Something Interesting….how do you make artists Charcoal?
Recently we supplied Red Alder 2-1/2″ lumber to a good customer, who “torrefies” the wood in a process passed down through generations to make artists charcoal sticks and blocks. The green lumber is heated to a very high heat, in an enclosed pressurized cylinder, where no “air” is present. Having no air, it can not burn, but eventually turns to charcoal. This process is called Pyrolysis and is the chemical breakdown of organic material (in this case Alder) using high heat in the absence of oxygen. Because no oxygen is present, the material does not burn or catch fire. Instead, it splits apart into gases, liquids, and solid charcoal. The resulting pieces are used by artists to do charcoal drawing with all the shading techniques used by artists for centuries.
this is from our resident artist at CarlWood using Charcoal made from Red Alder
Davinci was also a resident artist prior to his passing, he used Charcoal made from CarlWood’s Alder
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