Pine is a widespread and preferred material for furniture. One of the reasons for this is that it is not only widespread, but also has dozens of varieties. Each of these varieties has its own characteristics that allow the process of creating furniture to be flexible and to create a variety of furniture. From soft to hard pine wood, from milky white to dark shades of yellow, from northern to tropical pine - pine varieties offer great opportunities for work, development and the manufacture of furniture. The main factor that influences the furniture production and is related to the characteristics of pine is the hardness of the wood. What sort of hardwood pine and softwood are there?
Pines with soft wood
Pine species from this group are characterized by low wood density and slow maturation of the wood. Softwood trees have a relatively smooth surface. Among them the most popular are Pinus lambertiana, Pinus monticola, Pinus strobus.
Pinus lambertiana known as sugar pine has a rougher wood texture and large resin channels. Western white pine (Pinus monticola) has narrower resin channels and an idea of a finer wood texture. Pinus strobus, also known as eastern white pine, has the narrowest resin channels and an extremely fine texture.
Pines with hardwood
The type of pines in this group is with higher density. This leads to the corresponding density of the material. They show a sharp transition from youth to maturity of the tree, and the appearance of the trees is usually uneven.
Hardwoods are divided into three subcategories:
Southern yellow pines - are characterized by extremely high wood density, extremely abrupt transition in the development of the tree. Southern yellow pines are short-leaved pine (Pinus echinata), black pine (Pinus elliotti), long-leaved pine (Pinus palustris) and Incense pine (Pinus taeda). There are other, less commonly used in furniture production pines of the southern yellow type: sand pine (Pinus clausa), spruce (Pinus glabra), virgin pine (Pinus virginiana), lake pine (Pinus serotina)
Western yellow pines are of medium hardness and with a not very rough structure. They are essentially an intermediate species between hard and soft pine woods. Among the most popular are Pinus contorta and yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa). The two types are very similar. Differences can be difficult to detect. They mainly concern the fact that the yellow pine has slightly wider resinous channels. The trunks of the species are larger in diameter and with wider growth rings.
Red pines are less common and therefore less commonly used in furniture production. In the United States grows a single species of red pine and that is Pinus resinosa. Austrian pine (Pinus nigra) and white pine (Pinus sylvestris) grow in Europe, with a name completely opposite to the species of which it is a part.
Although the end user cannot directly assess the type of pine from which his furniture is made, it is still important. The type determines the durability, wear, shape, colors and structure of the furniture. And they are certainly important for any owner of pine furniture.
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