Right you are. The sugar pine I have is indeed Pinus lambertiana.
The wood I was asking for during the first part of my search was Pinus
sylvestri. It was said to come from northern Europe and Russia and
the pictures look just like sugar pine from what I can tell. But,
more importantly, the new boards are essentially identical to the wood
in the original pipe.
From several wood identification sources I learned that there is much
variety in the Pinus family. You can find what we call southern yellow
pine (used for flooring) that is _very_ hard with distinct annular rings,
and you can find what we call sugar pine near the other end of the
spectrum (soft and smooth grained). On the other hand, you can find
four or five different popular or botanical names for woods that appear
to be almost identical -- maybe even the 'same' trees that evolved over
many years in different parts of the world. Now all I need is a proper
piece of tight grained mahogany for the front of the pipe, but that's
another story.
Regards from Rochester, New York, where spring has finally sprung.
Craig Smith
[ Many woods are illustrated at http://mmd.foxtail.com/Tech/Wood
[ -- Robbie
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