Woodturning With Swamp Alder
Swamp Alder is by far the most underrated and unappreciated wood I have ever mounted on my lathe. Most people in my area scrape it into a pile and torch it. I know one person who uses it for cheap firewood—it burns fast and hot.
As hardwoods go, it isn’t weak but isn’t very strong either. The tree books say it doesn’t grow much bigger than three inches in diameter, although I have gotten chunks that were close to six. On the surface, it doesn’t look like it’s good for anything.
I have access to square miles of the stuff, so it was only a matter of time before I tried turning some of it on my lathe. I was in for a very pleasant surprise.
What Is Swamp Alder?
Swamp Alder or Speckled Alder is a subspecies of Grey Alder (Alnus incana), which in other parts of the world grows into an actual tree. It is related to Birch. This particular subspecies is one of the first trees to colonize swampy ground that is close to waterways or on poorly drained land.
It grows in tangled clumps through a large portion of North America. It only grows about fifteen to maybe twenty feet high. The trunks normally get to a little more than three inches in diameter. The wood contains a lot of water when green, but has very small tubules that bring air to the roots so that it can grow where most trees would drown.
When green, the wood is exceptionally flexible. One of its unique attributes is that it does not rot when submerged in water.
General Turning
My first attempt at turning with this alder wood did not go well. I mounted a very green piece between centers and went to work.
Beware of Green Alder
The shavings coming off and hitting me were very wet. The spur center carved a hole in the end of the piece, and I turned off the machine just in time to avoid having the piece fly across the shop. Some woods can be turned green, but this isn’t one of them.
Drawer Pulls
My next turning was a set of drawer pulls. At that point, the wood I was using was classified as FOG wood (Found On Ground). It was very dry, and all things considered, turned that little project with no issues. It wasn’t until after turning more pieces that I figured out that this was a chunk of Swamp Alder.
Chess Pieces
The door was thrown open the next time around, though. I had made some giant chess pieces out of two-by-four cutoffs and wanted to scale them down to a size where I could make a whole set that fit on a regular chessboard. No matter how carefully I worked, most of the pieces lost chunks of detail.
I didn’t think the Swamp Alder would be any better, but I had a dry piece handy and gave it a try. I had to be careful but succeeded on my first try. I made a handful of pawns and didn’t fail on a single one. This maligned wood was better for turning than construction lumber cut-offs. From then on, I turned Swamp Alder regularly.
The moisture content of this kind of wood makes a big difference. Very green is unturnable. Very dry, on the other hand, will turn reasonably well, but it won’t make real shavings. The wood will scrape off in the form of splintery sawdust, and it will need more sanding before finishing.
The ideal moisture content is somewhere before it is completely dried out. I don’t have a moisture meter, but I know when I’m in that sweet spot because I’ll cut long ribbons of shavings off.
Three Projects
I will sometimes make a project that includes every aspect of turning for these reviews, but because Swamp Alder is only available in small chunks, I decided to make three separate small pieces:
- Chess pawn
- Wooden wine goblet
- Small bowl
1. Chess Pawn
I chose to make another chess pawn like the one I made as an experiment because it demonstrates the level of fine detail I can achieve with this wood. It will chip or tear out if you aren’t careful, aren’t very skilled, or your tools are not sharp. On the other hand, it is possible to get good results.
There are limits to the level of detail, and this piece is a good example of what can be consistently turned. At some point, when I have enough time, I will turn an entire set of pieces out of Swamp Alder. I don’t expect to sell them, however, because the work is time-consuming, and I don’t have a hope of competing with repeating lathe equipment—I would have to charge too much. Making your own set would be a cool project, though.
2. Wine Goblet
I intentionally pushed the limits of my skills with this project. This goblet stands a full eight inches high. No supports were used when hollowing out the cup portion of the goblet. I carefully hollowed it out with gouges while my inexpensive lathe chuck held the blank firmly. I used tailstock support to do the spindle work for the outside of the cup, stem, and base. I was very pleased with the results. It sold very quickly.
3. Small Bowl
Making a blank big enough to turn a bowl required a bit of work with the table saw. I was able to laminate enough stock together to turn an eight-inch shallow bowl. I turned the outside first on a faceplate and then reversed it onto my lathe chuck to turn the inside. I used my gouge to hollow it out with a supported shearing cut riding the bevel of the tool.
A word of caution: I had to be careful not to tear out the grain. I had the moisture content almost perfect and a very sharp tool. Like the goblet, it turned out beautifully and sold quite quickly.
To date, I have not done a lot of bowl turning with Swamp Alder, but that is only because it takes quite a bit of effort to make a bowl blank, and there are so many small items that it is perfect for.
Final Assessment: Swamp Alder
In my opinion, Swamp Alder scores four and a half stars.
It is not excellent, but it is better than just good. With sharp tools and good turning skills, you can turn just about whatever you want out of it. That doesn’t make it ideal or appropriate for every project. Other factors come into play. Generally, I make my finials and very small items out of readily available wood that rates five stars for turnability.
It does have other redeeming qualities that do not affect turnability.
Color
For one, it has a nice reddish color, which is not far off the color of cherry before it darkens with age. The open-grain patterns can be quite attractive. If part of the tree dies and dries out without rotting, a very interesting two-tone color can appear. It’s rare, but two of the items I made from it sold very fast.
Laminating
It glues together really well, so if you want, you can laminate it together to make larger projects. I will be exploring this more in future projects.
Stainability
It takes a stain well. I make hair sticks and sell them on Etsy. The walnut-stained sticks could pass for walnut. I offer several other colors as well. I do not misrepresent the wood. I prefer wood in its natural color, but I can see where I would stain part or a whole project, especially if a customer requested it.
Drying
Finally, Swamp Alder is not very prone to cracking while it dries. I routinely set branches and larger pieces by the wood stove to dry sufficiently for turning, and they rarely crack. Most of the other hardwoods in the bush where I live will crack, starting at the pith, if I do that. For that reason, Swamp Alder has become one of my go-to choices for small projects.
Final Note
This review is my opinion based on my experience. There are a lot of factors that can affect results, including how well I sharpen my tools, the speed at which I turn, and the moisture content of the wood. I have done my best to base my opinion on the results and make this as useful as I can to any of my readers.
With all my wood reviews, I try to be as complete as possible. I usually turn three items so that I can evaluate spindle turning, face turning (bowls), and end grain turning. I try to do projects that will show the grain and others that demonstrate the level of detail that can be achieved.
I value respectful comments on my work here and additional information or experience. It may even lead to me making adjustments to this written article.
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