Canadian white and eastern spruces

[Justin E.]

I'm wondering if anyone is familiar with Canadian White and Eastern Spruces. I just discovered them a few minutes ago but am having trouble finding out more. Just curious if anyone on here knows about them.

[sunburst]

Only a little. Eastern spruces are red, white, and black (but, of coarse, they're all green... (sorry)).
Red spruce, we all know about now days, white and black spruces are generally smaller trees than red spruce, the ranges are more northern, (red spruce grows as far south as North Carolina), and that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge of white and black spruce. Red spruce is the spruce that ends up being called "Adirondack" (adi) spruce a lot these days, regardless of where is grew.

[John Arnold]

'Eastern spruce' is a term used for three species....red ('Adirondack'), white, and black.
They are so similar that they are very difficult to distinguish based on wood anatomy.

[the padma]

Spruce eh.

Ok, yup spruce is spruce is spruce and once the bark is off, nobody but nobody in or out of the lab can tell you what type it is, with the exception of sitka. Thats right, it is impossible to tell the difference once the bark is gone. Is true that the different spruces have different sound properties, not only do these properties vary from one type of spruce to the next, but they will also vary from one end of the same tree to the other end.

Bottom line here is

a) how well do you trust your supplier as to what you really getting and
b) if you like what your getting, what difference does it make.


Now if any of you don't buy into that B.S.* well then may I interest you in some 800 year old spruce, logged in the Gobi dessert and remilled from the two support beams of Genghis Khans yurt. This stuff is the oldest and stiffest spruce on the planet and is extremely rare to say the least. They were smuggled from Mongolia into Russia and out through Japan and over to Canada were I picked them up from a ninja warrior. Pure white, tight (50 lines per inch) and stiff like vi agra. Only got six sets left. $1,000 each. All six $5,000.
Act now.


blessings
duh Padma


*B.S. ~ belief system

[Justin E.]

By chance, is the John Arnold who replied the same John Arnold from down in Newport, TN?

Thanks for the info. Guess I could be more specific. It's official name is picea glauca. Apparently Eastern and Canadian White are kinda like German and Italian spruce. The same species, just from different locations.

[Dobe]

[QUOTE=the padma;1061053]Spruce eh...... may I interest you in some 800 year old spruce, logged in the Gobi dessert and remilled from the two support beams of Genghis Khans yurt....... smuggled from Mongolia into Russia and out through Japan and over to Canada were I ......


Smuggled from salvaged bridge timbers used to build the yurt. Rings like a gelded Yak. The Bridge was also for sale !

[sunburst]

Yeah, eastern spruce is one of those terms used in the lumber business. If a logger cuts a bunch of spruce in the eastern US or Canada, and sells it to a mill who sells it to a lumber wholesaler, they don't know if it's red or white spruce, but it is definitely eastern spruce, and for any uses the lumber is intended for, it doesn't really matter if it's red white or black, so "eastern spruce" is good enough.
As I said, I don't know much about white and black spruce, I've never seen the trees growing, but from what I've read and heard they tend to be fairly small, knotty, rugged trees that seldom yield as much clear, knot and defect free wood as red spruce. No first hand knowledge, though.

(...and yeah, that was that John Arnold.)

[Justin E.]

Cool! He lives like 30 minutes away from me. I talked to him before I tried my first mandolin and went to ETSU with a guy who was studying lutherie from him.

Didn't know that about the spruce. Learn something new every day.