what kind of pine wood to use.

Nate, here I get stuff called Eastern Soft Pine. It is furniture grade, which means knots, but I can cut around the large ones quite successfully. The rest of the material has very little grain (it looks like vanilla pudding) so edge gluing to get better yield is a no brainer. The stuff is really soft, but it machines nicely. It comes to me 15/16 and I can skim two sides on the planer and get 7/8 which is good visually.

Kindly,

Lee

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

I’m not sure the exact species, but my local mill stocks plenty of “furniture grade” pine. It’s as Lee describes above. I have purchased quite a bit of it but i use it for mock-ups and test pieces during builds. It is VERY soft, the grain is really uninteresting, and overall I hate working with pine (finishing is a nightmare also). It’s not much cheaper than poplar, so I just go the poplar route now.

-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/KandJWoodCrafts

I’d make the switch to poplar, like Joe says. if you pick out some of the heartwood poplar, some yards and big box stores will discount it, since a lot of people don’t like the greenish tint, which when stained properly, looks simply grand.

-- Paul, Tennessee, http://www.tsunamiguitars.com

spruce is a better board i have found.i’ve used it on multiple projects and it looks better than a knotty pine.just my opinion.

-- It don't have to be straight,it's just a suggestion!!!

Clear & Better SYP…Southern Yellow Pine

Clear & Better Arkansas Pine..almost the same as SYP

I was trained on SYP, love it and still use it today from furniture to residential and commercial cabinetry.

stepback china cabinet built in the 80’s from SYP, photo was taken a couple of years ago.

-- Bruce http://plans.testsitem3.info http://www.sawmillgirls.com

I’ve always liked Pine for many reasons. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of Pine out there until I read this web site. You can click on each individual type and you will get lots to read about.
Good luck…...............

-- mike...............

It’s (K)not the species of wood it’s the grade the better the grade the less knots. But if you can do it correctly sometimes you can make your cuts around the knots leaving you with perfect select pieces to your project. I just did this on a kitchen stool for my wife, (k)not a knot in it. Then on the other hand sometimes knots enhance the project if you can place them in stratigict locations.
MIKE

-- See pictures on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/44216106@N07/ And visit my Facebook page - facebook.com/MTEnterprises

Buy clear pine. It is from a location on tree with the minimum of branches and cost a bit more than knotty pine

-- Jim Jakosh.....Practical Wood Products...........Learn something new every day!!

Yellow pine is for construction or rustic furniture. In face most pine is rustic if you ask me. I don’t think I could go back to something you can scratch with a finger nail after working with hardwoods. Sure pine is easy to work, but you can’t keep it clean while you work, it mars easily, and it gunks up your tools.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.