Fir and false fir
I get confused often by the wood terms used. Being a timber grower in the Pacific Northwest I recognize our prized Douglas Fir is in fact not a fir but Pseudotsuga, (Pseudohemlock?) or "false hemlock" I think is the translation. White fir, grand fir, noble fir etc are "true" firs and classed with hemlock for grade since they are weaker than Doug Fir. As with all conifers, what ring count are we talking? There is a big difference between 80 rings per inch and two rings per inch both in looks and durability. I always wonder how and where the New England canoe builders got their Pacific Coast wood. Of historical interest, the very origins of the Great Northern Railway are said to be in an agreement between James Hill (GN) and Weyerhauser that the Great Northern would ship Eastern manufactured goods to the West coast and the cars would bring fir and cedar cut by Weyerhauser back to the East. Lots of homes built of Pacific wood, mostly in the mid-west I believe.
Historically, spruce had no real use that I know of, being relatively weak, until WWI. The fledgling aviation industry needed spruce for its great strength to weight ratio. Thus were formed the "spruce brigades," Army units formed to cut spruce trees on the coast of Washington. My grandfather did this. When the war was over there must of been a lot of excess capacity since it takes a special set-up for cutting spruce, at least now. Maybe they marketed spruce to canoe builders.
Interesting subject
Tim
