Picea sitchensis of the family Pinaceae, the pine family
Although generally very bland in appearance, the natural resonance qualities of sitka spruce make it an ideal choice for musical instrument soundboards, along with Engelmann spruce.
Sitka spruce is one of the few woods (along with maple and Ponderosa pine) that sometimes exhibit what is called "bear claw" figure. This is relatively faint lines in the face grain caused by what is known as "indented grain" (NOT by actual bear claw marks). In sitka spruce, unlike in maple and Ponderosa pine, the bearclaw "scratches" wander all over the face rather than go mostly straight up and down with the grain.
In my own somewhat limited experience, I have found that this wood is far more often presented in quartersawn or rift cut form rather than flat cut, but that may be because mostly I have seen it as tone wood and that always seems to be quartersawn so as to have a uniform straight grain.
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 of a sample plank of sitka spruce / Picea sitchensis
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of quartersawn sitka spruce / Picea sitchensis --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. I'm not sure why the two faces have such a noticibly different color but it's most likely a longer UV exposure of the 2nd face.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of sitka spruce / Picea sitchensis --- 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 closeup pic has a pink tint that is not in the wood
both sides of s sitka spruce sample plank represented to me as a "burl" but it looks more like a near-crotch area. HUGE enlargements are present. The first pic is of a 320-grit sanded surface and the 2nd is of a 120-grit sanded surface.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above. The darker streak through the middle of the closeup is an area that did not get as well sanded as the rest of the piece.
first face and the end grain of a sample of sitka spruce / Picea sitchensis which has indented grain. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION A
the second face, before and after sanding, showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.
end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above. Note the indented grain
bearclaw sitka spruce face and closeup --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. This is a perfectly quartersawn piece so the grain indentations that cause the bearclaw figure are parallel to the face grain, thus the normal bear claw "scratches" would only show up on the edge, not the face, and the indentations didn't happen to run all the way to the edge so there was nothing to see on this piece. Because this is SO perfectly quartersawn you can see huge ray flakes on the face grain.
end grain closeup showing the indented grain
both sides of a sample plank of quartersawn bear claw sitka spruce / Picea sitchensis --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Because this piece is quartersawn, the bear claw figure can be seen on the edge, not the face.
end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above, nicely showing both the indented grain and also, in the lower left corner, how the indented grain creates the bear claw track on the edge (the flat cut surface)
side grain showing bear claw tracks (the light yellow horizontal lines)
two pieces of sitka spruce for guitar backs being built by my friend John Cooper. The first piece is a regular piece of sitka and the second piece is an identical piece of wood but having had a heat treatment that gives the wood better tonal qualities (and reduces the volume by about 15%, John says). HUGE enlargements are present.
tideland spruce (Picea sitchensis) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are present for all 3 views
web pics:
sitka spruce planks
planks listed as sitka spruce / Picea sitchensis --- none of these were listed as figured but a couple of them are.
plank listed as silver spruce / Picea sitchensis
planks of bearclaw sitka spruce / Picea sitchensis --- see the note about bear claw figure at the top of the page
sitka spruce veneer
sitka spruce bearclaw veneer
sitka spruce guitar back
sitka spruce guitars
sitka spruce guitar front --- very nicely photographed by the owner/maker, S.R. Murthy, whom I thank for the contribution to the site. Enlargements are present.
guitar and two guitar backs, all of bearclaw sitka spruce / Picea sitchensis
two views of a guitar front of bookmatched bearclaw sitka spruce with a particularly strong bearclaw figure
bearclaw spruce guitar built by Gregory Pizzaeck whom I thank for the pic. I ASSUME this is sitka spruce, since as far as I'm aware, that't the only variety that has the bearclaw figure.
10" diameter sitka spruce bowl by Steve Earis, big enlargements available
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