Stabilizing wood

[Doug W Swanson]

Hey all,
I've got access to a huge silver maple that was just cut down. And I mean HUGE because the trunk was about 16' in circumference. The tree has been dead for a few years but most of the trunk section is still solid. The limbs are a little soft and punky. In fact, most of the limbs are even showing some nice spalting.

I plan on taking some pieces of the good stuff in the trunk but was wondering about the limbs.

Can it be stabilized enough to turn? If so, what's the best way about doing this?

Should I rough turn a bowl and then stabilize it?

Should I stabilize it first?

Is it even worth it?

Sorry for all the questions but thanks for any advice!

[Michael Mills]

The only thing I have tried to stabilize with is 1 part shellac and 2 parts DNA. You have to re-coat often because it still only penetrates maybe 1/8 inch. The few I have done came out nice but were a lot of work and cost. I can only suggest giving it a try and seeing how firm the wood is for a faceplate or a chuck when you get it turned down some.
I have heard of others using thinned down white glue.
It can also still be spalted and require no stabilization at all. It all depends on how punky the wood has become.
I assume you mean diameter (or even radius) instead of 16" circumference.

[Richard Madden]

Check out the thread from Wally Dickerman on using thinned white glue. I plan on trying it myself.

[Doug W Swanson]

184048

Thanks for the advice.
The tree was 16' in circumference. This is my friend Steve and his trusty chain saw. The part here where the tree branched out was about 10' off the ground. The trunk (behind this part) was just one solid piece.

[Michael Mills]

That will teach me to get my reading glasses (or hit Ctrl +). :o
Just a wee little difference in ' and " :D:D

[Lee Koepke]

Cant really answer your question, but if you dont mind .... thats a nice hunk of work you get to work with!!!

[Larry Dubia]

Another way of doing the stabilization is to put it in a solution (your choice) and put it in a vacuum chamber and suck out the air. If the solution is thin, it will be sucked into all the vacant air spaces throughout the wood. Once it dries, it is a solid piece throughout. It should be placed under vacuum for at least an hour or so. Then slowly let the air into the chamber, remove the wood to a large bowl or platter to drain and cure.

Larry

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I hate to say this, but, with that much wood available, why waste your time trying to turn punky wood.

Wow, I can't believe I said that......

[Scott Hackler]

Doug there is not real good reason, that I can think of, to even mess with punky wood from this tree. You've got plenty of good wood and punky maple isn't an overall super attractive wood that would validate the effort and expense of stabilizing.

just my .02...

[Bob Bergstrom]

Gotta agree. Unless there is something really special, it usually turns out to be a waste of time. Rough out the good ones and enjoy the curls rather than chips.

[Jeff Myroup]

Life is to short to turn bad wood.

[Doug W Swanson]

Thanks for the advice. I guess I asked the question for a couple of reasons:

1. Some of the wood in the limbs of this tree have some nice spalting already.
2. I have some other wood in my shop that has some spalting but it is soft in a few areas.

The tree in that picture is huge but since it's been dead for a few years most of the wood has isn't that great. I'm not sure when the tree died but it was topped off and sat like that until the other day. All of the the smaller branches were cut off previously but they left the limbs (12" and larger) and trunk section standing. That's when my friend attacked it with his chain saw. Even though there is still a bunch of wood about the only real solid stuff is in the trunk section. As you can see, it's huge so harvesting any amount of wood from it takes time. Plus the chain saw we are using only has a 20" blade on it.

There is a lot of wood in the limbs with some nice spalting so that's why I was hoping to save some of the punky, spalted stuff.

I have not tried to turn any spalted wood yet so I thought I might be able to save some of it from the burn pile.

[Don Alexander]

i guess i have a different take on this than most in that i think life is too short to waste time with plain looking wood , spalted wood can be very worthwhile and besides there is alot of satisfaction in getting something beautiful out of something most folks think is more effortthan its worth

the only person who can make that call is you

[Scott Hackler]

I agree Don, but there is a big difference between spalted wood and punky wood. The only "punky" wood I will turn is a chuck of wood that just happens to have a small spot of punk. Otherwise I throw the punky wood away.