Source of old pine

[n stephenson]

For those who are interested, I have a couple of old powder horns with pine base plugs. The growth rings in the wood are very close . When trying to find some pine for plugs on some new horns , I noticed everything I found had wide rings. I talked with an older gentleman that does some really nice wood work and he gave me this tip. Go to the dump or look on Craigslist for old pine house doors , the older the better. Some of the best ones I found had windows in them. The heavier the better ,too , tighter grain more dense .  The uprights and the crosspieces will be solid pine. The old ones seem to have VERY close rings , plus they get repurposed into useful , beautiful items. They used the tight grained stuff on doors up until probably the 1960s , like I said the older ones that you can find the better. I`m not saying to destroy a good old door that could be used again  but, there are tons of them around if you look .  JMHO   Nate

[FDR]

The pine you refer too is most likely "Longleaf" pine. The trees grow slowly and may reach 500 years old. They were once common across much of the southern US.

Fred

[Collector]

Also referred to as 'heart pine.'  It was a primary building material in the Southern colonies/states- framing, floors; you name it.

You'll find dealers in heart pine, recovered from old buildings and river beds on the Internet.  At least a few of them in Savannah GA.

I have a C.18th  storage horn, from Savannah and it has a heart pine plug.  Some of that old heart pine framing can be so hard, that it will burn out a drill bit just trying to put a hole in it.

Good luck!!

[Tim Crosby]

 AKA, Yellow Pine.

  Tim C.