mold?

[Chris Studley]

I have some green maple cut from a tree less than a month ago. I seems like im getting mold in the center of the sealed pieces as I rough it out. My shop is in the basement so there is more moisture as its not heated. I would have thought this would be ideal so the wood wouldn't dry too fast. Is there any way to get this stain out? Or maybe something that may hide it some?
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[Roger Chandler]

Chris,

This mold can be your friend...........it is the beginning of the spalting process.........if you leave it alone for a few months, it can turn a plain piece of maple into a figured piece and you will get the black lines, the gray and brown areas...........most turners like spalted wood.........just be careful and don't let it get too far gone, or it will become punky.

[David E Keller]

I just attended a demo by Dale Larson on drying blanks, and he would tell you that this wood is drying too slowly... Mold=too slow and cracks=too fast.I'm not sure if household bleach would remove the stains, but I'd probably try it. It would be great if it were colorful and full of some lines, but that muddy look is not so attractive... Not sure if you can count on it to progress to something beautiful, but it might be worth waiting out another couple of pieces.

[Chris Studley]

thanks guys, finished rough turning it. I figured I'd let it do its thing and see what I get.

[Ryan Baker]

I have a lot of maple that looks just like that stored in basically the same conditions. It will not create spalting. I have some that has been sitting for a long time, and it wouldn't spalt -- just get more mold deeper into the wood. There were small spots of black surface mold, which trim away easily, and a more greenish mold that gets deeper into the wood. Pretty much the only thing you can do is to turn it off, which is why you want to do it before it gets too deep. I really found that it is just drying too slowly. Turn off the mold, then don't seal them completely so that the moisture can get out a little faster (but not fast enough to crack). For me, that worked well at keeping the mold from coming back.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

For some reason, Box Elder will occasionally do that to me. It is in the maple family or at least referred to as "Ash Leaf Maple". It is just so wet when summer cut it grows mold like hair. Since the first time it happened, I changed my drying method. I no longer bag super wet wood. I now Anchor seal the end grain and put it higher in the drying room where the air is a bit warmer. I bleached the heck out of the one in the picture which happens to be an 18" rough out. I won't turn it until next winter and I hope the bleach killed the mold deeply enough to save the bowl. This type mold does not promote spalting, merely rot.
faust

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[Chris Studley]

Looks like you got a little more mold than I. To me its strange because I have pieces from the same tree cut the same day, and they have cracked. Also the piece pictured seemed fairly dry considering it was cut down just shy of one month ago.(not that dry, just drier than expected, and also moldy.).

I can turn it all away, I just loose the shape I was going for.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

A while back, I had some big leaf maple that started molding immediately after being roughed out. Seems like that tree was carrying the spores. The whole batch of roughouts started growing black spots. I tried bleach and it removed the spots, but as soon as it died out the mold returned. After some research, I learned that bleach will evaporate away quickly. Boric acid, available at most hardware stores as a powder - look for roach killers if it's not in the mold section - will leave a residue when the water evaporates that will continue to kill the mold. I keep a spray bottle loaded up with it just in case, but haven't had the problem since. Maybe just having the spray bottle out scares the mold away.
When I turned the dried rough outs, there was a yellow residue of the boric acid on the surface. I wore a respirator just in case it might cause a reaction, but didn't seem to suffer any effects...

[Harry Robinette]

Don't let any one tell you it wont hurt you. Mold is mold and they all will mess with your lungs I know.It can make for some beautiful wood but please were a respirator or something to protect your lungs.