11/11/2023 0 Comments Spalt woodI have successfully spalted sweetgum in the log - just let it lie in the yard for two years. I got more white mold and dry rot than true spalt. Never worked as well as just letting the log lay, then milling it. I have tried to spalt sweet gum blocks in a 5 gallon bucket with concoctions suggested to me. That was sort of a compost thing to keep the reaction from stopping too early in the fall. Maybe someone will jump in here and correct me? I say for proper spalting it needs to be left in the log, and the log rolled every few months (for more consistent color, just my experience.) I too have buried them in a pile of leaves. I don't think it is possible to spalt an already dry stick of lumber. Bags are available in a variety of sizes, or you could use plastic and wrap it up.Ī board is best spalted not in a bag, but in the log. You need to test the process - spalting is partial decay, caused by fungus. I know that using the bag method works, but an 8' long board is hard to bag up. I realize I may need to specify that I am particularly looking for information regarding spalting actual lumber. Since it is a fungal process, and one step toward total decay, you have to be careful to dry the wood and stop the spalting process. I have spalted the sapwood of black walnut and white oak. I have successfully spalted sweetgum bowl blanks by burying them in leaf piles in my yard. Old time turners suggest contact with earth, or old leaves. Why not try it? I have spalted many kinds of wood, no pecan yet. I have semi-green logs (2-4 months old), green lumber air drying, and kiln dried lumber to work with. Does anyone know any tried and true methods for this? The wood I am particularly interested in working with is pecan, and I have heard that, for bowl blanks, you should put the piece in a trash bag full of that woods' shavings for a few months, and, voila! Has anyone tried this? That would be great for small things, but I would like to do actual lumber as well. I have often wondered how the process of spalting occurs, and if it is possible to cause a piece of wood to spalt.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |