Opinions on Alder?

[Maurice Metzger]

What do folks who have used it think of alder? It's pretty inexpensive here on the west coast.

My reference (http://www.hardwoodinfo.com/species_guide/display_species.asp?species=redalder) says:

"Red alder machines well and is excellent for turning. It nails, screws and glues well, and can be sanded, painted, or stained to a good finish. When stained, it blends with walnut, mahogany or cherry. It dries easily with little degrade and has good dimensional stability after drying."

It also says it has "low bending strength, shock resistance and stiffness."

Looking through past threads it appears it might have finishing "issues".

Thanks in advance,
Maurice

[Dennis Peacock]

I use Alder in the place of Soft Maple. They both have the same working qualities, finishing qualities, and etc....

I always use an alcohol based dye for my staining, so blotching isn't really a problem when sprayed on. I really like working Alder and when you mix Birch, Maple and Alder together under the same finishing schedule? It's really hard to tell them apart.

[Mike Blackburn]

I like the way it works. It seems stable and takes nice edges easily. I haven't used much maple so I can't compare them but my favorite part about alder is the scraps. They make the best smoke chips/chunks for smoking pork, beef or salmon!

I've only done a little work with it and have had some problems with splitting. It doesn't have much strength that way. I was considering it for a small bookcase that I need to build. I haven't run into finishing probs because I don't like to stain anyway. It planes and sands smooth and takes shellac or poly as an easy finish.

Don't forget to save the scraps and shavings for the smoker.

[Jamie Buxton]

If you use a clear finish on it, it just isn't a very interesting-looking wood, IMHO. Years ago, it was rather inexpensive, so there was reason to use it. Nowadays, it is almost as expensive as hard maple. Maple is much prettier wood, so I just go with it. And if you're comparing alder to cherry, well that's like comparing a Yugo to a Mercedes. I'll take the cherry.

[Lee DeRaud]

Or in this case, "works like poplar", except maybe for smoking meat...on that subject, I have no idea.

At least that what I'm getting from these comments.

[Dan Forman]

A lot of folks use it as a secondary wood, for drawers and such. I think price varies around the country, cheap in some areas, but it has gone up in the last few years.

Dan

[John Hebert]

it's garbage! Best use most use it for is fence posts from what I've read back when "I" tried to get information on it. I ignored the warnings and built an entertainment unit for my daughter for a "trial" piece. Ha! First class garbage in my book! I'll never use it again under any circumstance! The wood is weak, and is blotchy when stained, unless .....you use a water base dye stain. Some may have decent luck with it, but I suspect more haven't. My advice, don't use it in any heirloom work, but rather utility

[tod evans]

maurice, in these parts lots of the kitchen cabinet guys use it as a low-cost substitute for cherry. the usual finish is "lacquer stain" so blotchieness isn`t an issue and by and large suzi homemaker is delighted with her cherry finish cabinits. for my tastes it`s bland when compared to soft maple for the same money.....02 tod

[Frank Pellow]

My opinion of alder is that it is a weed and should be treated like a weed. :(

[Tom Berninghausen]

Us west coasters don't have the options, drat it, that the folks on the other side of the Rockies have, small mills versus retail\wholesale suppliers. Red alder is a fine material to work in until your skills and budget can step up to the hard maple and cherry that get hauled out here. Pacific, sometimes called soft, maple can be less expensive and works and looks better, IMHO. Both do bloch with oil finishes, shellac and water\alcohol stains\dyes help.

Last time I went to my wood pusher, cherry was $6.50 and up, red alder was pushing $3 and soft maple was $1.85, all rough board feet. Red oak was close to $4. Depends on your local market and the specific dealer in that market. As in all shopping, turn every rock over before you act---and check back to watch the market wander up and down. Maybe when the Weyerhaeuser monopoly case gets settled the small mills will show up in the market again and the price will come back down.

Not knowing where you're at in the skill stage or budget range, that's just my two cent opinion.

Tom

[Jim Becker]

Very common furniture wood, geographically focused. (In the furniture belt in the eastern US, poplar and maple often serve the same purpose)

[J.R. Rutter]

I think the monopoly case has been decided. They were keeping the price artificially low so other mills couldn't compete. Don't expect prices to come down!

I use a lot of alder for cabinet doors - maybe 3-4mbf/yr. It really shines for a rustic look, and a lot of people want it looking really rough - bark inclusions, big knots, etc. I prefer it to pine, for this sort of look.

It rots fast, so fence posts are out!

[Steve Clardy]

It's getting pretty common around here for cherry substute. With the right stain, it looks good.

