Oregon Pine vs SA Pine.

Oregon timber imported from Canada and North America was used in the early 1900’s because a suitable structural timber was required for floors and roofing, and there were insufficient South African indigenous hardwoods to meet the demand without destroying our natural forests.

Much later on, technology had improved to the point where the softer SA Pine could be used in construction and wooden floors had gone out of fashion. SA Pine is now also routinely used for furniture manufacture, and there is occasionally some confusion between SA Pine, and Oregon. There should not be, because the timbers are very different, and serve different needs. Recovered Oregon is hard, durable, seasoned for the decades it was in use and has a lustre and grain that suits the cottage style of furnishing – warm, homely, cozy and with a sense of timelessness. The timber is sometimes marked with the nail holes where it was placed by long forgotten craftsmen in houses that no longer stand.

To many of our customers that simply increases the sense of homeliness of the furniture – there is history, a sense of continuity with the past leading to the feeling of durability into the future. SA Pine is different. Not less, just different. It is softer, easier to work, can be stained into beautiful colours, is considerably less expensive and more likely to serve the needs of transition – with changing fashions for instance.

But Oregon has the pedigree, the finish, the resistance to marking, and excellent durability. You can visualize your Oregon furniture being used by your children in their homes one day! Oregon Timber comes from the Douglas-fir tree. However, the Douglas-fir is not actually a true fir, nor is it a pine or a spruce. Common names used for the Douglas-fir are: Oregon Pine, British Columbian Pine, Redfir, Bigcone Douglas-fir and Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir.
The Douglas-fir tree is a distinct species which was discovered on Vancouver Island, Canada in 1791 by Archibald Menzies, a Scottish Physician and naturalist. In 1825, David Douglas, a Scottish Botanist identified the tree in the Pacific Northwest and thus the tree was named the Douglas Fir.
Douglas fir trees are huge and can grow from 40 to 60 feet tall and 15 to 25 feet wide. They are one of the most important lumber trees in the world because the wood is very dense and hard, stiff and durable. Once the wood is worked, it has a light, rosy colour and has a straight and handsome grain.