white pine wood

[agamemnon9]

hi ,, I know that most people on this site use woods of medium to hard density and also wood of several species for color and grain ... but I have never heard of anyone which used white pine .... it has a low density but is comparable to basswood, it has great stability and is very inexpensive and very easy to find .... If it is not a good wood, ,,Why ? I would also like to know the characteristics of basswood. please I would like to have your comments ... thank you

[Jaager]

Way back in literature from the 1960's and earlier, White Pine or pattern makers Pine was suggested as a preferred choice for carved hull - either solid or built up from layers.  What with popularity of POB and the attempts to mitigate its major short coming by adding supporting fill material between the moulds,  Pine is far superior to the odious Balsa in doing it.  It does not need to be the more expensive White Pine. Select grade framing stock works as well.  The problem is getting 2x4 or 1x4 stock into usable thicknesses.  Basswood is also good for this

 

There are two Tilia sp. that are commonly available.  In North America it is Basswood.  In Europe it is Lime (Linden).  Lime has been long a favorite for architectural scale carving.  It carves well and easily in large scale.  It is about twice as hard as Basswood.  Good characteristics are consistent texture, inconspicuous grain, and near invisible pores.  White Pine also shares these characteristics.

I find Basswood and White Pine to be too soft for ship construction.  It is difficult to get sharp edges and hold them.  It does not take much pressure to dent either species.   

Another species that you may find easy to source and be about the same cost is Yellow Poplar.  It is soft and easy to work, but it holds an edge.  The negative is that it is inconsistent in color in a small piece and can be ugly.  If it is hidden inside or painted or stained, it is a good choice.  I do not know how attractive a dyed piece is.    

Edited May 3, 2020 by Jaager

[Roger Pellett]

Back in the old days before the proliferation of kits with double layers of planking on bulkheads, ship models (scratch as well as kits) were carved from solid or laminated blocks.  Two common choices were basswood or pine.  I still make carved hull Ship models and of the two materials, I prefer pine as it is a bit harder and does not exhibit the “fuzz” that basswood does.

 

The University of Michigan has a large, 400ft+ long tank used to tow ship models for determining, hydrodynamic resistance.  When I was a student there in the 1960’s many of these models were still made from wood, and the model shop had a  supply of beautiful, clear white pine.  This wood is also called “sugar pine” or “patternmakers pine”.  We built an 8ft long tanker model from this and towed it in the tank.  If you have a source for this material you are fortunate.

 

Roger

Edited May 3, 2020 by Roger Pellett

[Carlos Reira]

Pinus strobus, Eastern white pine, is very common tree, a legendary wood with much history. It was the preferred mast and spar species for the British admiralty once it was discovered in New England. Everyone knows about the King's pines. If slow growth, it carves pretty well in the round, but not for really small things. It was used for figureheads and stern board carvings on actual ships. If fast growth the end grain is difficult to cut without crushing and the difference between the soft early wood and the hard latewood is prominent as in most pines. Western white pine, Pinus monticola, is also excellent, and usually found in lumberyards in 1x boards. Sugar pine, Pinus lambertiana, one of the world's biggest trees is another Western soft pine, and I believe the preferred pattern making material when there was such an industry, as Roger said.

 

 For ship model purposes, if you live around white pines, go for the limb wood after a storm. The tight grain is really good for carving. You'll get a soft half and a harder half, not sure which is top or bottom, but the wood grows that way to support the limb. Another quality of white pine is that all branching occurs around one nodal region, and the wood in between is perfectly clear. Sometimes the heartwood is much harder. It's the preferred part, as it's rot resistant and ages to the famous "pumpkin pine" color, but you need big old pines to get heartwood.

Edited December 12, 2020 by Carlos Reira