[Tom Berninghausen]

Hmmm. My memory says that Weyerhaeuser cornered the Alder market by driving up the cost of logs to put smaller mills out of business. Which naturally raised prices for the finished lumber. First three Googled links seem to support the "big guy puts it to the little guy" and the rest of us.

As the only locally grown hardwood of any significant quanity, maybe if smaller mills could get in the game again there might be some alder leftover for us little guys. I've always figured pacific maple was less expensive because the smaller mills were using whatever they could find, and secure bids on, to stay in business.

Just another two or three cents from me.

Tom

http://www.antitrustlawblog.com/article-137-ninth-circuit-puts-the-wood-to-weyerhaeuser-on-predatory-overbidding-.html


http://www.timberharvesting.com/vserver/hb/display.cfm?MagazineKey=4&IssueKey=431&SectionKey=601&ArticleKey=3370

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05EFD91F3FF931A15756C0A9629C8B 63

[Don Baer]

Around here Ash goes for about the same price and I like to work with it a lot better..

[John Gregory]

Alder is softer than Poplar in my opinon. My SIL has a new home with Alder and it shows every dent.

[Mack Cameron]

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f314/mackc1/IMG_0032Small.jpg

Here's a use for Alder! Red?, I don't know.

This is a Crem----- U--, that my Sweetheart and I will be interned in some years from now! God willing!

The top is Alder, laser engraved with our honeymoon picture taken in 1981 on a cruise ship on the Assiniboine & Red River in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The Alder apparently is the wood of choice for laser engraving, at least to this gentleman.

Google "Gracegifts" to see some of his work. Did I do it right this time. I didn't give a direct link to his site.

[Greg Tatum]

Here in Washington we call alder northwest cherry....it is very easy to work and and applying a finish is as easy as wiping on a sealer coat of dewaxed 2# cut shellac....as for it being bland or without interest, I think that can be true of many speices of wood....you just have to look thru a few stacks to find something that wows you....while it obviously has uses as utility wood, fence posts are not what I would do with it....it will rot out with exposure to ground in short time....even when treated.... This is not, IMO, garbage wood...it takes paint well, sands baby-butt smooth and is only about 2.50bf at area sawyers. It is rather soft though...

Alder is used for the framework under a lot of upholstered furniture as well.

Here are some pics of alder from my stash with and without some mineral spirits to show the good stuff and a table with legs and apron of alder...

If you have it already, use it ...if you get a good price on it buy it....make something you want then let us know how you like it.

[J.R. Rutter]

"Weyerhaeuser faces a trial of another suit from Washington Alder later this year. The company is also appealing a $79 million verdict against it in a similar suit last year. Jurors found that Weyerhaeuser sold alder at below-market prices and prevented rival Ross-Simmons Hardwood Lumber of Longview from bidding on timberland."
(Quote from this link:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001910371_weyco23.html)

"The jury agreed with Ross-Simmons' contention that Weyerhaeuser created a monopoly in the alder industry by subsidizing its alder sawmill in Longview with logs delivered from company-owned lands at below-market rates for the purpose of eliminating Ross-Simmons, which was a larger producer of alder lumber at the time."
(Quote from your 2nd link in post above.)

I'm no fan of big corporate shenanigans, but I do know that I'm paying more for alder after these verdicts . . .

[Larry Fox]

Never worked with it in WWing but it sure does impart a nice flavor to salmon and other mild meats in the smoker. Yumm - might add some BBQing to my "weekend doings" post. :)

[Dan Forman]

Greg---That's some really fine looking wood, esp the middle pic!. Wish you would have shown more of the table you made, looks very nice.

Did you do a whole lot of digging to find that figured stock? I don't recall ever seeing anything like that in an alder pile.

Dan

[Dan Forman]

Greg---That's some really fine looking wood, esp the middle pic!. Wish you would have shown more of the table you made, looks very nice.

Did you do a whole lot of digging to find that figured stock? I don't recall ever seeing anything like that in an alder pile, but I guess I didn't look too hard either.

Dan

[Greg Tatum]

Hi Dan....I got three boards , 1"x7"x8' from a local sawyer....on a trade of some ornamental plum that I had but was having trouble milling it up....I went thru 2 stacks and these three were in the middle...there was more from the same tree but it was narrower and somewhat punky....there is some spalting as well...

There is a post that shows the table and some of the mystery wood used for the top...I say mystery, cause I still don't know for sure what it is...I don't know how to include the old thread but it is titled, " what I did with the mystery wood"...

[Dan Forman]

Nice table, here is the link. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=11285

I also liked the scrapwood medicine cabinet, excellent utilization of material.

Dan