Norway spruce

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SPRUCE, NORWAY

Picea abies

A NOTE ABOUT SPRUCE SPECIES IN THE USA

Picea abies (syn. Picea excelsa) of the family Pinaceae, the pine family. Also called European spruce, and is sometimes sold with a designation of {European contry} Spruce, such as German spruce. Note that this species also carries several common names of types of pine, several of fir, and several of whitewood.

my samples:
NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K)
colors will vary under other lighting conditions

both sides and both ends of a Norway spruce sample piece

end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- color has a vague hint of yellow-green that should not be there --- the wood is almost white, as is correctly represented in the pics directly above.

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above --- NOTE: the slight bluring and red color on the right side of this pic is an effect of poor sanding, not the wood

both sides of a sample plank of Norway spruce / Picea abies

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Norway spruce / Picea abies --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Norway spruce / Picea abies --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

The following three samples were contributed to the site by Mark Peet, whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. These pieces are all from the same tree and are unseasoned. They were milled recently and were reduced and freshly surfaced some 6 hours ago and are just beginning to show cracks. A year later I made a flat cut and a quartersawn sample from these and they are shown below the pics of the unseasoned wood.

first sample --- a log section cut in half and end grain

second sample

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

third sample

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

both sides of a flat cut piece of Norway spruce / Picea abies cut from the pieces above after they were seasoned for a year --- HUGE enlargements are present.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a quartersawn piece of Norway spruce / Picea abies cut from the pieces above after they were seasoned for a year --- HUGE enlargements are present.