How well does 300yr old Heart Pine turn?

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GouletPens

GouletPens

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I have a gentleman that has some 300+ year old Heart Pine he'd like me to try turning. I can wait a few days and just find out for myself once I get it, but I'm kind of impatient and I'd like to know what I'm gonna be in for. This is stuff that's reclaimed from large beams in an old mill.
 
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I plan to, I'm just too darned impatient! If it turns out nicely, I might see if I can acquire some from this guy.
 
I have recently turn 15 pcs of wooden eggs out of 2.000 years oak; they were used as a present on designer convention.
The wood was cracked and very dry, but wet sanding with medium CA did miracles. It has filled all the hollows adn crackes. Just try to make surface smooth as possible; skew is the key by my opinion.
Good luck .
 
There is another similar thread going on right now also.
For heritage pens, do stabilize the wood first. Old wood can be very crumbly. Even if you should successfully turn, the pen might not hold up to use. Stable first.
 
Just turn it, it should be fine. Stop and think, they make floor boards out of old wood all the time. Reclaim it into furniture and so forth. 300 year wood isn`t that old that it is going to crumble. If it did half the houses and barns in city and rural PA would fall. Carl
 
I've turned a few pieces of old growth heart pine. The wood was originally used for beams, flooring and other heavy or heavy use purposes in construction. It is the same group of species as current southern pines, but being old growth in virgin forests it grew much slower and the growth lines are very close together. With the slow growth and resulting concentration of pine tar it is very much as if it is naturally stabilized.

Probably every lot of old heart pine is different, depending on how dried out it has become, but what I turned was very hard and stable. It did not pull out fibers on the end grain. The finished turning was also on the boring side, old wood makes for a good story to tell, but not necessarily for an attractive pen.
 
Chasper said:
I've turned a few pieces of old growth heart pine. The wood was originally used for beams, flooring and other heavy or heavy use purposes in construction. It is the same group of species as current southern pines, but being old growth in virgin forests it grew much slower and the growth lines are very close together. With the slow growth and resulting concentration of pine tar it is very much as if it is naturally stabilized.

Probably every lot of old heart pine is different, depending on how dried out it has become, but what I turned was very hard and stable. It did not pull out fibers on the end grain. The finished turning was also on the boring side, old wood makes for a good story to tell, but not necessarily for an attractive pen.
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You nailed this one. This is going to be more of a 'nostalgia' pen than anything else, because the mill the wood is coming from was where half the town worked for over 100 years. I don't thing it matters what it even looks like, it's the authenticity that's going to sell it. From what this guy has told me, and he seems to know his stuff (just not pen turning!), it's VERY hard and stable and the growth rings are incredibly tight. He said the wood has verrry high tannins and will clog up sandpaper as soon as you touch it. Since he has what he estimated to be over a million board feet of this wood, getting the 'ideal' wood for a few pens probably won't be much of an issue. He doesn't even want them finished (or might just use a light sanding sealer) because he wants the smell of the wood to come through. This is kind of backwards from the normal thick coating of CA I standardize for my pens, but I can also see where these pens will probably be LESS valuable to his market if they're covered in glossy superglue. I'll definitely let you all know how the stuff is when I get it in.
 
Brian if you are in that much of a hurry, I have a couple of pieces of 200yr old Heart Pine if you want them. Call me if you want them- we can arrange a drive by if you wish.

-Doug
 
They will turn just fine. There's always a chance for tear out with pine, so keep your edge honed. Finishing can be a challenge as the resin definitely clogs sandpaper and pine can be a challenge in finding a finish and method which will adhere properly.
 
RHunter said:
Brian if you are in that much of a hurry, I have a couple of pieces of 200yr old Heart Pine if you want them. Call me if you want them- we can arrange a drive by if you wish.

-Doug
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I appreciate the offer, but it's probably not necessary. He's supposed to ship it out today or tomorrow, and from Danville it should only take a day or two at most. Thanks though!
 
Brian,
I am very interested in your experince. As a former forestry worker in North Carolina, pine has had a big role in my life. I have been looking fir old growth pine, especailly Long Leaf to turn into pens. Also fat lighter would be interesting. Some sort of sealer will be needed due to to sap/resin that makes it sticky to the touch. I like the idea of tongue oil varnish or perhaps shellac. I do use BLO/CA on many of my pens, but the plastic feel and look have had people questioning me 'if was real wood'. Are you thinkinking of diaganal cuts?
Michael
 
MDEdwards said:
Brian,
I am very interested in your experince. As a former forestry worker in North Carolina, pine has had a big role in my life. I have been looking fir old growth pine, especailly Long Leaf to turn into pens. Also fat lighter would be interesting. Some sort of sealer will be needed due to to sap/resin that makes it sticky to the touch. I like the idea of tongue oil varnish or perhaps shellac. I do use BLO/CA on many of my pens, but the plastic feel and look have had people questioning me 'if was real wood'. Are you thinkinking of diaganal cuts?
Michael
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I don't know why kind of cuts the guy's going to give me, but I could probably specify. since he's the one that's going to cut them and ultimately sell/give them away, it's really up to him. I think a sealer may be in order, that's easy enough to apply. I'll have to see how 'sticky' they are when I turn them. It's things like that I like knowing before hand so I know what to expect, thanks!
 
Been there, done that

I have turned several pens from old salvaged heart pine. Thw wood was very dry and stable. It had tight growth rings and turned easy. On the sanding, the areas between growth rings are a little softer and tend to cause a small dip.

Also, be cautious of the resings in the heart pine. I found out the hard way that I had alergic reactions to it when cutting on the table saw. Not a problem when turning with dood dust collection. So, wear a respirator if you dont have a DC.

The picture is an example of a group of pens for a client from 150+ year old pine salvaged from a building. You get some interesting grain pattersn and a golden sheen.
 

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Brian,

I have turned some old heart pine from my Great Grandfarther's house. I turns good - as always use sharp tools. If in doubt about the stability use a little CA on the ends of the blanks. If you cut the blanks on the bias you can get some nice grain effects. When sanding the area between the growth rings is a little softer so the growth rings will not sand as quick and may stand a little proud.
 
Brian,

I just came in from the shop and found my blanks and cut one up. To concur with some others here, it is dry as a bone.

No resin in it at all- it is so old the moisture in the resin has evaporated and left the resin as a solid impregnated in the wood fibers- it's funny, when you cut it, it has a slight turpentine smell to it, but no turpentine.

Now my pieces were taken from flooring and not actual lumber planks, which it sounds like you are getting, so YMMV.

-Doug
 
Turning heart pine (called fat lighter in Georgia) can be turned and looks great. HOWEVER, it is a four person operation. One person to operate the lathe, one person to make the 911 call, one person to operate the fire extinguisher and a paramedic to apply the burn cream and bandages.

Seriously, heart pine looks (and smells) wonderful when turned. The key is go slow and take many breaks (I drink beer, so the breaks are good). The friction and heat caused by the cutting tools can very easily cause a big fire.

Remember the old Boy Scout trick of rubbing two pine sticks together to start a fire? In essence, turning heart pine improves on this boy scout process by substituting high speed steel for one of the pine sticks.
 
The pine I just turned from my aunts barn was really dry too. Until I stabilized it with Minwax wood stabilizer. I think it brought the sap back to life. I turned the rest with just CA and they turned out really nice. My aunt could tell the difference in the two.
 
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