Anyone know the properties of Noble Fir?

[Gilman]

Came across some Noble Fir from an old chrismas tree farm.  Does anyone know if it is similar to Douglas Fir, or the White firs?

Thanks in advance

David

[Don P]

I'm on the wrong coast but looked up its tech sheet;
http://128.104.77.230/TechSheets/softwoodna/htmldocs/abiesprocera.html

This is the link to the tech sheet index if you want to compare properties to other woods you are more familiar with, that's where I start when I'm dealing with a wood new to me;
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/TechSheets/techmenu.html

[SwampDonkey]

Timber of noble fir resembles western hemlock. It is a true fir (Abies) and cannot be separated on the basis on wood anatomy from other western true firs.  Western Hemlock from California cannot be distinguished from noble fir. The northern western hemlock has more brittle wood, rings are narrower because of shade tolerance and more uniform in width. The shape and size of crystals in the inner bark remaining on logs and lumber are a means of separating the two.

Don't ask me to separate them :D :D

[Gilman]

Thanks

[extrapolate85]

I have worked with Noble Fir a bit and can tell you that it is used domestically mostly for dimension lumber (also a bit of studs and veneer) and is generally marketed as Hem-Fir along with all of the native true firs of the West excepting subalpine fir (too weak) and mountain hemlock (too prone to warping and twist). Wood density is right about in the middle of the Hem-Fir range (softer than hemlock - harder than grand fir). Its value as roundwood is the same as Western hemlock, grand fir, Pacific silver fir (in general I would expect prices to be about 5-10% less than the going rate for Doug fir of similar size). In the export log market, noble fir is favoured by the Japanese and in the past, they always paid a premium for large clear tight-grained logs. Big old growth logs are relatively light at about 42 lbs/ft3 (673 kg/m3), while young growth is relatively heavy at about 58 lbs/ft3 (934 kg/m3), (wood only volume, weight of bark and wood in the green state).

There also used to be a good market for noble fir bows (because of the nice smell and lush needles), often taken from recently harvested sawlogs. Some industrial timberland owners would even use aerial applied fertilizer ahead of logging (to thicken foliage), and time harvest to capture the value of the bows ahead of the Christmas season. Little trees make a real nice Christmas tree.

I never had any problem identifying noble fir logs from hemlock or of any of the true firs. Even if you don't know the characteristics of the wood or the bark, it is the only species I know of that seeps a substance from the bark that has the exact appearance and texture of mucus (old log scalers call it fir snot).

[SwampDonkey]

Western hemlock also has that snot as you call it. It's when it cystalizes that it can be differentiated most easily. I would think most loggers or buyers could separate the logs by bark. Hemlock bark is reddish purple inside, at least on trees I seen in northern BC. The bark of each are quite distinct. Lumber and debarked logs can be a challenge to id, but I'm sure there are folks with better knowledge than I have. Noble fir is not as available as hemlock, most of the good stuff has been cut.

[Gilman]

Thanks, I'll go back, sneeze in one hand and hold it up next to the trees.

[solodan]

SD,
I agree, most of the loggers and buyers should be able to tell the difference of the firs, by thier bark.  But sometimes in the middle of the summer when the weather heats up the bark just flies off the tree when it falls. now you just have partially debarked logs. well the loggers know what they were falling, but it ends up at the mill as a debarked log. Here in California we have White Fir, Western Hemlock, and Red Fir all coming out of the same timber sale, especially in the upper transition zone. I've always imagined this is why they put them all in the same catagory. Even with the bark on , the upper third of the tree can be tricky to identifiy by the bark. and I also agree that  there are folks with better knowledge than I have. The true firs are really confusing, and I think that location of the tree is sometimes your best indicator.