Spalting know how needed

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Hi All Successful Spalters,
Is "spalters" a word. We turners may have to coin it if not. My tree guy came up with a very nice Norway Maple log for me. I would like to try my hand at getting a portion of it to spalt. I know there have been numerous articles about how it is done, one of them being written by a knowledgeable expert that I will attempt to locate on the web. But I know lots of you good folks have done it successfully. I have basic questions. Do I cut the log into chunks or leave it X' long? Do I stand it in rotten medium or lay it down and pile the medium around the ends? I know rotten leave matter is important but I've also read where some of you use beer. How long does it take and how do you monitor it so the wood doesn't rot. Any help will be appreciated.
faust

[Jeff Nicol]

Faust, If the log is long enough I just leave it lay out in the yard and put a tarp over it to keep it moist and so it won't dryout to fast. You can cut it into smaller pieces so it will spalt faster, I never use any mix of anything to create the molds as they are pretty much in and on everything, they just need a good environment to grow and that means moisture. THe maples are the easiest woods to spalt so you should have little trouble to get it to do what you want it to do. It may take a year or only a few months depending on the size of the blanks or any number of things.

Goood luck,
Jeff

[Nate Davey]

I've just put two half Maple logs out next to my compost pile and covered them with leaves. I'll let you know how it's going. From what I've read, if you provide the fungus something to eat, they won't eat the wood. We'll see.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Someone posted a beer spalting method a little while ago. Try searching for it. It's against my religon to support wasting of beer though. I think he had some great results.

[Reed Gray]

Ran into a turner from Northern Washington. It is cool and damp there. He takes Monkey Puzzle tree chunks, puts them grain down on his lawn, and they are spalted in about a week.

robo hippy

[Cody Colston]

Sara Robinson is one of the foremost authorities on spalting wood. She is also a member here but has her own site, too... http://www.northernspalting.com/ She's known as Dr. Spalt at Fine Woodworking Magazine where she has several articles and a blog on spalted wood. I also get the idea that she is rather frustrated at the amount of misinformation about spalting that gets passed around on the internet, especially on woodworking forums. She will give you accurate, scientific information (she's a Ph.D) on the spalting process and everything associated with it. It's really a fascinating subject, especially for a woodworker and Sara has provided a wealth of information free to us about it. I'm one of her fans as you can probably tell. :)

Using beer to help spalt the wood is a waste of your time and good beer. Forget it.

The best way to spalt Maple is to leave it in log form in a shaded place. You can cover it with leaves but that's not necessary. The fungal spores needed for spalting are already present in the air and on the log.

Seal the ends to slow down moisture loss and be patient. Optimum conditions for spalting to occur are above 20% MC and 80 degrees F. It's possible you may get some spalting before the weather cools too much but I wouldn't count on it. Even though Maple spalts pretty readily, it will likely be next year before the spalting is very widespread if the logs were recently cut.

Hope this helps.

[Donny Lawson]

I cut mine up in 3-4ft lengths and place them in the edge of the woods where it is in the shade. If there is any leaves I will throw some over it and just wait. Nature will do the rest but you do have to keep an eye on it from time to time. I usually wait for about 3-4 months and start checking it. If it has fungas growing on it, its doing its thing. I then take my saw and cut off a small piece off the end and see what it looks like. Don't wait too long or it will be too punky to work with. I'll see if I can get some pics of mine this evening.

[Greg Just]

Here is the direct link for the Sara Robinson article that Cody mentioned above:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesArticle.aspx?id=32484

I could not find this on her website.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Thanks Gentlemen,
Sara's article was the one I was trying to remember. However, I also value the experience you pass on. I can see patience is the needed virtue. faust

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Gents,
I looked up Sari's site and found she is currently rebuilding it. I emailed and ashed for copies of the article and she was kind enough to reply very quickly. While I was looking over the soon to be competed site, I noticed Seri is available for demos at turning clubs. She would probably be a great resource for you club presidents looking for fresh demonstrators for your clubs.
faust