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"Heart pine"?
- Thread starter 2knife
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2005
- Messages
- 345
I have never used pine for anything but furniture.....Doesn't sound promising for handle material to me.....
If you decide to give it a try, let us know what the outcome is, good luck!!! The worst that can happen is that you don't like it, and don't use it again.
If you decide to give it a try, let us know what the outcome is, good luck!!! The worst that can happen is that you don't like it, and don't use it again.
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2003
- Messages
- 15,288
Pines are separated into two groups- hard pine and soft pine.The hard southern pine has been used for flooring and gets harder with age.Hard pine from 75-100 year old buildings is very valuable and is recycled for flooring.Perhaps the "heart pine " is actually 'hard pine ' or maybe just the heart wood. The hard pine doesn't have much as far as figured grain.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 2,524
Heart Pine, known as "Lightard" in these parts. Very dense "heart-wood" found in the center of a pine. The best "Lightard" comes from the part of the pine just above and below the ground level.
It is hard as chinease arithmetic, and very rich in rosin. Almost rot-proof (as some of the best comes from old pine stumps that have all rotted away except for the heart-wood)
Smells wonderful, and makes the best natural fire starter out there.
Not sure how it would do for a knife handle, as it tends to be a little on the sticky side (May help with gripping the knife
).
It is hard as chinease arithmetic, and very rich in rosin. Almost rot-proof (as some of the best comes from old pine stumps that have all rotted away except for the heart-wood)
Smells wonderful, and makes the best natural fire starter out there.
Not sure how it would do for a knife handle, as it tends to be a little on the sticky side (May help with gripping the knife
).
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2001
- Messages
- 3,824
Yup, lightard, used it many a time to start a fire on a cold morning. Only real trouble far as a knife handle would be that the rosin gets sticky in warm weather and is just waiting for a flame to start burning. Something like loblolly could be stabilized and might make an interesting handle.
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2001
- Messages
- 20,978
Heart pine was used heavily at the end of the 19th century in furniture. So much so that it was nearly wiped out. It's very rare to find pieces nowadays. Mostly from old buildings, etc.
Completely different from the soft pine we use now for framing.
Heart pine is solid. A bit waxy, yes. But hard as oak.
Here's a knife with a piece of it for the handle:
(obviously not from a 2x4)
Completely different from the soft pine we use now for framing.
Heart pine is solid. A bit waxy, yes. But hard as oak.
Here's a knife with a piece of it for the handle:
(obviously not from a 2x4)
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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- Aug 20, 2004
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- 38,235
I regularly see lightard aka "heart pine" confused with heart pine .One is the center of the stump of soft pine and is used for kindling.The real heart pine is a structural timber which is unavailable anymore,except as salvage timber.I own a house framed in it.The studs may be worth more than the house.It wouldn't make a very nice handle,IMHO.Heat pine,I believe,gets its name from the tree type.It is also called hart pine(southern for 'hard') and hard pine.