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Color/Appearance: Heartwood is light reddish brown, sapwood is pale yellow to nearly white.
Grain/Texture: Grain is straight, with a medium, even texture and a somewhat oily feel.
Endgrain: Medium sized resin canals, numerous and evenly distributed, mostly solitary; earlywood to latewood transition fairly abrupt, color contrast medium; tracheid diameter medium-large.
Rot Resistance: Heartwood is rated as moderately durable to non-durable regarding decay resistance. Red Pine is readily treated with preservatives and can thereafter be used in exterior applications such as posts or utility poles.
Workability: Red Pine is easy to work with both hand and machine tools. Glues and finishes well, though excess resin can sometimes cause problems with its paint-holding ability.
Odor: Red Pine has a distinct, resinous odor when being worked.
Allergies/Toxicity: Working with pine has been reported to cause allergic skin reactions and/or asthma-like symptoms in some people. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicityand Wood Dust Safetyfor more information.
Pricing/Availability: Red Pine is sometimes mixed with various species of spruce, pine, and fir and is stamped with the lumber abbreviation “SPF.” In this form, Red Pine should be widely available as construction lumber for a modest price.
Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices, and is reported by the IUCN as being a species of least concern.
Common Uses: Utility poles, posts, railroad ties, paper (pulpwood), and construction lumber.
Comments: So called because of the tree’s reddish-brown bark. Red Pine is the state tree of Minnesota.
The alternate common name of “Norway Pine” is somewhat mystifying, as the tree did not originate from Norway, and there’s no clear link with Norway. Some believe the name comes from early American explorers who confused the tree with Norway Spruce (Picea abies).
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