White Pine

[Gabby]

Hi, I'm fairly new to the business of sawdust so pls be patience. Just got 1850 board ft of fresh cut white pine. 16"-24" large end. My plan is to build a 3 sided shed for the mill (Norwood Lumbermate). The only thing I have sawed so far is cull hardwood logs. Unless I hear otherwise I intend to flat saw initially for the board and baton and cut my 2x6 from the cant including the heart. Will I later experience twisting or any other problems? Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thank-you

[Tom]

Gabby,
White pine, I've not cut.  But, Yellow pine I have.   I can think of no reason to cut pine for vertical grain than flooring, or doors.  It's wearing ability increases with vertical grain (quarter saw) and it's stability is helped for door panels or heavy entrance doors.

Most fasteners seem to be more friendly toward flat sawed pine.  It isn't as liable to split.

Flat sawed 2x4's will place the growth rings vertical in most instances and weight from the top will be less able to separate the grain since it will be in a "shear" configuration.

Knots in flat-sawed pine will usually be round, and if tight, will not affect the strength of the piece too much as long as they aren't too big or open to the side.

When you go for vertical grain (quarter saw), you are more apt to create "Spike" knots.  These can dramatically affect the strength of a piece.

Twisting and warp will depend on the straightness of the trees as well as how good of a job you do in centering the heart (grain) in the board and preventing run-out of grain.  By centering the grain in the board, you will have equal stresses on either side of the center of the board.  By paying attention to the leveling of the log, you will minimize grain runout in the board.

If you decide to use the pine for flooring, use it as vertical grain.  If you use it as flat-sawed, keep the bark side up to minimize shelling.

Link to some other posts on pine

[mike_van]

Gabby, white pine is one of the best  i've found for fast drying flat boards. Makes great siding, however i've found it too soft for framing lumber. It just doesn't hold nails like doug. fir, hemlock or larch.  If you search "white pine" on the forum you'll get pages of topics to read.

[woodmills1]

I use white pine for siding, but instead of board and batten I use a router with a roller bit to shiplap it.  If you do use battens they will break at almost every knot so I use hemlock for the battens.  I also use pine for framing but will keep it a full 2 inch.  If you want a good stain/finish for pine use 5 gal deisel fuel with half gallon linseed oil and half gallon of roofing tar(no fibers), looks like walnut.  I roll it on both sides and all edges before I install it.

[rewimmer]

Hello Gabby,
I saw a lot of white and yellow pine. It works great for me and I build with it while it is green. I cut some 2"x 4"x8' two days ago and we are fraiming with it today. As for board and batten it is super for me and does not shrink but very little.  I use a type of deck screw that is for pine and natural ceder. You can purchase them at Home Depot or Lowe's. I use them sometimes in the boards and always in the batten. They really pull the batten down tight and do not pull out like nails. Also if you have a problem with a board or batten, you just unscrew and replace. Another area is if you just want board sidding, let it dry a while after installing, then remove screws, slide boards together and rescrew with same screws.

A word of "caution" if you are sawing the lumber yourself is to use "plenty" lubrication on your blade. I use water and  pinsol mix to lub my blade and really keep an eye on the blade for buildup. I also use plenty of it and it will not hurt the wood. That sap in pine can really damage your mill and nerves.

This is my first response on this forum so I hope this is of help to you.
I tried to send you a response last night but it did not post for me.


Robert in Virginia

[Gabby]

Thanks for the replies, will let you guys know how it goes.

[thecfarm]

I'm no pro but I've probaly sawed 5000 of white pine.I would hate to see a 3 inch knot in a 2X4.Pine is not really all that strong when it comes to knots.I have use it green before too.I built a small goat barn with it.I put plywood on the sides because I got it for free.Just remember if you put two greens boards together each one will shrick about a ¼ inch leaving about a ½ inch gap.That's why board and batten is nice.I use half diesel and half bar and chain oil for lube.A drop ever couple seconds works for me.I can tell when I need more,it starts to get loud.

[bull]

White pine is great. I have sawn hundreds of thousands of feet. My barn,shop, saw shed and other out buildings are all built out of my own white pine. Used both green and dryed.  Green construction right of the mill is great. All the wood shrinks at the same rate " no gaps". The old builing inspector here in town built all the houses he built w/ green lumber off his dads mill in the 30's thru 50's and they are all still standing and looking just fine...