Spalted Alder

[Anchor Sarslow]

I am looking at some spalted alder and was wondering if anyone had any turning opinions about it. These would be bowl blanks. about 2.5 tick and 5 x 5...

[Bob Hampton]

I turn alot of alder here....alder will "season" actually pretty fast ..it turns pretty nice but make sure your tools are sharp...u will get some tear out easily but not to bad to deal with if the tools are sharp ....
As far as spalted..just watch to see if the blank has any "punk" or soft spots in it..usually i find that if the piece is spalted ...somewhere there is some punky stuff in it
good luck and have fun with it
Bob

[Anchor Sarslow]

Thanks for the info Bob..

[Bob Hampton]

no problem at all ...drop me an email if u get a chance and let me know how the wood turned out ....be happy to give u any help as best i know
Bob

[Kim Ford]

Anchor;

I used to live in the PNW and alder was one of the very available woods. We used to burn 4-5 cords of it a year in our wood stove, and we would use the shavings from my wood turning to smoke salmon. Needless to say bowl blanks were abundant.

It will spald rather quickly if the conditions are right and Bob is right you need to have sharp tools because it will tear. I didn't have much luck with scrapers but with a sharp bowl gouge it was a lot of fun to turn.

Have fun and be sure and post when you get one completed.

Kim