Pine wood can basically be regarded as the worst wood that can be used as the main material of furniture, and then poplar, willow eucalyptus, and paulownia can only be used for plywood or auxiliary materials.
The serious oak is a very popular medium and high-grade wood with a very deep history in Europe and America.
From the material point of view, pine wood is loose wood and rich in oil. The pine flavor is mainly composed of esters, which is not harmful to the human body, but it always has a taste and is also uncomfortable. At the same time, in the case of low moisture content, the formaldehyde emission of pine is also significantly higher than that of other hardwoods such as oak.
At the same time, because the pine wood is loose, it is difficult to perform fine processing, and the nail-eating performance of the hardware is also very poor. The tenon-and-mortise structure is made because the wood itself is not strong enough, and the tenon is easy to break. The hardware structure is too loose. The hardware is also easy to fall off, so pine furniture is generally difficult to use for a long time. Generally, children's furniture and simple furniture are mostly used.
In contrast, oak wood is very hard and has good nail-eating performance. Whether it is a tenon-and-mortise structure or a hardware connection, it can be durable. White oak has outstanding waterproof performance and is not easy to corrode. At the same time, the original wood color of white oak is basically the natural color of Japanese furniture. ( MUJI uses white oak veneer extensively, and the interior of the Sanlitun Opposite House Hotel designed by Kengo Kuma basically uses white oak as the base tone).
In terms of price, due to the different types of pine, the price of a cubic pine sawn timber is about a few hundred to more than 1,000. The top white oak, FAS-grade WhiteOak, has a price of more than 8,500 yuan per cubic meter, with a price difference of more than 5 times in the middle.
So we must say which is better than pine or oak. Oak is definitely good, but pine is cheap, less than 20% of the price of oak. You can regard it as worthless, or you can see it as having a huge cost advantage.
