New Machinery For Ripping Beams Into Pitch Pine Flooring

We recently changed over to a different design of resaw in the workshop and it’s working out great! 

We use the resaw to make our reclaimed pitch pine flooring, processing large beams down to thinner boards prior to planing. The new machine takes a slice off the bottom of the beam again and again until it’s all slabbed up, and then we run those boards through the planer-moulder to make the final pitch pine floorboards!

These pitch pine beams are very old which means they are completely dry and don’t have the stress in them that kiln dried timber has. Once we cut them into a floorboard they remain straight and flat unlike new kiln dried timber. Pitch pine flooring is a very good flooring option and you get the benefits of a newly cut floorboard but with character from the reclaimed original pitch pine beam.

Due to the high resin content in the pitch pine beams it is very difficult to cut floorboards and the blades become dull very quickly. Sometimes they are so resinous the blade is changed after cutting one beam! This high resin content protects the pitch pine floorboards from insect attack and reduces the chances of rot.