In this Wood Finishes Direct series we’ll be discussing different wood types. The first wood up for discussion is Pine or ‘Pinus’ as this species is known, but careful how you pronounce that one! There is so much pine used in The UK that it’s worth discussing it in detail. The first thing to say is that names for pine are often confused and grouped together with names such as Deal, Pitch or Spruce.
Most countries have pine trees (there are up to 125 types of pine) and the difference in the timbers from various pine trees are enormous. Generally speaking, pines fall into 3 broad categories: red pine, white pine and yellow pine. The most popular of these pines being used in Europe are Scandinavian Red Pine, Russian White Pine and Quebec Yellow Pine.
Red Pine :
This is a reasonably dense pine that is ethically grown so it’s a popular choice that is used worldwide. It is distinctive because it tends to have pinkish stripes running through it. In other words there are lighter and darker ‘stripes’ in the wood.
White Pine :
This is grown in the far north of Russia in an area called Angel. It’s very cold there resulting in a slow grown timber, meaning it’s one of the strongest pines around but it’s also one of the more expensive ones. It has small/no knots due to the trunk being so long before any branches appear (and as we all know the knots show where the branches of the tree were). It is very pale in colour and also very consistent with small knots if there are any.
Yellow Pine :
As name suggests, this pine is from Quebec and indeed other parts of Canada. It has distinctive large knots (and therefore large branches) and a strong, pleasant smell with a light, warm yellowy hue to it. It is not as dense as the above 2 but it is great for machining and therefore widely used in furniture manufacturing although the European furniture industry is in decline since the more cost effective furniture is being imported from The Far East.
