Sitka Spruce

[LeMercure]

Hi all,
Does anyone have any experience with the use of Sitka Spruce for ship modelling?
I have the opportunity to buy the attached pieces but according to the Janka Hardness Scale it appears to be only slightly harder than Pine and possibly too soft for ship modelling: https://www.wood-database.com/sitka-spruce/
I have not been able to see the pieces in person as they are interstate.

 

[Norway]

As you say, very soft wood, I have materials of this type myself, but I will not use it for anything other than a first layer of planking and filling blocks aso, greetings-

 

[Hobbit99]

I think probably there are better choices. Spruce is a common wood used heavily in construction. It's strong and relatively stiff for its mass. It's a little "fuzzy" when worked but...?? Also tends to have larger, more prominent sap veins.

IMHO... I consider it to be more of a standard construction lumber like you could easily purchase at Lowe's, or Menards, or Home Depot.....or any local lumberyard.

Here you go: According to Dave at "The Lumberyard"...

 

[LeMercure]

Many thanks for confirming my suspicions.

 

[smelly]

I would build kites with it it is better than pine and has better flex strength..... remember the spruce goose.

 

[Hedley]

I know they use it a lot in guitar, ukuleles etc for soundboards.
I've often wondered if the hardness of wood is that important, once the model is built is there that much wear and tear involved?

 

[smelly]

once you add the varnis it can do the job

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

I know they use it a lot in guitar, ukuleles etc for soundboards.
I've often wondered if the hardness of wood is that important, once the model is built is there that much wear and tear involved?

Mellpapa used Balsawood for his models. I know a lot of builders use Basswood, Cedar and Spruce so i do not think hardness is a big issue.

 

[Hobbit99]

I think the real issue here is suitability of purpose. Sure, you COULD use pine or fir or spruce for a model. BUT for the same reason we don’t cut 2x4s to frame houses out of French Walnut or Quilted Maple, and we don’t make rifle stocks out of pine 2x6s, and we use Osage Orange for bows instead of Desert Ironwood. ... Suitability of purpose.
For modeling... there are far better options than resinous construction grade lumber.
I know, sometimes you have to make do. But this isn’t an emergency. If you’re being intentional about buying wood for modeling, why would you CHOOSE spruce.??

 

[smelly]

harold huges used spruce for his goose....

 

[Hobbit99]

harold huges used spruce for his goose....

Well...sort of...maybe....not really.
"Howard Hughes" and his company, Hughes Aviation, built the Spruce Goose in the 1940s. It made it's one and only flight in 1947. It turned out to be more of a "proof of concept" than a realistic endeavor.

The current owner, Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, claims:

Originally designated HK-1 for the first aircraft built by Hughes-Kaiser, the giant was re-designated H-4 when Henry Kaiser withdrew from the project in 1944. Nevertheless, the press insisted on calling it the “Spruce Goose” despite the fact that the plane is made almost entirely of birch.

See here: Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum