoid this problem, then the processing from the logging, sawmills, and drying must be done correctly. The improper process will lead to the emergence of fungi that will cause the blue stain. The blue stain in the wood will ruin the color and decrease the wood quality. Treatment with anti-fungal chemicals is highly recommended to prevent the fungal attack. Especially when we consider that the trees mostly grow in the highland area, where it is usually humid and rainy. 

•   Oil in the wood.

The pine wood contains oil or resin inside. This oil makes the wood naturally more resistant to the insect attacked, but the presence of the oil can be a problem at the finishing appearance. This oil can come out as a yellowish-brown stain that ruin the finishing look; the oil can also disturb the adhesion of finishing materials. The oil needs to be handled properly to minimize the problem resulted. See our previous article: oil problem at the pinewood

• Variation in the color and grain.

There are many species of pine trees, each of which can have a different color and grain pattern. Too much variation could bring to the different appearance of the final finished product. Then, when we process this wood to make product, make sure we check the wood grain and color base. Match the color and grain look as much as possible at the beginning of the production process. It is better to match the wood grain and color when we laminate the wood or do the assembling. If we make the veneer, then the matching must be dome at the veneer setting. By this way we can control the final appearance to get the uniform color and look. We may use the sap stain or equalizer stain to uniformize the color, but it could be costly and make the finishing process more complicated. The sap stain and equalizer stain also cannot solve the problem caused by the variation at the grain. .

• Pine wood must be considered soft wood.

There are many types of pine wood, but generally this is a soft wood. The wood is not strong and hard enough for some products. The wood is not recommended to be used for construction that needs maximum strength and hardness. For example, the use of pine wood to make chairs must be carefully constructed to make sure it is strong and safe enough.

As a softwood, it also needs proper sanding. The wood has a lot of wood fibers that could be difficult to be cut off at the sanding process. We need the new and sharp sandpaper to do the sanding. Always replace the blunt sandpaper with the new one when we do sanding. The blunt sandpaper won’t cut off the wood fiber but will make the wood fiber lay down at the wood surface. It will lead to the blotchy color at the stain application since the uneven stain absorption. The glue size or sealer size is recommended to minimize this problem.