***** willow for BP

[pdgh59]

I have often thought of using old cricket bats that were made of willow. Probably not many cricket bats in the US.

[Boz330]

I have often thought of using old cricket bats that were made of willow. Probably not many cricket bats in the US.

Probably not!

Bob

[greywuuf]

Adler is used for smoking fish (and I think it tastes nasty ) and it seems to be extremely "greasy" and aromatic . I hope that it might just be in the bark ? As has been mentioned before there is LOTs of it up here in the north of Alaska.

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[dogrunner]

I will try pu$$y willow. Does it Have to be dry and aged before charing it? We have more alder around here than you can shake a stick at. Ha Ha get it. If alder is better than pine i could try it. The pine works good but it is dirty. If any one has tried alder i would like to hear how it works. I live in a remote part of Alaska so it can be hard to get what you need some times. Thanks for all the info guys.

Ye Gods............do we have to be so politically correct (properly sensitive, that is) that we spell "pu money money willow" that way?................Good Lord!!!


But, come to think of it, Jewfish ain't Jewfish anymore............Goliath grouper nowadays!

[redhawk0]

Ye Gods............do we have to be so politically correct (properly sensitive, that is) that we spell "pu money money willow" that way?................Good Lord!!!!

If you wanna keep the forum police off your back you do.....sad isn't it.

redhawk

[Wayne Smith]

Can't post about a ba$tard file, either.

[flint45]

I like scrap popular I get from a wood shop. Political correctness is ruining this country and this forum.

[Harter66]

I'm willing to bet you can't go off half cocked with pushywillow charcoal BP . Cockeyed sights make you miss a titmouse . Boobytraps are probably on the auto chop too . Remember a few yr ago after an upgrade when you couldn't call a 7.7 Arisaka by it's more common name 7.7 Jap ? I'm surprised we can still describe powder as black .

[Eddie2002]

I got in trouble once at a job when I talked about a good pair of dikes (wire cutters). Just made some Carolina willow cc for my next batch. Seems that the willow cc is lighter than the red cedar cc I used for my first batch. Think I'll have some red skinned potatoes with dinner

[TheOutlawKid]

If you have red alder it works great. I actually made my best batch from it and it was clean and fast. Had sent some to fly for him to char and make a batch for himself, and he said he got close to Swiss velocities and that it too burnt clean. Red alder is found in the north west, I think it's found in Alaska too, maybe the southern region?

[bigted]

We have groves of red alder here in north west Oregon , this red alder grows in tree form and a single tree of size will be 30+ inches across at the stump and close to 100 feet tall.

The alder that grows in alaska is bush form and the alder thickets up there remind me of the viney maple thickets here in north western Oregon. Cant hardly crawl through them. They grow about maybe 2 inch at the ground and hard to tell how long but im bettin it would make good CC tho.

Peel some ant retort it into charcoal and make a batch. Im bettin it do very well. Seems every area has some acceptable wood to make CC out of.

[TheOutlawKid]

Yeah the red alder I got was from oregon a friend sent me, then I purchased some from amazon that's used for smoking fish, it worked just as great and it was bark free and cut into rectangular peices and cubes, almost board like. Very nice cuts. The next time I got some I had purchased 20 pounds of red alder charcoal and 20 pounds of willow charcoal from a gentleman who sells charcoal for a living. He did a great job, wasn't too expensive either. I had sent some of the wood and charcoal around to other people and they loved the red alder. It burns very clean and fast, others thought so too and one person chrono'd his batch and said it was making Swiss like numbers. Never used the other alder...but if it's fast growing and actually and alder then it just might be worth trying out.

[lead chucker]

Thanks guys. I think I will try a batch of alder. Not sure what they call the alder we have here but its every where here. When im out at my cabin I burn a lot of spruce and hemlock in my wood stove. I save the big pieces of alder some of them four inches or better in diameter for stoking up the stove before bed. It burns hotter and lasts longer than hemlock or spruce.

[lead chucker]

when the alder is seasoned it is actually really light weight. It grows fast and if you don't keep it cut back it will take over. It being a hard wood that grows fast it might work. I will try it and post my results. I cut some P willow earlier today and got it debarked split and drying in the furnace room. I figure I will let it dry for a while before I make some out of it.

[TheOutlawKid]

You don't really have to let the wood dry out or season. I have never seen a difference in burn characteristics. They dry out in the retort before turning into charcoal, so I don't think it really matters. The end result is the same weather the wood has been seasoned or freshly cut. I know Hercules sporting black powder was made from red alder as well, but they also used willow and I think poplar. I know they used 3 types of trees and red alder and willow were for sure two of the three. With the characteristics you say your local alder has...I think it will work great. But I wouldn't waste any time seasoning it. Just shave the bark and toss it in your retort.

[mold maker]

The advantage of using green wood is the bark peels off much easier. Seasoned wood takes only a few minutes less to char.

[Fly]

Alder is very good wood. The Swiss use Euro alder.

Fly

[bigted]

read somewhere that someone used or uses green wood that is harvested in spring just after the sap begins to flow up the tree again. this is said to have the maximum sugar content which is GREAT in CC for black powder. who ever does or did this did not allow the tree wood to dry but rather debarked it and retorted it immediately to retain the most natural sugar in the CC.

[Fly]

The Swiss let there alder dry for two years debarked. They make the best powder in the world.
You read so much on the net. So go figure why the Swiss do what they do. Threads like this
remine me of peeing on your powder to make it faster. Mmmmmmmmmm if that is so why not add more
KNO-3????


Fly

[Eddie2002]

I think the most of the commercial BP companies dry the wood first just because of the extra energy required to cook off the moisture in green wood.