Use A Real Wood

 

I like Pine as much as anybody. It’s honest and humble and makes a statement when furniture is made with it.

But Pine doesn’t accurately represent what its like to work with hardwoods which is what most woodworkers will end up with eventually. Secondly, unless you are buying Pine from a specialty dealer (which don’t exist much anymore due to the razor thin and small profits on Pine) you won’t find very nice material when you compare it against what is available in hardwoods.

Pine is primarily milled for construction lumber and grade isn’t much of a concern in this market. Therefore the Pine forests are managed for this type of production. The material is often rushed through seasoning and will add all kinds of headache to the milling process.

You will be better served to spend a little more and buy a hardwood. Choose something like Cherry or Soft Maple (not its Hard Maple cousin, you’ll thank me later) or Walnut or even Oak. These woods will be harder obviously and they will give you a much better sense of how hand tools work with harder woods.

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