5 replies to this topic

[Chris F]

I cleared some old Southern Yellow Pine floor joists out of an old building. I knew the building dated back to somewhere in the 1800"s. Then I noticed someone had signed their name and added a year on one of them, 1864. So I pulled the nails, some screws from recent times and cut some of the bad ends off. This is a picture of one off those ends. Look at how close those growth rings are! We counted over 250 rings. and some are misissing! I never thought SYP grew that slow? Anyone with any knowledge on this type of old wood. Extremely heavy. So it would seem this tree was growing somewhere in the US around the early 1600's?

Chris

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Morton]

So sweet. Thx for the pic -very cool.

[fransikaner]

Awesome pic and a reminder of what once was. Vintage SYP flooring is still very desirable for just that reason. Thanks for sharing!

[wdwerker]

Down South we call it heart pine. Still smells great even when re-cutting 100 year old timbers. I think most of it is long-leaf yellow pine from virgin timber stands. Dense forest, huge trees, very slow growth.

Today's yellow pine is a different species grown fast as a production crop. There is a orange fungus that attacks pine trees and it needs an oak tree to complete it's life cycle. In some south Ga. counties you cannot grow any oak trees because of the effort to protect the pine forests being commercially grown

I have used heart pine for restoration work on old homes. My source in south Ga was buying beams from buildings being torn down in Chicago and cleaning out all the metal before re-sawing them into flooring. The timbers were originally cut in south Ga. to supply the reconstruction after the Great Chicago Fire.

Use very sharp blades and clean them often, the pitch builds up pretty fast. Clogs up a belt or drum sander very fast. Hand scraper works well.
Pilot hole for nails or screws if near ends or edges to prevent splits and cracks. Fairly rot resistant, but why use such beautiful wood outside? Turns nicely on the lathe.

[Johan]

That is a very interesting photo. I was always fascinated by grow rings on trees.
It told a story that date back a few hundred years in the past.
It told the past climate and growth conditions like a book.
In this photo there is clearly periods where it grow very slowly, and periods where it grow fast.

[Vic]

Chris, did you see some of the pics of the old growth Fir I used for my Roubo build. Same amazement. The stuff is fairly hard and I had some growth ring at 4 in 1/16"