FPInnovations Western Region 2665 East Mall Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1W5 The Tonal Quality of Coarse-Grained Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) Grown on Haida Gwaii, near Awun Lake British Columbia, Canada Prepared for: PACIFIC RIM TONEWOODS INC. P.O. Box 2009 Concrete, WA 98237 by Les Jozsa Research Scientist Emeritus FPInnovations March 2012 Les Jozsa Dave McRae Roland Baumeister Project Leader First Nations Liaison Manager, Western Regional Industry Advisor Delivery Notice Neither FPInnovations, nor its members, nor any other persons acting on its behalf, make any warranty, express or implied, or assume any legal responsibility or liability for the completeness of any information, apparatus, product or process disclosed, or represent that the use of the disclosed information would not infringe upon privately owned rights. 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The Tonal Quality of Coarse-Grained Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) Grown at Haida Gwaii, Near Awun Lake, British Columbia, Canada Confidential Acknowledgements I thank Mr. Steve McMinn of Pacific Rim Tonewoods Inc., Concrete, WA, USA, for obtaining and cutting “FSC Certified” Sitka spruce test material for this study, grown on Haida Gwaii, near Awun Lake, British Columbia. I want to also thank and acknowledge a number of my colleagues at FPInnovations Wood Products Division, Vancouver, B.C., without whose help I could not have completed this study: Paul Symons, Isaac Chiu for the Engineering testing, Bill Deacon for the data presentation and analysis, and Aurora Semilla for report preparation. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Robert W. Kennedy, Dean Emeritus, Faculty of Forestry, UBC, and Mr. Roland Baumeister, Manager of Value-Added, FPInnovations Wood Products Division, Vancouver, B.C., for reading the manuscript and offering valuable comments. Funding for this work was jointly provided by the BC First Nations Forest Sector Technical Support Program, and Mr. Steve McMinn of Pacific Rim Tonewoods Inc. iii The Tonal Quality of Coarse-Grained Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) Grown at Haida Gwaii, Near Awun Lake, British Columbia, Canada Confidential Summary The purpose of this project was to determine the tonal quality of Sitka spruce, grown on Haida Gwaii, near Awun Lake, in British Columbia. In one stand, a variety of growth rates were available from trees 167 to 600 years of age: 1) coarse-grain (5 to 8 rings per inch); 2) medium-grain (10 to 15 rings per inch); and 3) fine-grain (about 20 or more rings per inch). Small clear wood samples in a cruciform (cross-like) sampling pattern were obtained. The compass orientation of the cruciform was randomly selected, and then adjusted to avoid knots and other grain disturbances. Small clear wood specimens were obtained at one-quarter radius intervals for mechanical tests and density determination. Each specimen was machined to 1.25 x 1.25 x 20” (3.2 x 3.2 x 51 cm) dimension, and was identified with a sample number. The test material was conditioned to 12% moisture content. The modulus of elasticity (MOE) was determined in static bending, in accordance with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D143 protocol, for each of the 114 test fingers, and on average it was 11,950 Megapascals (Mpa), ranging from 8,000 to 15,600 Mpa. The wood density was measured on a small sub-sample from each specimen, after measuring MOE, according to well-established laboratory procedures, on an oven-dry weight and oven-dry volume basis, and on average it was 0.42, ranging from 0.31 to 0.53. The ability to resonate (ATR) was calculated for each of the 114 test fingers, using MOE and wood density data. Average ATR was 420, ranging from 300 to 500. Hardness was measured on the flat grain, using the Janka method (ASTM D1037 protocol) at three locations for each test finger, by embedding a “ball” 0.444” (11.3mm) in diameter to one half of its diameter (“equator”). Hardness values were on average 550 lbs (250 kg), ranging from 350 to 830 pounds (159 to 377 kg). iv The Tonal Quality of Coarse-Grained Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) Grown at Haida Gwaii, Near Awun Lake, British Columbia, Canada Confidential Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................................... vi 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 1 2 Objective ................................................................................................................................................................. 1 3 Background ............................................................................................................................................................. 1 3.1 Range of Sitka Spruce in B. C. ..................................................................................................................... 1 3.2 Mechanical Properties of Wood ................................................................................................................... 2 3.2.1 Microfibril Angle ............................................................................................................................. 2 3.2.2 Strength and Stiffness .................................................................................................................... 2 3.2.3 Wood Density................................................................................................................................. 2 3.2.4 Hardness ....................................................................................................................................... 3 4 Methods .................................................................................................................................................................. 3 4.1 Log Selection and Sampling......................................................................................................................... 3 4.2 Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) of Small Clears ................................................................................................ 4 4.3 Rate of Growth (Average Ring Width) .......................................................................................................... 4 4.4 The Ability to Resonate (ATR) ...................................................................................................................... 4 4.5 Hardness ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 5 Results .................................................................................................................................................................... 5 6 Old-Growth Reference Values for 14 British Columbia Softwoods ......................................................................... 5 7 Conclusions and Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 6 8 References ............................................................................................................................................................. 7 v The Tonal Quality of Coarse-Grained Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) Grown at Haida Gwaii, Near Awun Lake, British Columbia, Canada Confidential List of Tables Table 1. Old-Growth Relative Density and Modulus of Elasticity Reference Values for some British Columbia 1 2 Softwoods (Jessome, 1977) and their Ability to Resonate . .................................................................... 6 List of Figures Figure 1. Sitka spruce logs and bolts from Awun Lake, Haida Gwaii, Taan Forest Products, in the log-yard of Pacific Rim Tonewoods. ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Figure 2. Sitka spruce log No. 1 from Awun Lake, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada. This log had, on the average, 2.9 mm wide rings, or about 9 rings per inch. ............................................................................ 9 Figure 3. Sitka spruce log No. 5 from Awun Lake,