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Red Alder Market

Started by oregonsawer, February 28, 2008, 03:57:37 PM

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oregonsawer

Has any one out their sawed red alder.
I have the chance to get a huge one 49" but and sixty foot to
first fork.
Hardly any taper. I don't belive I have seen a Alderr this big.

Is their a market for this lumber and what should I saw it into?
Any help would be great.

Bob Hardin

kderby

Alder is popular as a lumber for doors, cabinets and furniture.  It is available commercially so you can reference prices at a hardwood lumber store.  I would check with some of your local doormakers as they might want a special dimension.

It does mill welll but it also likes to twist while drying.  I wonder if that large a tree would be sound.  Alder is a short lived species and at that diameter the tree has been around a while.  I don't think quartersawn or plain sawn matters.

That is about all I know...or think I know ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

Kendall

StorminN

Hi oregonsawyer,

There is a market for it, like kderby said. Lots of furniture and cabinets made from it these days, and I've even heard of floors made from it.

I've only sawn small ones for my own use, (they cut like butter on my MD circ saw) but two summers ago I sold a load of small ones (6" min top) for about $950 per 1,000 bf and I have heard the bigger ones (bigger than 30") had a higher market value for "peelers"... they are used in some sort of veneer market. So if it's a good one, you might make better money selling it as a peeler, than sawing it yourself.... it really depends on what sort of mills are in your area. Where are you in Oregon? There are some OR guys on here, they might chime in.

-N.
Happiness... is a sharp saw.

Onthesauk

Think alder prices have held up better then fir and hemlock but still down compared to a year or two ago.

The big ones like you're talking about tend to get red heart or hollow heart and the mills don't like them.  Furniture makers like it because it will accept almost any color stain.  I have a parson's table in the living room I built years ago and stained cherry.
John Deere 3038E
Sukuki LT-F500

Don't attribute irritating behavior to malevolence when mere stupidity will suffice as an explanation.

logwalker

Look in my gallery and see my cabinets made with alder. Very nice and easy wood to work with. Very stable after air dying for a year or two. Cuts like butter. The best price is in the wider (+8") and longer than 10'. Was up around $2.50/3.00. I don't know what it is doing lately. I am air drying 8000' at the moment. Joe
Let's all be careful out there tomorrow. Lt40hd, 22' Kenworth Flatbed rollback dump, MM45B Mitsubishi trackhoe, Clark5000lb Forklift, Kubota L2850 tractor

oregonsawer

Thanks guys
I am in Medford Oregon and I have been sawing for about five
years.

Now I have a LT70 woodmizer and I really like it.
the Alder log blew down in a wind storm and still has the
root ball on it.
Bob Hardin

woodworker9

I just finished a cabinet job for a customer in Rustic (knotty) Alder.  The clear stuff is sold on the market as Superior Alder.  I purchased 250 bf of 4/4, all the boards were right around 6" wide, 10' long.  I paid $2.20 per bf, including the shipping to the midwest.  The cabinet grade plywood was expensive.  20 4'X8' sheets A1 grade cost me $110.00 each , delivered.  I believe the wood came from BC.

As stated, it is a soft, beautiful wood for cabinetry.  I would not use it for anything structural, like table legs, or chairs, as it is too brittle.  Accepts finish as well as any other wood out there.

WW9
03' LT40HD25 Kohler hydraulic w/ accuset
MS 441, MS 290, New Holland L185

KnotBB

Twenty years ago Red Alder was considered a trash wood and used mostly for white wood pulp.  Small trees still get treated that way. 

Lots of uses and demand for alder.  Cabinets, turning squares, (just saw a 10" X 10" x 2 1/2" retail priced at $12), filler for plywood,  mantel pieces with a live edge, fire wood, cut stock, carving blocks and planks for bar-b-quing fish.  Also used as a smoking wood so save your chips and sawdust.  Will take just about any stain.  Lots of it winds up looking like eastern cherry in furniture.

Red heart is considered a defect but could be sold a character wood in my opinion. 

The sawn wood does show a pattern when quarter-sawn somewhat like oak rays but don't know if it last through finishing.  I've never seen it marketed as such.  I'm going to do some experimenting with a piece I cut last summer. 
Trees grown on slopes can have a lot of stress in the wood where with every cut  the log moves a little.  My guess  is rolling the log every cut would help.
If not for plywood I believe the veneer is sliced.  Buyers for 8" x 8"+ clear 3 or 4 sides for that market.  Wish I had a yard full. $$$$$

In general best market size to cut would be for 1" finished, random width unless you've got an order.  I say random width because I had a hard time getting out of the mode of thinking dimension sizes.  A 5 3/4" wide board is sold as a 6" according to hardwood grading rules. 
Check with some cabinet shops and see if they would like some "local" alder. 

Have fun

Steve
To forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity.

logwalker

Whatever you end up doing Bob, do it quickly as it stains thru the cut ends very rapidly. As long as the rootball is still attached it will be fine for a while but it cannot sit around in the logs without degrade. Joe
Let's all be careful out there tomorrow. Lt40hd, 22' Kenworth Flatbed rollback dump, MM45B Mitsubishi trackhoe, Clark5000lb Forklift, Kubota L2850 tractor

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