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Spruce
1.5-2 usd/kg
Spruce is a light coloured softwood, with little contrast between heartwood and sapwood. Unlike pine, it has almost no odour and the wood has a uniform, relatively knot-free appearance. It is used in light construction work, engineered wood (glulam and plywood), wood fibre products and pulp (paper making). General purpose timber is relatively inexpensive.
Spruce is prized for its superior acoustic properties. It has uniform properties and shrinks little after seasoning. These qualities are utilised in quarter-sawn soundboards for musical instruments, such as violin, cello and piano. The highest quality musical instruments are produced from spruce that has been specifically selected before felling and air dried for a decade or more. These are some of the most expensive timbers available.
Sustainability concerns
Non-renewable ingredients
Raw material generates polluting by-products
Low circularity potential
Potentially toxic in use
Spruce plywood is a good all-round construction material, similar to pine, suitable for applications where strength and stability are prioritised over visual quality. It is light coloured with a distinctive grain pattern. The choice between them is generally determined by what is available locally. Spruce is reasonably lightweight and easy to machine, which lends itself to a range of applications. It is used in construction, furniture, shop fitting, packaging, roofing, flooring, hoarding, concrete formwork, container lining, fencing and sheathing. It is available with a thermoplastic top layer, making it a finished product useful for agricultural and industrial buildings, warehouse, ceilings, interior walls and reusable packaging.
Spruce plywood is available in a range of thicknesses from 5 to 30 mm – over 9 mm is considered suitable for structural applications – with layer thickness (veneers) of 2 mm, 2.6 mm or 3.2 mm.
