How to Identify Sitka Spruce Wood (Picea sitchensis)

Sitka Spruce, Picea sitchensis: color, grain, end grain, Janka hardness (510 lbf) and weight, and how to tell it from Eastern White Pine, quoted from the USDA Wood Handbook and The Wood Database.

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At a glance

Scientific name: Picea sitchensis
Type: Softwood
Origin: Pacific Northwest coast and Alaska
Color: Ranges from cream/white to yellow; heartwood can show a subtle pinkish-red hue in some instances.
Grain and texture: Fine, even texture with a consistently straight grain.
End grain: Medium-sized resin canals (larger than other spruces), sparse to numerous, solitary or in tangential groups; earlywood-to-latewood transition gradual with medium color contrast; medium-large tracheid diameter.
Janka hardness: 510 lbf
Specific gravity (12% MC): 0.4
Other clue: No characteristic odor; outstanding stiffness-to-weight ratio; spruce (Picea) reported as a sensitizer causing skin irritation and/or respiratory disorders.

What Sitka Spruce looks like

Ranges from cream/white to yellow; heartwood can show a subtle pinkish-red hue in some instances. Fine, even texture with a consistently straight grain. End grain: Medium-sized resin canals (larger than other spruces), sparse to numerous, solitary or in tangential groups; earlywood-to-latewood transition gradual with medium color contrast; medium-large tracheid diameter.

Hardness and weight

Janka hardness 510 lbf (side hardness: the force needed to embed a 0.444-inch steel ball to half its diameter). Specific gravity 0.4 at 12% moisture content, so a cubic foot weighs roughly 25 lb. Weight in the hand is one of the quickest checks: compare a piece of known size against a board you already know.

Sitka Spruce vs Eastern White Pine

Sitka Spruce's resin canals are notably larger than those of other spruce species, which is the main endgrain tell versus white/red/black spruce; compared with Eastern White Pine, spruce has a paler cream-to-yellow color versus pine's light-brown-to-reddish heartwood. The Eastern White Pine page has its own details.

Smell, weight and other clues

No characteristic odor; outstanding stiffness-to-weight ratio; spruce (Picea) reported as a sensitizer causing skin irritation and/or respiratory disorders.

Where you will meet it

Lumber, boxes/crates, furniture, millwork, aircraft components, musical instrument soundboards, boatbuilding (masts and spars), and wind turbine blades.

Working it

Easy to work as long as there are no knots; glues and finishes well, though it can give poor (blotchy) results when stained; spruce reported as a sensitizer causing skin irritation and/or respiratory disorders.

How to photograph it for identification

Photograph a freshly cut or sanded face in daylight, not a finished or stained surface, since stain hides color and finish flattens grain. Add a close-up of the end grain: cut a clean end, wet it or sand it to 220, and shoot from straight on; pore pattern and rays are the most reliable marks. Put a ruler in frame. The app suggests the likely species; confirm with the end grain and weight.

FAQ

How hard is Sitka Spruce?

Janka hardness 510 lbf. For comparison, Red Oak is about 1,290 lbf and Eastern White Pine about 380 lbf.

How do I tell Sitka Spruce from Eastern White Pine?

Is Sitka Spruce a hardwood or a softwood?

Sitka Spruce is a softwood: it comes from a conifer. The terms describe the kind of tree, not hardness.

What color is Sitka Spruce?

Ranges from cream/white to yellow; heartwood can show a subtle pinkish-red hue in some instances.

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