The Wood Guide · Calculating with wood
The tree behind the woodMajestic conifers that dominate the northern forests of Europe, Asia and North America — and one species supplies the spruce our picnic tables are made from.
Spruces are evergreen giants that can live for hundreds of years. They are home to countless animal species, and at the same time supply Europe's most widely used construction timber.
There are some thirty-five spruce species worldwide. They have adapted to widely varying conditions: from cold tundra to mountainous terrain. What they share is a dead-straight trunk, a conical crown, and needles that grow singly on the branch — the latter being the quickest way to tell them from the pine.
From roof trusses to violin soundboards: spruce is Europe's most widely used construction timber. Being pale, light and easy to work explains why people have used it for thousands of years.
From the European Norway spruce to the blue spruce of the Rocky Mountains.
Norway sprucePicea abies
Also called European spruce, native to Europe. Usually grows 30–40 metres tall and lives around four hundred years, well adapted to a cold climate.
This is the tree that yields spruce timber (whitewood) — and the classic Christmas tree.
Sitka sprucePicea sitchensis
Grows along the Pacific Northwest coast, from southern Alaska to California. The largest spruce there is, with a cylindrical trunk and furrowed bark.
The flat needles are glossy on the upper side. Lives up to three hundred years.
Serbian sprucePicea omorika
A strikingly slender, columnar spruce of twenty to thirty metres, with soft needles and dark green foliage.
Highly resistant to diseases and pests — which is why landscape architects love it.
Oriental sprucePicea orientalis
A large, graceful tree of thirty to fifty metres, found mainly in the Caucasus mountains of western Asia.
The branches droop slightly, giving the crown a layered, almost flat appearance. Lives for hundreds of years.
Blue sprucePicea pungens
Native to North America, growing naturally at high altitude in the Rocky Mountains. Reaches about thirty metres.
Known for its blue-grey needles and its grey, scaly bark.
Norway spruce yields spruce timber: pale, light and even — the workhorse of European timber construction.
Spruce is light in weight, straight-grained and easy to work. Untreated it isn't durable outdoors — durability class 5 — but pressure-treated it reaches class 3–4 and lasts for years. That's exactly why we build our picnic tables from it.
The same properties have made spruce the favourite for the soundboards of violins, guitars and pianos for centuries: the straight grain and low density give excellent sound transmission.
Spruce needles grow singly on the branch and are short and prickly. Pine needles grow in bundles of two to five and are longer. In the timber: spruce is paler and less resinous, pine warmer and more resinous. See pine or spruce.
Curious what we make from it in our workshop? Take a look at the KING picnic tables with 40 mm boards, or the ROYAL KING range at 45 mm.
Norway spruce, Picea abies, also called European spruce. That is the timber sold in the trade as spruce or whitewood — pale, even and light in weight.
By the needles. On spruces they grow singly on the branch; on pines in bundles of two to five. Spruce needles are also shorter and pricklier.
Most species reach 25–40 metres. Sitka spruces, the largest of the genus, can approach seventy metres in their native range.
Because of its shape and how well it holds its needles. Norway spruce is the classic Christmas tree, although the Nordmann fir is gaining ground because it keeps its needles longer.
Yes. In Dutch, 'vuren' is the timber trade's jargon and 'spar' the everyday name; in English you'll meet 'whitewood' in the trade and 'spruce' everywhere else. It's exactly the same wood.
Know the tree and you understand the wood. And the other way round.
Have a question about your project? Just ask — we're happy to help.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Picea abies — Wolfgang Moroder, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Picea sitchensis — Kimon Berlin, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Picea omorika — Marija Gajić, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Picea orientalis — Jurgen from Netherlands, CC BY 2.0 · Picea pungens — James St. John, CC BY 2.0
