Alder as firewood again !!

[Macpherson]

Scots mahogany,

[Stereo]

If it's alder and it's red then you want to split it (if it's not) and get it in the shed for 2 weeks. Burn it when it's orange. Alder goes red because of the blood of the evil spirits in it so you really need them to extricate themselves in your shed, not your house. Once all the evil spirits have toddled off, it's one of the best firewoods on the planet, especially in a good stove.

[Lulu]

Thanks for comments and replies. I shall keep my stuff under cover and get my parish priest to exorcise it.

[poseidon]

Just a thought  - alder is reputed to be a good base for charcoal and alder charcoal is said to be the best for gunpowder making where charcoal quality is important. I've wondered whether alder has the ability to retain more moisture in the wood so that it only partially burns to charcoal rather than completely burning down to wood ash? It certainly seems to take a long time to air dry down to below 20%moisture content which is the general limit for use in most log stoves and it seems to smoulder rather miserably in the stove... I bought in a couple of tonnes of 'mixed hardwood' only to find its 90% alder. Think I'd rather have softwood....

[Stere]

I think alder buckthorn is the gunpowder charcoal species not alder

[Paul in the woods]

The alder I use seems to dry very quickly if split and put under cover. Burns well but very quickly in the stove.

[Squaredy]

And everyone seems oblivious to what a good timber it is.  I have an Alder kitchen, bathroom floor, clock, in fact any indoor furniture is great in Alder.

 

Frustrating thing though is I so rarely get offered Alder logs as everyone just thinks of it as firewood!

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, Squaredy said:

And everyone seems oblivious to what a good timber it is.  I have an Alder kitchen, bathroom floor, clock, in fact any indoor furniture is great in Alder.

 

Frustrating thing though is I so rarely get offered Alder logs as everyone just thinks of it as firewood!

Fender electric guitar bodies are almost all made from Alder since they ran out of swamp Ash back in the sixties .

[Paul Cleaver]

clogs

4 hours ago, Squaredy said:

And everyone seems oblivious to what a good timber it is.  I have an Alder kitchen, bathroom floor, clock, in fact any indoor furniture is great in Alder.

 

Frustrating thing though is I so rarely get offered Alder logs as everyone just thinks of it as firewood!

clogs used to be made of Alder

 

[Bolt]

9 minutes ago, Paul Cleaver said:

clogs

clogs used to be made of Alder

 

Not to mention Alan, he still is.