White spruce

White spruce
Image credit: Wood Database

Description

A soft-needled spruce, Picea glauca, native to northern North America. White spruce has a soft, pale-yellow wood that has a straight grain. It is used for lumber, millwork, and pulp wood.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Picea glauca; Picea alba; spruce pine; eastern spruce; bog spruce; swamp spruce; shingle spruce; skunk spruce

Physical and Chemical Properties

• Color/Appearance: creamy white, with a hint of yellow.
• Grain/Texture: fine, even texture, and a consistently straight grain.
• Rot Resistance: Heartwood is rated as being slightly resistant to non-resistant to decay.
• Density = 23-33 ppcf

Additional Images

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  White spruce (Picea glauca)
  radial section at 100x

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  White spruce (Picea glauca)
  tangential section at 100x

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  White spruce (Picea glauca)
  transverse section at 100x

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

• Wood Database: [https://www.wood-database.com/white-spruce/ white spruce}

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

• F. H. Titmuss, Commercial Timbers of the World, The Technical Press Ltd., London, 1965 Comment: 23-33 ppcf

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

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