 Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis)
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Common Name(s): Sitka Spruce Scientific Name: Picea sitchensis Distribution: Northwestern North America Tree Size: 160 ft (50 m) tall, 5 ft (1.5 m) trunk diameter Average Dried Weight: 28 lbs/ft3 (455 kg/m3) Hardness: 510 lbf (2,270 N) Bending Strength: 10,150 lbf/in2 (70,000 kPa) Elasticity: 1,600,000 lbf/in2 (11,030 MPa) Shrinkage: Radial: 4.3%, Tangential: 7.5%, Volumetric: 11.5%, T/R Ratio: 1.7 |
Color/Appearance: Can range from a creamy white, to a darker medium brown. Also tends to exhibit a subtle pinkish hue in some instances.
Grain/Pore: Sitka Spruce has a fine, even texture, and a consistently straight grain.
Durability: Heartwood is rated as being slightly resistant to non-resistant to decay.
Workability: Easy to work, as long as there are no knots present. Glues and finishes well, though it can give poor (blotchy and inconsistent) results when being stained due to its closed pore structure. A sanding sealer, gel stain, or toner is recommended when coloring Spruce.
Smell: There is no characteristic odor associated with this wood species.
Safety: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, Spruce in the Picea genus has been reported as a sensitizer. Usually most common reactions simply include skin irritation and/or respiratory disorders. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.
Price Range: Construction grade spruce is cheap and easy to find. However, old growth and/or quartersawn clear pieces—free from knots—can be more expensive. Quartersawn billets of instrument-grade Sitka Spruce can easily exceed the cost of most all domestic hardwoods in terms of per board-foot cost.
Comments: Sitka Spruce has an outstanding stiffness-to-weight ratio, and is available in large, straight-grained pieces, lending this timber to a wide range of commercial uses.
Common uses include: lumber, boxes/crates, furniture, millwork, aircraft components, musical instrument soundboards, boatbuilding (masts and spars), wind turbine blades, and virtually any application where a wood material with a good strength-to-weight ratio is needed.
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Sitka Spruce (sanded) |
 Sitka Spruce (sealed) |
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