A different kind of pine

Robert Rose

Member
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109
Location
Florida Keys
I was building a rustic table of Dade County Pine (Pinus elliotti var. densa) for a wedding gift and thought maybe everyone would like to take a look at it.
It certainly very different looking than Southern yellow pine or for that matter, any other pine spieces. Dade County pine is a very dense, slow growing spieces originally found in South Florida and the Keys. Very little still standing. The pieces I am using were originally dock boards that were first put to use over 70 years ago. Even then the wood was from trees that were over 150 years old. So I would say that they have stood the test of time. Originally 2x8's (full size), I have planned them down to 3/4" x 6.Color ranges from red brown to brown to yellow. Still heavy and beautiful. Enjoy
 

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Very cool, Robert. I'd never heard of that type of pine. Looks like it should make for a beautiful table. :thumb:
 
Could that be Loblolly Pine? A short needle pine? It has renowned as a great boat building wood. But we cut it all and it takes somewhere around 100 years for the tree to be harvest size so there is no money in farming it.
 
Neat looking stuff. Interesting heritage too:

DADE COUNTY PINE is a subspecies of Heart Pine. At one time, Dade County Pine grew between the Everglades and the Atlantic in South Florida. Dade County Pine closely resembles Heart Pine in appearance and equals it in strength and durability.
 
The only pine I ever see is the stuff at HD. This ain't that. Wow, that's some good looking pine that you could do some nice work with. Thanks for showing it off.
 
Plus it is highly resistant to termites! They don't like the resin in it.

During WWII there was a colony of cabins in Pompano Beach that extended out into an area that is beyond the beach now, the ocean erosion during the early 50's is what caused them to be removed street by street. The cabins were used as quarters for the trainee pilots at the Army Air field that is now Pompano Airport and home to the Goodyear blimp that is used for east coast golf tournament TV coverage.This was told to me by an old time Floridian who grew up there.

There are still some old homes here in Palm Beach county that rest on corner blocks without a foundation, but with Dade County pine for floor joists. They can handle the humidity and bugs, being exposed to both for a lot of years now.

I have seen some reclaimed Dade County pine that was used for what is now called an entertainment center. It was a while ago but as I recall it didn't even have any finish on it and looked beautiful.
 
I'm not a big fan of pine regardless of species and variety. But this looks nice. And I particularly like the way you laid it out for glue-up. Good on ya mate...very fine.
 
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