ponderosa pine

[mtngun]

A neighbor said I could have this ponderosa pine snag. The top had broken off in a windstorm years ago (a common occurrence around here). Snags like this usually rot quickly, so I thought about bucking it into firewood, but decided to take a chance on mlling it.

The awesome John Deere/Efco CS62 with 20" bar felled the 28" trunk easily enough.

Boy, it's nice working on level ground, right next to the truck. I'm not used to that.

Trimmed to twelve feet and ready to mill.

Note the ponderosas in the background, growing pretty straight and with few lower branches. That's how ponderosas grow when they are protected from the wind, as this location is. When they are exposed to wind, they have a shorter, stubbier form, with more lower branches. The lower branches seem to help balance the trees in the wind. When a windstorm does hit these tall, straight trees, they snap like toothpicks.

Here's what the first slab looked like. Lots of blue color in the butt. A little rot in the middle, and a little punky wood here and there. By the time I cut away the bad sections, I'll only be able to use 25% - 30% of this, but that's OK. It's free wood, and the scrap will go in the wood stove.

Note the 1 1/2" thick bark. The thick bark enables mature ponderosa to survive low-level wildfires, which. like windstorms, are a common occurrence here.

The next cut. Similar color, but less rot.

I cut the slabs 3" thick, and plan to use the wood on a dining table project.

Ponderosa pine is not the greatest wood for furniture, but it is attractive in a rustic sort of way. I like it because it is the predominant tree in this part of the country.

 

[Brmorgan]

I love the ponderosas too. Especially since they can have such a deep sapwood layer as visible in your photos, which in beetle-killed trees can produce some beautiful, clear blue-stained wood. Unfortunately the northern limit of their natural range is about 80 miles south of here, so I don't have quick access to them. Years ago, there used to be a sign beside Highway 97 down there denoting the northernmost ponderosa pine, but it's long gone. My aunt has almost unlimited dead ponderosa on her property farther south in the Okanagan valley though, and said I can come cut to my heart's content anytime. But most of them are on the side of a steep hill and are quite knotty and windswept as you describe, so I'm not sure it'd be worth the 5-hour drive. Besides, there are some equally big Lodgepoles up here if you know where to look, and the wood is visually almost identical to Ponderosa.

I agree with Pine looking better for more "rustic" furniture, especially projects that are made to look distressed or worn. I quite often see Shaker-style armoires etc. made out of pine and then slightly burnt and beaten with an ugly stick or chain etc. to give it the wear marks. Not really my sort of thing, but would look good at the cottage, etc.

 

[MR4WD]

There are a few hundred dead ponderosa down the street from my house. I might go mill a few down. After slabbing, drying and planing, what would you treat it with for table or furniture use?

It's an interesting wood as mentioned, the beetle killed trees have a green wood for more than 3/4-7/8 or of the width, where as lodgepole only has the outer 1/3.

 

[Brmorgan]

If you want the wood to retain its natural color, probably just shellac to seal it and polyurethane over it as a protectant. Pine's ability to take a finish can depend on the amount of resin in the wood so it doesn't always stain evenly.

 

[superfire]

nice

we have tons of the pine in my part of the country. the the blue buggy is real popular for t&g paneling in houses. pine is a tough wood to stain. me i use tongue oil as a base sealer. after i put two coats of tongue oil i use a good furniture paste wax and a car buffer. it leaves a all the natural color but a smooth as glass surface. just have too once or twice a year re wax and buff.