Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Heart Pine glue and finish questions?
Barry Irby
>I mentioned the other day that I was resawing some heart pine beams to make a hunt table or sideboard. The question is about gluing it. I have some of it that is completely saturated with sap/pitch like "lighter" wood people use for starting fires.
Can I use it? Will the sap soften and run? Can I glue it with yellow glue? What about finishing it? Oil, lacquer, what?
Re: Heart Pine glue and finish questions?
Keith Newton
>Barry, I think it has to be kiln dried up to 180� F to set the pitch. I think aliphatic glue works OK, but it may take longer to set, because this wood is less absorbent, and it will take longer to dry. Shellac would be my first choice sealer for this wood. After it is sealed you can switch to something else.
Shellac
Mike Fitterling
>Our house is made of that stuff. All exposed woodwork is covered with shellac. Amber or Garnet is nice. If you coat with something else, you still should spray it with blonde dewaxed to contain the sap/pitch/resins.
Here's our livingroom. Scraped and or sanded heart pine with clear shellac. Floor is oil-based poly.
Re: Heart Pine glue and finish questions?
Gentleman Jim
>I have successfully glued a lot of long leaf pine using lacquer thinner to remove the surface oil as you would with a tropical hardwood. Yellow glue works fine. Around here we use 2 coats of Kiltz if it is to be painted or a couple coats of thinned lacquer or shellac for the undercoats of a clear finish. I have never had much luck with an oil finish on this wood and would avoid it if possible.
Re: Heart Pine glue and finish questions?
Michael Wilkins
>Garnet shellac works great for preserving the color of heart pine; if you want to give it some protection and an even clearer/natural look, blonde shellac is good. My own latest heart pine project was finished with garnet, and it gave it an aged look.
Yellow glue worked great for me; I did'nt know I needed to wipe first to remove any pitch/film. So far so good.