Took a quick trip to Edensaw Lumber in Port Townsend this morning to pick up a couple of pieces of maple. While there, I saw some Alder that was very, very different from any I’ve seen before, which has always been rather creamy looking. This alder was a light, soft, brownish color. Most intriguing, and it took all my willpower not to buy it — too many bills due today! Has anyone else encountered color like this in alder? Any idea what factors are involved.
Another thing: it seems rather light-weight.
forestgirl — you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can’t take the forest out of the girl 😉
Another proud member of the “I Rocked With ToolDoc Club” …. :>)
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All the alder that I have used is a medium brown color. It was all purchased in New Mexico. It works well but is fairly soft and easy to dent - a little harder than pine in that respect. It finishes well.
Yep, Alder does finish well -- I've made a couple of projects with it. But all the stuff I've seen in the last couple of years has been much, much lighter. This light brown just looks yummy!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Hey forestgirl ,
Alder milled locally as opposed to the stock from the yards usually from B.C. seems to discolor while seasoning in the whole log before milling into boards , it was actually quite beautiful with much color variation.I did seem softer and lighter in weight glad you are feeling well enough to make dust
the dusty one
Thanks for the info! I keep thinking about that stuff, realllllly want to go back and get some. One thing concerns me though: seemed like I could see little tiny (3/8" long) check-type marks in the wood. Very, very fine. I just don't know enough about lumber, and I'm trying not to do something stupid, LOL!
Yep, I'm feeling pretty up to par now. I came down with a cold or something right after the surgery, and was just worthless! Spent a couple hours in the shop last night. Yes!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I live in olympia, and have been to Edensaw a number of times. I got some amazing birdseye maple there once. What else did they have?
I was at Crosscut Hardwoods in Seattle this past weekend, and found an amazing stick of birdseye. Was there for other things, so had to leave it behind.
Yep, Crosscut gets nice figured maple, don't they? Once while I was there sifting through the white oak, another customer found a really nice BE board that was not sorted and had wound up in the "regular" maple stack. Wide one too, as I recall. He grabbed it!
I've had trouble getting stuff lately at Crossccut, not sure why. Might be I just show up on the wrong day, but have had a couple failed trips looking for good alder, and white oak (but not quartersawn). Their staff is really helpful though, and always willing to pitch in with the search.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Sorry to say, I was on a blitz-type trip, only had about 20 minutes to look around and spent most of that picking out the right maple for my project. The dark alder caught my eye, as did some nice chestnut. Did you know they're building yet another warehouse, a really big one? (Like the one they have might not be big, LOL). forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
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