Spruce

Morgans wrote:
I don't recall what the % is supposed to be, or
where to find that information, but I would guess 8 to 10 percent.
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15% for airplanes. Boat work (spars & masts) might go as low as 8% but
10 to 12 is more the norm.

Basic rule for Sitka spruce -- the farther you get from the water, the
poorer the spars (boat OR plane).

It's probably worth a ferry ride to see what they've got. Since 1997
or thereabouts someone raped the last stand of old-growth up on the
north end of the island and it had some really good trees.

If the grain is true it generally dries true, so long as it's properly
supported and turned every now & then. No problem to stack a few
sticks in the rafters for a couple of years. It doesn't check like DF.

Even a big airplane, you're only looking at about 100 bf, finished.
Buy it rough (ie, full size), do your own sawing, even with 100%
wastage (ie, kerf = finished) you're only looking at 15 to 20 sticks of
1x6x16'.

Nice stuff to work with.

-R.S.Hoover