Red spruce

Description

A strong tree, Picea rubens, that can grow to heights of 100 feet or more. Native to eastern North America, the red spruce was a major source of lumber for building construction in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was also used for piano sounding boards and for pulpwood. This tree was almost lost to overharvesting, but was protected by a government act in 1911 which purchased considerable land for national forests.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Picea rubens

Physical and Chemical Properties

• Color: creamy white, with a hint of yellow and/or red
• Grain/texture: fine, even texture, and a consistently straight grain
• Durability: slightly resistant to non-resistant to decay

Working Properties

• 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.

Resources and Citations

• The Wood Database: Red spruce

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 759

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997