I live in the UK with a German wife. We had family staying and the term ‘Kiefer Royal’ came up. We are unable to establish an exact translation. Kiefer is pine but we do not know what the ‘Royal ‘ signifies.
If anyone knows they might be kind enough to share the information and let me know if the timber is suitable for the making of furniture – by hand- and or what it is generally used for.
Many thanks
Edited 6/8/2006 3:35 pm ET by Panter
Replies
"Royal Pine" in English, though the English royal court actually spoke German for many centuries. This is possibly a reference back to when New England was still a colony of old England. Back then, the crown claimed all white pines that could be used to build the King's navy. Here's a quote from a meeting in Portsmouth New Hampshire dated 1748:
"All white pine trees fit for His Majesty's use for masting the Royal Navy growing on said tract of land be hereby reserved and are hereby granted to His Majesty, his heirs and successors forever for that purpose."
This is from a wonderful book "Country Furniture" by Aldren Watson. According to him the crown claimed all white pines measuring more than 12 inches at the stump and was the just another of many annoyances that led to the rebellion.
If it is white pine, it is a wonderful wood to work with, especially the now increasingly rare dense tight grained wood that comes from slow growing trees often referred to as old pine. To quote Watson again: "Here, without much dispute, was the prime wood of the country furniture maker."
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
Re. Kiefer Royal
Thank you for your interesting reply.
I am going to buy the wood and hope it will make me some good furniture.
Neil
DANG.. Seems OK to me..
English is a OLD Traders Language and seems to fit!I been working on my English fer' about 65 Years and Just sort of gettin' the hang OF IT!
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