White Pine Boxes

Teaching wood turning, one of my students registered surprise that I would use white pine for the wood. He was a builder and considered pine only good for studs.

Yet with a good sharp skew chisel, white pine handles beautifully when cut on the bevel. The design of these boxes lend themselves to working with the skew. It is my own personal opinion that white pine is very beautiful. The heart wood has an orange hue and people in New England call it pumpkin pine.

To not cover up this lovely color I have taken to omitting my usual tung oil finish and just apply clear wax directly to the sanded finish. Now I can see those subtle orange hues.