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firing with hackberry

updated wed 23 may 01

 

jennifer hoolihan on tue 22 may 01


Hello! This is my first post on the list, so ya''ll be kind. I was
wondering if any of the woodfirers out there have ever used hackberry wood.
Here in North Texas, the hackberry trees grow like weeds, fast and
plentiful. For our firings, we normally just use oak and pine. We were
getting whatever wood we could scrounge, but foumd that the cottonwood and
elms produced an ugly grey skin on the pots that was rough to the touch.
After repeatedly banging our heads against a brick wall, we narrowed our
scrounging to oak and pine, and oh lord, what a differnece good wood makes.
So now, all over town folks are cleaning up their property and cutting down
trees, mostly hackberry, and piling them in nice little stacks on the curb.
Have any of you out there used this wood for firing? What did you think of
the results? I know there are many factors in wood firing, but I think wood
type is very important. We will probaply do a test firing soon, but I
thought some of ya'll might have some insight. Thanks!
Jennifer Hoolihan
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