Alder Products

Alder (Alnus rubra)

Tilo makes a number of products from alder hardwood, including:

doors
furniture
kitchen cabinets
mouldings
panel stock
shutters
turnings

Browse our catalog of Standard Profiles, or talk to us about a Custom Profile using alder hardwood.

General Description of Alder

A relative of birch, red alder is almost white when freshly cut, but changes when exposed to air, becoming light brown with a tinge or red or yellow. Heartwood is formed in trees only of advanced age, and it shows no visible boundary between sap and heartwood. Lumber from alder is fairly straight-grained with a uniform texture.

Relative Abundance

2.9 percent of total U.S. hardwoods commercially available. Available in dimension stock and lumber.

Working Properties of Alder

machines well and is an excellent species for turning
can be sanded, painted, or stained to a pleasing finish and nails, screws and glues well
when finished, alder blends with walnut, mahogany or cherry
dries easily with little degrade and has good dimensional stability after drying

Machining
Nailing
Screwing
Gluing
Finishing

Physical Properties of Alder

Red alder is a relatively soft hardwood, medium density with low bending strength, shock resistance and stiffness.

Strength And Mechanical Properties (inch-pound) (a)
Moisture content	12%
Specific Gravity (b)	0.37-0.41
Static Bending Modulus of Rupture (lbf/in2)	6,50-9,800
Static Bending Modulus of Elasticity (c) (106 lbf/in2)	1.17-138
Static Bending Work to Maximum Load (in-lbf/in3)	8.0-8.4
Impact Bending to Grain (in)	20-22
Compression Parallel to Grain (lbf/in2)	2,960-5,820
Compression Perpendicular to Grain (lbf/in2)	250-440
Shear Parallel to Grain (lbf/in2)	770-1,080
Tension Perpendicular to Grain (lbf/in2)	390-420
Side Hardness (lbf)	440-590

a) Results of tests on small clear specimens in the green and air-dried conditions. Definition of properties; impact bending is height of drop that causes complete failure, using 0.71-kg (50 lb.) hammer; compression parallel to grain is also called maximum crushing strength; compression perpendicular to grain is fiber stress at proportional limit; shear is maximum shearing strength; tension is maximum tensile strength; and side hardness is hardness measured when load is perpendicular to grain.

b) Specific gravity is based on weight when oven dry and volume when green or at 12% moisture contentt

c) Modulus of elasticity measured from a simply supported, center-loaded beam, on a span depth ratio of 14/1. To correct for shear reflection, the modulus can be increased by 10%.

Reprinted with permission from Hardwood Manufacturers Association