London Plane, any good for burning?

[Peter]

Dont really know how well it burns, but it is very high quality timber and pretty prized when milled......

 

Dont tell me that now, I sold tonnes of it for firewood last year. Oh well, I'll know next time.

[tommer9]

I cant think of many if any timbers that are worth more as firewood than sawn timber, its just that the returns take longer to get.

[Peter]

Too true, and a lot of tree surgery timber just isnt worthwhile milling.

 

What can you do with poplar, I have had about 70 tonnes of that this year, with more to come.......

[wills-mill]

Dont really know how well it burns, but it is very high quality timber and pretty prized when milled......

 

Yup, mainly known as 'lacewood' in the joinery world, partly to hide the fact that it's come from a street tree! Absolutely beautiful stuff.

 

i have a cabinet maker who buys oak from me and mills it himself, but he's always banging on about london plane and that if ive got a big enuff peice he'l av it

 

I've got a pretty large amount available, either from my own stock or from stacks of sawn timber from the relevant tree surgery firms. Some lovely burry stuff from a massive tree in Berkeley Square and some from Whitehall that were removed so that anti suicide bomber barriers could be installed. Despite the doom mongers and my own worries about London street timber there was not one single nail, staple, hand grenade, incendiary bomb, Heinkel or Spitfire in the whole lot.

 

Too true, and a lot of tree surgery timber just isnt worthwhile milling.

 

What can you do with poplar, I have had about 70 tonnes of that this year, with more to come.......

 

Like most timber that isn't Oak (which is hyped up much more than anything else) it's really under-rated. Very stable, lovely to work with. I had my head turned by seeing a whole kitchen made out of it, and it's very handy for barn joists and cladding, with a lick of preservative when it's going to get really wet- it's like lovely creamy Spruce but without the 'orrible resin and iron hard knots. I cut some 16in wide weatherboard for one chap which is still absolutely great stuff 5 years down the line!

 

The problem is (as always) trying to find enough processors and end buyers to make a commitment to using it regularly and in decent quantities. I wonder if any of the veg and spud box manufacturers would be keen on it round your part of the world?

 

These guys are trying to promote it, with kits given away free of charge for woodworkers to try it- Poplar Challenge

[Peter]

Hmmm, who would have thought it

 

[wills-mill]

Nice speaker! Plane seems to turn up in musical instruments quite a bit......

 

lacewood - Google Search

 

A mate of mine is building a hammered dulcimer with some plane- he loves it

[chilli]

Nice speaker! Plane seems to turn up in musical instruments quite a bit......

 

Except, I think that speaker box is poplar.

[wills-mill]

Except, I think that speaker box is poplar.

 

Whoops

[David Humphries]

good to hear it burns well, will dry this little lot out first.

 

really nice colour, should be called salmon wood.

 

 

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[barry ayres]

i think london plane is the best firewood! but cut it when it is green and store for at least 8 months it burns hot and lasts awhile.

 

 

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