Douglas fir / Oregon pine

Names and distribution:

The Douglas fir(Pseudotsuga menziesii) is native to the northwest of the USA and along the Canadian Pacific coast. It is one of the most important economic tree species there. Before the Ice Age, it was also widespread in Central Europe. Douglas fir was reintroduced to Europe in 1890 and has been increasingly cultivated ever since. In good locations, it produces significantly better yields than the forestry industry’s bread and butter tree, the spruce.
Wood from North America is marketed as “Oregon Pine”. Of course, it is NOT a pine tree. The term “Douglas fir” used there is also incorrect, as it is not a fir tree. These woods, if from primary growth, are very fine-grained and highly valued. The domestic origins are coarser-grained and, with the exception of the earth stem cuttings, significantly knottier than the North American product.

Wooden picture:

Sapwood narrow, light with a clear transition to the heartwood. Heartwood reddish brown, darkening. Latewood darker, sharply contrasted on both sides to the earlywood, veins or streaks are more contrasting than larch. Resin channels present, but overall significantly less resinous than European larch. Decorative.

Properties:

The specific weight is given as an average of 0.59 ^t/m3 at a wood moisture content of 12%. Moderate shrinkage, the tangential shrinkage is 7.3%, the radial shrinkage 4.4%. Drying should be slow if resin leakage is to be avoided. Only slight tendency to tear and twist. Douglas fir wood is aromatic when freshly processed and easy to work with all tools. Easy to stain and paint.
Brinell hardness: 20 (comparable to pine and larch), modulus of elasticity: 12,000 – 12,500 ^N/mm2.
Heartwood with limited weather resistance (durability class 3).

Use:

General construction timber for interior and exterior use, laminated as window timber, stage flooring, exterior cladding, gardening and landscaping, bench supports.

Replaced:

Larch and pine

Note: according to the latest findings, but excluding any liability

Architect: Papayannis & Partner, Frankfurt

General view
Douglas fir (Oregon Pine, knotless), sash profile 40x190mm
as sun and noise protection

Burda-Verlag Offenburg

Facade wood, photographed 4 years after construction
i.a. due to consistent wood selection (rift cuts) and good UV protection
Wood species used: American Douglas fir (Oregon Pine Clears)

Douglas Fir / Douglas Fir Monochord

Monochord made of Douglas fir alternatively red cedar (Western Red Cedar)
Monochord made from Douglas Fir, alternative for Western Red Cedar
Anklang Musikwelt, Emmendingen, Germany
www.anklang-musikwelt.de