From Forest to Product: How Spruce Wood Is Processed + Quiz

🌲 Quiz: The journey of spruce wood from forest to product

Do you know how to tell properly dried wood? Or what the difference between oil and wax is? Test yourself – the game has three difficulty levels and a full 36 questions!

A guide to the journey of spruce wood: from felling to finished product

Every wooden product carries a story – the story of a tree that may have stood for decades on a slope in the Šumava or in the Jeseníky mountains. To help you understand this story better, we will go through all the stages of spruce wood processing step by step.

Stage 1 – Harvesting and extraction: felling spruce (Picea abies)

Before the chainsaw starts up in the forest, the forester must mark the tree for felling. Every selected spruce is measured and recorded. Felling itself usually takes place during the dormant season – in autumn or winter, when the sap is in the roots and the wood contains the least moisture. Tradition has it that wood felled during a waning moon resists twisting and wood-boring insects better.

After felling, a forestry worker or a harvester removes the branches and cuts the tree into logs. These are sorted by length, diameter and quality – into saw logs, pulpwood and firewood. Only then are they loaded onto a lorry and taken to the sawmill.

Stage 2 – The sawmill: breaking down logs into sawn timber

At the sawmill, the logs are first unloaded, measured and debarked. They are then sorted and move on to the breakdown saws. The basic sawing method is known as through-and-through sawing – the log passes through the saw once, the cuts run across the growth rings and the faces show the characteristic flame-like grain pattern. The second method is called cant sawing: a central cant is cut first, then turned through 90 degrees, and the second pass produces side boards with a more radial cut. Radially cut wood is more dimensionally stable and twists less.

The result is unedged timber (with natural edges) or edged timber (square-edged beams, boards and planks). For making candle holders, small decorations and other smaller products, planed boards are cut into blanks – pre-cut semi-finished pieces of the right size that go straight into the drying kiln.

Stage 3 – Drying the wood: the key step towards a quality product

A freshly felled tree contains a large amount of water – spruce wood can have a moisture content of over 100% (more water than dry matter). Such wood cannot be worked directly: it is heavy, tears, deforms as it dries and takes surface finishes poorly. That is why drying is an absolutely crucial step.

Natural air drying takes place in covered outdoor stores, where the timber is stacked with stickers (wooden strips separating the layers). Air circulates freely and gradually carries away the moisture. For a 25 mm spruce board, natural drying to the target 18–20% takes roughly 6–12 months.

Kiln drying speeds up the process considerably. The timber is loaded into insulated steel or masonry chambers where temperature, relative humidity and air flow are controlled. A correctly set drying schedule brings spruce timber to a target moisture of 8–12% in just a few days or weeks without damaging the surface or causing cracks. Drying too quickly, on the other hand, causes surface cracks and warping.

Stage 4 – Machining and shaping: how a spruce plank becomes a product

The dried timber goes to the workshop or factory, where mechanical machining takes place. A planer flattens the faces of the blanks to exact dimensions. A circular saw cuts them to length. A spindle moulder, CNC router or lathe then gives the wood its final shape – whether it is a simple candle holder, a complex relief panel or a turned cup. Spruce behaves well when machined: it is relatively soft (density about 430–470 kg/m³), so it is easy to rout and cut.

Sanding is done in several steps – starting with coarser sandpaper (80–120 grit) to level the surface and continuing with finer grades (180–240) for a smooth final finish. Anyone who enjoys woodcarving as a hobby will appreciate that DIY craft kits for beginners are easy to find today – spruce is ideal for first attempts thanks to its soft structure.

Stage 5 – Surface finishing: oil, wax or varnish?

Surface finishing is the final and aesthetically most important step. It protects the wood from moisture, dirt and UV light and also determines the final look and feel of the product. In practice, three main approaches are used for spruce decorations and accessories.

Oils penetrate deep into the structure of the wood and protect it from within. They keep the natural look, bring out the pattern of the growth rings and let the wood “breathe”. Linseed oil, hard wax oil or combined natural oils are suitable for spruce. They are applied with a cloth or brush, left to work for 15–30 minutes and the excess is wiped off. Once dry (12–24 hours), a second coat can be applied.

Wax does not soak into the wood as much, but forms a beautiful silky-matt layer on the surface that is pleasant to the touch. It is ideal for small decorations and candle holders. It is applied as a solid or paste wax and buffed with a clean cloth.

Varnish forms a hard protective film on the surface that resists water and mechanical damage. However, it seals the pores of the wood and can cause unwanted yellowing of pale spruce. Open-pore oil or wax finishes are therefore more suitable for indoor spruce decorations.

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