Spalting Process

[Brian Grenia]

I just picked up fresh cut maple that I want to spalt. Should I process it into blanks first, just slab the log, or leave it in rounds?

Second: I usually throw my slabs into (plastic) trash bags until I turn. Would you recommend this for spalting or should I just leave exposed in a big pile of wet shavings.

Finally, the maple has darker wood (star-like pattern) in the center of the log, is this all pith or is it heartwood.

Thanks

 

[MichaelMouse]

Bag each end of the log, leave the bark on. Lay it on the ground and keep it out of direct sun so it won't dry out. Roll three times before fall to equalize. The way I do it.

She's the scientist. http://www.northernspalting.com/

Close by and less scientific. http://www.hiltonhandcraft.com/Articles/Spalting_a_Fungus_Amongus.asp

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/techline/producing-spalted-wood.pdf Government sponsored.

Soft maple is often brown inside. Not sure what variety you have. Hard maple seldom is. The brown area is sometimes full of minichecks, but seldom do they develop into cracks.

 

[Mark Warden]

Sounds like Boxelder.

 

[victortmina]

perhaps some ambrosia maple.

 

[Dean Center]

Silver maple from my neighbor's tree has brown heart wood. I like the contrasting dark and light in finished work.

 

[n7bsn]

Dean, I don't know your climate well enough to offer a solid opinion, other then read what Dr Spalt has to say, she is the expert

Brian, I know your climate. Winter is generally too hard for produce any out-door spalting. Come spring you will need to keep the wood damp as your climate does not have enough moisture to get it from the air, you will need to keep it in the shade and watch the process.

Locally it takes about three months to get a nice spalt, all I do is bury the wood under it's own chips, out in the rain. But we live in a temperate rain forest...

Note to self, time to take last falls wood and check it...

 

[Jarred Hoffpauir]

Sometimes forced spalting can be fairly shallow so it may be good to cut it into blanks before you start but there are many opinions on what is the best method. Honestly each piece is going to be different, influenced by many different things like your climate, the type of wood, how dense your piece is relative to another piece exct.

On an side note Beer can help the spalting process as well.

 

[MichaelMouse]

On an side note Beer can help the spalting process as well.

When consumed by the turner far enough in advance of the actual turning. Fungi which feed on cellulose and lignin will find poor fare in the beer's carbs. It is, however wet.

The business of rolling the log is to compensate for gravity. Water goes to the down side, fungus grows, so rotating 1/3 will establish a new damp place to get the stuff growing and even the pattern. Else, you often end up with mush topped by solid wood. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/CantSellBirch-1.jpg Same applies to the stand on end method. wet below, dry above unless you cover well or flip.

So benign neglect may not be the best approach, even with waterproof bark stock like birch or beech. Little bit of effort will help. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/Cultivated-Birch.jpg

 

[n7bsn]

...
On an side note Beer can help the spalting process as well.

Dr Spalting (Sara Robinson PhD wood-spalting) says otherwise

http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/24717/spalt-your-own-lumber-nutrient-supplements-for-spalted-wood-eg-beer

 

[Brian Grenia]

I was concerned about the wood splitting if I left it in LOG form. I thought if I prepped to blanks then that would reduce the stresses on the wood. Right/Wrong?

 

[Thomas Stegall]

The article rightly concluded that nature has already provided what we need for spalting (except patience).

"While pouring the beer over the wood certainly won't hurt anything, its not really doing anything either (except costing you money, and wasting your beer). There's nothing special about the sugars in beer, and the wood, and this is important now, doesn't need anything added to it. If you take a look around, nature does just fine decaying wood without a handy helper.

But wait! Doesn't it speed the spalting process? The answer is, sadly, probably not. Pigment fungi are the fungi that use the surface sugars as their dietary basis, but then, so too do the molds. You're just as likely to encourage some dangerous mold fungi as the pigment fungi and really, its not going to speed things up nearly as much as just keeping the wood in a warm room.

In fact, pouring anything sugary over the wood has the possibility of causing a longer spalting incubation time."

 

[MichaelMouse]

I was concerned about the wood splitting if I left it in LOG form. I thought if I prepped to blanks then that would reduce the stresses on the wood. Right/Wrong?

Yes, but not what I'd prefer. It would relieve radial drying stress which can lead to checking, but opens up the possibility of end checking. So, unless you're prepared to bag up tight - and add some bark as "seed" - it'll dry faster than the spalt happens. Mildew, you'll get.

 

[eugeniuszluzar]

I just picked up fresh cut maple that I want to spalt. Should I [URL="http://www.grupa-wolff.com/process-safety/safety-valves/]process safety[/URL] it into blanks first, just slab the log, or leave it in rounds?

Second: I usually throw my slabs into (plastic) trash bags until I turn. Would you recommend this for spalting or should I just leave exposed in a big pile of wet shavings.

Finally, the maple has darker wood (star-like pattern) in the center of the log, is this all pith or is it heartwood.

Thanks

I know that this message was written a long time ago, but I wanted to write that I always leave the bark on.