Amabilis Fir
Amabilis fir (Abies amabilis) is a tall straight tree found in coastal forests of British Columbia above 300 meters elevation, although in the north it may grow at sea level. While it grows all along the Coast, it is not found on the Queen Charlotte Islands. It can reach 50 meters in height and 1 meter in diameter, and is a shade-tolerant species. This tree is often found with western hemlock, and together the two species make up 60% of British Columbia's mature coastal forests.
Common Uses
Amabilis fir is commonly sold and shipped together with Western Hemlock under the name Hem-Fir (also often referred to as Hem-Bal). Amabilis fir is used in structural products, due to its strength properties. Widely used in a range of residential and commercial construction in applications such as framing, sheathing, sub-flooring, concrete forms, decking, planking, beams, posts, and prefabricated buildings. Low-grade wood is used in both pulp and paper products, as well as for boxes and crates.
High-grade Amabilis fir is used in interior applications as it is an attractive species with good working properties. Because of its light weight and colour and its clean appearance, the wood is used for doors and windows, furniture parts, mouldings, sauna panelling, and food containers.
Research has shown Amabilis fir to be among the most treatable wood species in Canada. This provides an opportunity to add value to the species through pressure treating.
Amabilis fir lumber is dried according to end-use and customer specifications. Kiln drying inhibits natural staining of the wood, improves its strength and stiffness, enhances its appearance, and increases its resistance to decay and attack by insects.
| Physical Properties |
|---|
| Density (kg/m3) | Green | 360 |
| Air Dry | 389 |
| Specific Gravity (12% M.C.) | Standard | 0.36 |
| Hardness (N) | Side | 1970 |
| End | 3710 |
| MOE (Mpa) | Green | 9310 |
| Air Dry | 11400 |
| MOR (Mpa) | Green | 37.8 |
| Air Dry | 68.9 |
| Compression Parallel (Mpa) | Air Dry | 40.8 |
| compression Perpendicular (Mpa) | Air Dry | 3.61 |
| Shear (Mpa) | Air Dry | 7.54 |
| Cleavage (N/mm Width) | Air Dry | 36.8 |
Shrinkage
OD=oven dry
air=air dry 12% | Radial (OD) | 4.2% |
| Tangential (OD) | 8.9% |
| Volumetric (OD) | 12.5% |
| Volumetric (air) | 7.5% |
| Tang / Rad ratio | 2.1 |
Working Properties
Amabilis fir has a high strength-to-weight ratio and is well known for its working properties. The wood dries moderately quickly with small dimensional movement and little tendency to check. It is relatively easy to work, with good machining qualities. It planes and shapes well and can be sanded to a smooth finish. The wood glues easily, has a moderate nail and screw holding ability, and takes a good finish.
| Process | Performance | Comments |
|---|
| Machining |
|---|
| Planing | Fair to good results | Recommended planer settings 20o hook angle and 20 kmpi (knife marks per inch).
Typical defects: Fuzzy grain, raised grain, and torn grain. Sharp tools are needed in order to overcome the tendency for grain tearing. |
| Turning | Moderate to poor surface quality | Much better surface quality when rotary-knife lathe is used. |
| Sawing | Variable | Slight to moderate blunting effect |
| Boring | Medium | Medium boring quality with brad point bits and poor quality with single twist bits. |
| Mortising | Moderate to good | Good mortising quality when using a hollow chisel mortise |
| Shaping | Good shaping quality | Recommended: The use of a counter piece for end-grain shaping. |
| Veneering | N/A | |
| Sanding | Good | Sands smoothly |
| Fastening |
|---|
| Screwing | Moderate | Average screw retention: 366 lb. |
| Nail Retention | Moderate to good | Good holding. |
| Lateral Nail Holding | N/A | |
| Gluing | Glues easily | Bonds very easily with adhesives of a wide range of properties and under a wide range of bonding conditions. |
| Finishing |
|---|
| Staining | Average to good | Wood is soft and produces a grainy appearance. Natural and light stains look the best. Dark stains appear blotchy. |
| Painting | Average to good paint holding ability | |
| Lacquering | Good | Multiple coats of clear or a clear coat with a high build is recommended. |
| Waxing | Good | Good results. Best results are obtained when using light-to-mid coloured waxes (e.g. Mellow Pine, Chestnut). |
| Drying |
|---|
| Ease of Drying | Moderately easy to mederatly difficult | There is a wide variation in the moisture content of green western hemlock. Best results are obtained when sorting by moisture content of this wood, longer kiln drying times are required. When dried at high temperatures sapwood can turn a brownish colour. |
| Durability |
|---|
| Natural Decay Resistance | Non-durable to slightly durable | Not appropriate for prolonged outdoor exposure. |
| Treatability | Moderate | |
Commercial Availability
Amabilis fir is produced primarily as structural lumber for North America and Japan. In North America structural grades are in accordance with the National Lumber Grades Authority (NLGA) rules for dimension lumber. Select Structural, #2 and better, and stud grades are the most common grades produced for North America, with squares being the most common Japanese product. Specialty in-house grades, lamstock, and export grades such as E-120 in Japan are also marketed.
Appearance grades are also produced according to NLGA rules. Clears, shop lumber and moulding stock are most common, though there are many potential appearance grades that can be produced.
Sources
BC Wood Specialties Group, www.bcwood.com
Coast Forest Products Association, www.coastforest.org