spalting

Electric Comet

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Mar 20, 2018, 7:14:52 PM3/20/18

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is it possible to spalt wood

the spalted wood i have seen is natural but looking at it it seems to just
be wood that has mold growing in and on it

guess there is really only one way to find out

but anyone tried it

hub...@ccanoemail.ca

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Mar 20, 2018, 7:32:18 PM3/20/18

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https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/techline/producing-spalted-wood.pdf

dpb

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Mar 20, 2018, 8:20:24 PM3/20/18

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FWW had an article a few years ago, too...

--

nailsh...@aol.com

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Mar 20, 2018, 9:48:24 PM3/20/18

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Natural spalting is best, no way around it.

But years ago when I was doing a lot of wood turning a lot of us were "force" spalting by rough turning a bowl, Christmas ornament, or just about anything else, and we put the objects into a tightly sealed trash bag covered with all the green shavings.

Left it under my storage room for several months, and the molds and fungi would do their work. Got some interesting stuff! For anyone that tries it, soft woods work best. Take the molded stuff out of the trash bag and let it dry out slowly over a month or so then turn it.

Robert

Electric Comet

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Mar 21, 2018, 7:47:14 PM3/21/18

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On Tue, 20 Mar 2018 18:48:21 -0700 (PDT)
"nailsh...@aol.com" <nailsh...@aol.com> wrote:

> Natural spalting is best, no way around it.
>
> But years ago when I was doing a lot of wood turning a lot of us were
> "force" spalting by rough turning a bowl, Christmas ornament, or just
> about anything else, and we put the objects into a tightly sealed
> trash bag covered with all the green shavings.

going to try this
worse that can happen is i end up with more firewood

Electric Comet

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Mar 21, 2018, 7:49:32 PM3/21/18

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On Tue, 20 Mar 2018 19:34:00 -0400
hub...@ccanoemail.ca wrote:

> https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/techline/producing-spalted-wood.pdf

how did it work for you

hub...@ccanoemail.ca

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Mar 21, 2018, 7:59:50 PM3/21/18

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>
>> https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/techline/producing-spalted-wood.pdf

>
>how did it work for you
>

I've never worked with spalted wood -
.. I generally burn it outside in the fire pit.
John T.

Jack

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Mar 30, 2018, 11:51:46 AM3/30/18

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Interesting that soft wood works best. The only wood I've seen spalt is
Maple. I've done a lot of spalted maple turnings from spalted maple
fire wood but really don't recall seeing other woods spalt? Not saying
you're wrong, just that it surprises me. I never forced the issue, just
used naturally spalted stuff. Does the other woods look anything like
spalted maple, or is maple a unique look?

--
Jack
Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.
http://jbstein.com

Leon

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Mar 30, 2018, 12:06:24 PM3/30/18

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Common oak fire wood "spalts". My dad used to have his oak tree limbs
trimmed and I cut them up for fire wood. Several years ago I was going
to use some of that wood for our smoker and decided to rip the logs with
my band saw. After seeing the insides of the logs I decided to cut
veneers instead of burning it. Click below to see the fronts of a
couple of jewelry chests I built about 10 years ago. The doors have
that spalted oak.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lcb11211/4335052244/in/dateposted-public/

And details on the apron ends of a desk I built in 2007. Zoom in.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lcb11211/8621157675/in/album-72157630857421932/

Markem

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Mar 30, 2018, 7:54:31 PM3/30/18

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Have a Sycamore bowl with spalting.

Electric Comet

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Mar 30, 2018, 10:09:27 PM3/30/18

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On Fri, 30 Mar 2018 11:51:43 jbst...@comcast.net wrote:

> Interesting that soft wood works best. The only wood I've seen spalt
> is Maple. I've done a lot of spalted maple turnings from spalted
> maple fire wood but really don't recall seeing other woods spalt?
> Not saying you're wrong, just that it surprises me. I never forced
> the issue, just used naturally spalted stuff. Does the other woods
> look anything like spalted maple, or is maple a unique look?

the wood i have is some kind of citrus i think

Sonny

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Mar 31, 2018, 11:30:17 AM3/31/18

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On Tuesday, March 20, 2018 at 8:48:24 PM UTC-5, nailsh...@aol.com wrote:
> Natural spalting is best, no way around it.
>
> But years ago when I was doing a lot of wood turning a lot of us were "force" spalting by rough turning a bowl, Christmas ornament, or just about anything else, and we put the objects into a tightly sealed trash bag covered with all the green shavings.

In a way, forced spalting is natural. Uses the same process, fungi and/or mold. The difference is one placing the ingredients in place, rather than it naturally occurring.

Another example: Holiday pumpkins, left on a table top too long, often mold and discolor the table. Obviously, other produce will do the same.

I usually hose off the saw dust and dirt from freshly milled lumber. If it's not washed thoroughly, any remaining debris might mold, causing discoloration, even if it's stickered. The last pine I milled discolored this way.

One of the reasons lumber mills continuously spray water on their cache of logs is to help prevent spalting.

Sonny

Leon

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Mar 31, 2018, 2:03:38 PM3/31/18

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And I always assumed it was to keep the wood from becoming a huge
potential fire hazard.

dpb

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Mar 31, 2018, 2:37:48 PM3/31/18

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On 3/31/2018 1:03 PM, Leon wrote:
...

> And I always assumed it was to keep the wood from becoming a huge
> potential fire hazard.

Mostly to keep from drying too rapidly and checking until get to the saw...

--

Sonny

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Mar 31, 2018, 7:16:26 PM3/31/18

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Yep, prevent checking and ....
Keeping the wood wet makes for easier sawing, as opposed to sawing dry wood. Some fungi doesn't grow well in/on saturated wood. Powder post beetles avoid wet wood.... probably some other bugs, also, like the carpenter bee.

Sonny

k...@notreal.com

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Mar 31, 2018, 9:29:29 PM3/31/18

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On Sat, 31 Mar 2018 16:16:24 -0700 (PDT), Sonny <cedar...@aol.com>
wrote:

OTOH, carpenter ants love the stuff.

Jack

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Apr 1, 2018, 10:23:48 AM4/1/18

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Yes, those apron ends look exactly like the spalted maple I'm used to
seeing. The doors not so much, but certainly spalted.

Jack

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Apr 1, 2018, 10:31:01 AM4/1/18

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+1

Leon

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Apr 1, 2018, 12:41:09 PM4/1/18

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The aprons are Oak. Same oak as on the doors.