Hello there,  A few weeks ago [040210 MMDigest] I wrote asking
about some specific wood ('deal') that I need to restore an old
barrel organ made by Joseph Beloudy in Pentonville, England.
I wrote in part:

  "I am restoring an old English Barrel organ from about 1800.
One pipe is missing (actually it is a double pipe sharing a center
wall).  Each pipe is 1 inch by 4 inches, sharing the 4 inch wall.
Fortunately, I have access to a similar organ (by Joseph Hicks) and
I have discovered that the pipe I need is identical to the one in the
Hicks organ.  So, from some old sources and by comparing it to samples,
I have determined that the pipe is made from a wood that is called
'deal'.  It was a fairly common English softwood in that time period
and is still known today; a friend recognized that his father used to
mention it.

  "The botanical name is pinus sylvestri.  There is a yellow deal
and a red deal -- depends on whether it comes from the north or south.
It is also called redwood (not the trees in California) or Scots pine
(not the Scotch pine that is used for Christmas trees in the states).
I am hoping that one of the members might suggest where I can get some
of this wood.  One important factor is the grain structure.  I need
at least 12 grain lines per inch and the grain lines must be roughly
perpendicular to the surface (quarter cut)."

And so the search began.  I received messages from several countries,
including from a fellow in Australia who noted that 'deal' is imported
as red Russian pine.  I had a friend call the recommended supplier but
they did not have fine grain or quarter sawn timbers.  There was a
source in Russia but I wasn't that desperate yet.

Then a message from Paul Camps in England who wrote in part: "Most
of the old pipe work that I encountered as an organ builder was
constructed from pitch pine or sugar pine, so-called because of its
sweet smell when sawn, even after 100 years.  It has a very straight
grain and is almost knot free.  Church pews are made from it, in fact,
I've recycled dozens of chapel seats into musical instruments."

Sort of far away, but not a bad idea!

Kevin McElhone also passed on a suggestion that I find some clear,
straight-grained pine or seek out someone who had old organ pipes.
I did both.  The clear pine was usually flat sawn (grain lines parallel
with the surface) and the builders I found had only smaller pipes,
which were not the same.  I'm sure, from speaking with several people,
that I could have found what I needed if I could have found some larger
pipes.

Then a message from Louis Huivenaar in the Netherlands, who gave
details of a wood called Weymouth pine.  He even offered to supply
some wood from old harmonium cases if I couldn't find anything else.
Again, very similar.  Messages left on several web sites dealing in
similar wood for hobby and other uses led nowhere.  I also called
lumber dealers in the northern states and in Canada.  Never heard of
'deal' but they have white pine.  I finally found someone who said they
had it but, when they checked, it was only 4 to 5 annular rings per
inch -- too coarse.

Roger Wiegand made a couple of good suggestions.  One was to look for
a supplier of recycled wood from old buildings.  We just happen to have
one of the largest companies right here, so I called them.  Old growth
(okay), fine grain (okay), quarter cut (okay), soft pine (no luck).
They only deal in wood that can be used in construction: hard, southern
pine or the like.

Roger even mentioned that he had some shelving that looked like what
I needed.  That rang a bell.  A friend locally had given me a piece
of pine shelving that was close to what I needed, but not quite large
enough.  Roger also encouraged me to concentrate more on the properties
of the wood rather than trying to find 'deal' wood by name.  He related
this cute comment along with a definition similar to many others I
heard from.

  "Most of my sources indicate that 'deal' is about as informative as
'tree wood', a very generic description of common pine and pine-like
species.  (A favorite auctioneer in Missouri would routinely answer
questions about the species of nondescript wood furniture with 'its
made from tree wood.')

So, thinking about the properties of the boards and the comments from
those above (and others), I recalled that, years ago, I has seen nice
clear shelves made from what I would call "sugar pine."  The grain was
straight, the wood was clear and smooth, there were no knots and they
were usually quarter sawn (or close).  So the search was on for sugar
pine.  First stop: my neighbor John, who collects wood.  He has 300
samples from all over the world on display in his basement.  Sugar pine
was looking better and better.

Numerous calls to local and Internet wood sources came up with sugar
pine (no problem) but nobody who would guarantee close grain or quarter
sawn.  Then I found Leonard Lumber in New England.  They had the goods
but, again, probably not the fine grain unless I came to their yard and
picked out the piece I needed.

As a last resort, I asked the manager if there was _anyone_ in the
country who could supply this specific wood.  He related that the
primary supplier of sugar pine in the USA is Sierra Pacific Industries
in California.  I got right on the phone.

Well, the manager of sugar pine production had the goods too.  And he
wanted to know how many thousand board feet I'd like.  Small problem
there!  So he directed me to a company in Idaho that makes veneer by
slicing off 0.030" thick sheets from billets of sugar pine (~12"x24"
and 12 feet long).  The scrap was a narrow (1/2") piece of quarter sawn
lumber from the center of the tree -- just what I needed.  Then he
asked how many of these I thought I needed.  I told him that one would
probably be enough.  "Oh", he said, "if that's all you need, we are
going to be milling some old growth sugar pine next week.  Why don't
I go down to the mill and have them cut you a few boards as a sample."

And that's just what he did.  Two weeks later a package of 24"-long
boards arrived in the UPS.  I sent him a check for the postage (which
he returned) and a lengthy thank you note.  These boards are 3/4"
thick and just the right width.  The grain is within a few degrees of
perpendicular with the surface, and there are (get this!) 15 to 20
grain lines per inch -- almost identical with the original pipe.  If
you hold a board beside the original pipe, the wood is absolutely
identical, except for 200 years of oxidation.

If you need windows for your house, Sierra Pacific makes them from
sugar pine in California and sells them in the western 11 states.
At one point, I was thinking about buying one and cutting it apart.
But you can ask for sugar pine through your local specialty lumber
dealer, giving Sierra Pacific as a source.

But now I have another problem.  The pipe (actually two pipes sharing
a common center wall) I need is mitered near the end, not just cut at
45 degrees and re-glued.  The three 90-degree bends are dovetailed
with about 14, 1/4-inch wide, hand cut, air tight dovetails.  It's time
to get out my marking gauge, sharpen up my chisels and muster up my
courage.  And I will _not_ be practicing on my somewhat sacred pieces
of sugar pine!  Cross your fingers.

Thanks for the help given by MMD members.  I'll send a picture of the
pipe for the archives.

Craig Smith
Near Rochester, New York, USA

By the way: my wife is now quite certain that I'm a few pipes short
of a rank!