Wood species
White spruce wood
White spruce is a softwood (Picea glauca). At 12% moisture content it has a Janka hardness of 410 lbf (1,824 N) and it weighs about 25 lb/ft³ (403 kg/m³), 2.1 lb (0.95 kg) per board foot.
Also called: Picea glauca.
Key numbers
- Janka hardness, 12% MC
- 410 lbf (1,824 N)
- Green: 270 lbf (1,201 N)
- Weight at 12% MC
- 25 lb/ft³ (403 kg/m³)
- 2.1 lb per board foot
- Specific gravity (oven-dry weight)
- 0.36 at 12% MC volume
- 0.33 on green volume
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- Not measured tangential
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured
Why: Measured by the USDA Forest Products Laboratory; white spruce's density is worked from its specific gravity with the Handbook's own equation.
How much white spruce moves
The 2021 Wood Handbook prints no shrinkage or movement coefficient for white spruce, so this page gives no movement figure rather than borrow one from another species.
Color, grain and working
- Color
- Light in color, with little difference between heartwood and sapwood.
- Working and character
- The Handbook describes the eastern spruces together: they dry easily and are stable after drying, moderately light, easily worked, with moderate shrinkage, and moderately strong, stiff, tough and hard.
- Uses
- Mostly pulpwood; the lumber goes into framing, millwork, boxes and crates and piano sounding boards.
Red, white and black spruce have about the same properties and are not told apart in commerce. The Handbook prints strength figures for white spruce but no shrinkage.
Adapted in our own words from the Wood Handbook, Chapter 2, p. 2-17 to 2-18.
Strength
Bending strength is the modulus of rupture (MOR); stiffness is the modulus of elasticity (MOE). Clear, straight-grained samples of white spruce tested by the Forest Products Laboratory (Wood Handbook Table 5-3b). Knots and cross grain make lumber weaker than these clear samples (Handbook Chapter 5).
| Property | Green | 12% MC |
|---|---|---|
| Bending strength (MOR) | 5,000 psi (34 MPa) | 9,400 psi (65 MPa) |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,140,000 psi (7.9 GPa) | 1,430,000 psi (9.9 GPa) |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain) | 2,350 psi (16 MPa) | 5,180 psi (36 MPa) |
| Compression perpendicular to grain | 210 psi (1 MPa) | 430 psi (3 MPa) |
| Shear parallel to grain | 640 psi (4 MPa) | 970 psi (7 MPa) |
| Tension perpendicular to grain | 220 psi (2 MPa) | 360 psi (2 MPa) |
A dash means the Handbook prints no value; none is filled in.
Dust and health
- Wood dust is classed as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, chiefly for cancers of the nose and sinuses.
- NIOSH recommends keeping wood dust exposure to 1 mg/m³ of total dust, as quoted in OSHA's sawmill guidance.
This is what the named authorities publish, not medical advice.
Compare with
Buying and finishing white spruce
Work it out for your project
- Rank woods for cabinets and trim with the species picker
Weigh white spruce against other woods on hardness, weight, movement and color, every figure from the Wood Handbook.
- Plan a finish for cabinets in white spruce
The finishes whose makers name that use, and a dated coat schedule from each product’s own sheet.
Why these numbers
Why these numbers?
The situation
The USDA Forest Products Laboratory measured white spruce at 410 lbf of side hardness at 12% moisture content, on clear, straight-grained samples (Wood Handbook Table 5-3b).
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured , sources [1]
What that means
Side hardness (Janka) is the load needed to press a 0.444 in (11.28 mm) steel ball halfway into the wood across the grain; a higher number dents less (Handbook p. 5-5).
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured , sources [1]
So
Density at 12% is water's density × specific gravity × (1 + 0.12) (Handbook Eq. 4-14): 62.43 × 0.36 × 1.12.
Arithmetic: exact by definition , sources [1]
The number
About 25 lb/ft³, or 2.1 lb per board foot (1/12 ft³), at 12% moisture content.
Arithmetic: exact by definition
Sources