To the north, in the tiny Canadian maritime province of Prince Edward Island, there is no shortage of heritage. And because of this, for Raeford Waite of RW Woodworking and Custom Milling, business is going well. In fact, if you need a turned, turned, or curved eastern white pine for, say, a 200-year-old arched entryway, Raeford and his trusty three-man crew are your best bet on the entire island, and perhaps in most of the island. from Canada. . Sure, Raeford can build you a cabinet, or just about anything else, but his real passion is milling wood material that will be used to restore and preserve historic landmarks like churches, quaint storefronts, and government mansions.
In Canada, the federal government awards grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 to restore heritage projects. Raeford remembers the 1970s, when that money just wasn’t available. When it came to renovating and maintaining historic landmarks, corners were cut. In some cases, vinyl siding was even used due to a lack of funds. Today, the government makes sure that these cover-ups are rectified and that history is restored. In the age of digital cameras, you better be prepared to meet the expectations of people who appreciate real wood and authentic craftsmanship. Raeford Waite loves this challenge and is happy to receive a large number of requests for milled white pine and custom installations.
Raeford’s appreciation of White Pine is revealing. She can talk about the changes she has observed in the quality and composition of the stock she receives from suppliers throughout eastern North America. She explains that the density and stiffness of the grain has degraded visually and tactilely in her 25 years of woodworking. Decades of mass harvesting mean that today’s eastern white pine crops are younger. Newer trees grow faster, and growth rings tend to be larger and smoother. As Raeford says, a 1/8-inch to 3/16-inch ring grain simply won’t last as long, as softer grains absorb moisture, exacerbating vulnerability to rot. Now that lead paint is off the shelf, mold is much more common. It’s just harder to keep your pine tree intact than it used to be. Such are the challenges of modern carpenters.
At the same time, one item that Raeford points to as a boon for crafters today is the quality of the wood glue. He wonders what carpenters would have done 200 years ago if they had access to modern glue and resin chemistry. He tells of ancient secret formulas seeping into an old carpenter’s wood stove that may have incorporated horsehair or even stranger ingredients. The fact that today’s glues can hold 3,500 lbs. per square inch leads him to wonder if the old windows in the heritage projects he restores would not have lasted another 1,000 years. Perhaps luckily for Raeford and his team, the horsehair didn’t pay off in that capacity.
From one history lesson to the next, Raeford keenly expresses what is interesting about pine milling and can evoke mystery and genuine emotion. Imagine a saw ripping through a century-old pine tree and making violent contact with buckshot and lead bullets from a war no one immediately knows how to date. Or he reflects on men who search abandoned properties for that perfect pine forest, not knowing if an old well is waiting to swallow you. And on the other hand, the trees themselves have known, over time, to digest lucky horseshoes that had been nailed to them, or clothesline pulleys. According to Raeford, you don’t want to be near a saw when it hits a horseshoe. Reflecting on the history of the eastern white pine and other materials of his trade seems to come naturally to Raeford. While his voice, rich with what resembles an Irish accent, reveals the youth of his 40’s, what he actually says reveals a wiser and more diligent spirit. He speaks fondly of his crew, whom he often lets decide which projects to undertake so they can take pride in his work. He goes on to describe how his creed of “pride before profit” has as much to do with the heart and soul of a worker as it does with the “love of wood” he expects from his men. These are, indeed, high standards to live by, standards that he will no doubt pass down to his son, Timothy, who by eight years old has already built a fleet of toy airplanes out of scrap pine and other woods found in around 5,000 square feet. trade. He held his first hammer when he was three years old. Raeford has little doubt that “Tim the Tool Man” will continue in his father’s shoes. After all, he is the only son of an only son of an only son. And this, I realized after talking to Raeford about the eastern white pine, is the true nature of heritage.
