Wood Property of New Zealand pine

Most wood products require machining in one form or another. The machining characteristics of any wood species can be as important as its strength, hardness, or durability in deciding which species is best for a given end use. The most common form of machining is planing, closely followed by shaping and turning. Crosscutting, boring, mortising and sanding are also common types of machining.

The average density of New Zealand pine is 350kg/m3 in early wood and 550kg/m3 in late wood, reflecting the comparatively even texture of the wood. It is this small variation in density within the growth ring and gradual transition from early wood to late wood which confer on New Zealand pine its excellent machining, painting, and staining properties. These figures are compared with other species in the table below:

Comparative Softwood Density

Comparative tests to compare the machinability of New Zealand pine with other wood species have confirmed the ease of machining of both mature wood and juvenile wood in planing and turning. It also compares favorably with other softwood species in routing, fingerjointing, sanding and fastening characteristics.

New Zealand pine is also an extremely versatile wood and is tolerant of the many available stains. The absence of high concentrations of extractives prevents any incompatibility with finishes and eliminates the need for special primers. This allows it to be stained to look like other species, with colour-matching being particularly effective. For interior applications, New Zealand pine is very suitable for appearance
grade products such as furniture, componentry, joinery and molding's.

Of course, high value products such as furniture should be manufactured from kiln dried wood and accurate drying is particularly important for furniture manufacture as it will avoid delayed shrinkage, warping and end splitting or opening of glue joints. The latest technology of kiln control systems (http://www.windsor.co.nz) enables us to make the most of the wood property of New Zealand pine and to offer our
customers quality dry timber.

Reference:
“New Zealand Pine User Guide” New Zealand Pine Manufacturers’ Association, 1996
Their web-site ( http://www.nzpra.org.nz ) is also informative.