Advantages and disadvantages of spruce wood

Spruce wood is one of the inexpensive types of wood. For this reason, it is also popular for the furniture industry, papermaking, packaging and construction.

Spruce is one of the most important forest trees in Europe, which is why spruce is also the most common type of wood used in industry. Spruce is especially found in the mountainous regions of northern, central and southern Europe. In the East, the distribution extends all the way to Russia. The spruce is also found in parts of North America and Asia. Due to the red bark of the European spruce it is also called red spruce or red spruce.

Spruce wood, which is used for the wood industry, comes in most cases not from the natural forests, it is grown especially in large areas. The wood grows very fast, so it accounts for about thirty percent of forest land in Europe. For this reason, the wood of spruce in Central Europe is also one of the most important woods in the trade.

Appearance

The wood of the spruce is bright. However, it may turn out yellowish-white to reddish-white and possibly darken to a yellow-brown. Its surface has clear structuring by tongue-shaped or finely striped grains. Even knotholes are sometimes clearly shown. Spruce wood has a dull gloss when planed. It is also a very resinous wood – its resin channels can be clearly seen in a straight cross-section.

properties

Fresh dried spruce wood can be processed with all common wood tools, both mechanically and by hand. The wood is light in weight, soft and very elastic. Although it dries quickly, hardly any cracks form. Spruce wood can be used well as construction timber, as it has good bearing capacity. However, it must be treated with wood preservatives, since it is otherwise not weather-resistant and especially when ground contact quickly begins to rot. A treatment of the surface is easily possible, resin residues should be removed beforehand. A shrinkage is located in the middle range.

The wood of the spruce is very susceptible to fungus and insects. Mushrooms cause the so-called red rot.

use

Spruce wood is very important for the construction industry, especially for constructions such as roof trusses, scaffolding or ceiling joists. It is particularly popular for the production of paper and other pulps, as it not only grows fast but is also very cheap. Thanks to its high availability, wood is often used in the production of chipboard, beams, plywood and laminated wood. Packaging such as barrels, boxes and pallets are also made of spruce wood. Furniture and interiors in Scandinavian style are made of solid spruce wood and also as fuel the wood finds a good use.