Spruce

Also called: norway spruce, sitka spruce, whitewood, white deal, picea

Spruce is a group of generally light timbers used for scaffolding, ladders, spars, long poles used on vessels, flooring, paper and musical instruments.

Different spruces behave differently

Eastern spruce is used chiefly for pulpwood, wood reduced to fibre for paper. Engelmann spruce is lightweight but has low strength as a beam or post. Sitka spruce combines low weight with high strength properties and can be found in long, clear, straight-grained pieces. Do not treat the name spruce as one structural grade.

Workshop and building uses

Norway spruce is used for scaffold poles, boards, ladder sides, ship spars, joists and flooring. Spruce is also used for scaffolding, telegraph posts, roofing, packing cases and tables. The particular species and quality determine whether a board belongs in rough work, interior joinery or a load-bearing part.

Sound and food-contact work

The best quarter-sawn black spruce has been used for piano soundboards, the panels that carry the instrument's tone, and violin bellies, the carved front plates. Spruce or white deal, a trade name for pale softwood, has also been used for table tops, shelves and cupboards because it does not impart odour to food and contains little turpentine and resin in the cited description.

Dry, wet and exposed settings

White deal is described as durable when kept dry and is used for internal joiners' work and furniture. American white spruce is described as less durable and less strong than Baltic white timber. Spruce can be suitable for outside work, but identify the species and choose for the actual weather and load rather than relying on the common name.