Spalted Maple Slab - Does it need stabilization?

[Scott Connell]

Hello, I've not worked with live edge slabs before, but just completed my first project, which is a bench with some nicely figured spalted maple. After cleaning up the edges and sanding, sanding and more sanding, I decided to finish it w/ about 8 coats of Daly's Benmatte (Tung Oil with other additives to add durability). Now that it's done and I've attached some metal legs made by my neighbor, I've recently been reading that it may be necessary to "stabilize" spalted maple with epoxy or CA before finishing it.

So now I'm really nervous that I've gone to all this trouble and it's eventually going to fall apart or degrade since I neglected to research this up front. So I'm looking for some advice as to whether it is always necessary to stabilize spalted maple or if it is case by case. Characteristics of this slab are as follows: 1.5 inches thick and 5 feet long. The wood is all very hard and there were no spongy areas noted during all the sanding and clean up work I did. There is some evidences of worm activity around one of the edges, which I cleaned up but left due to the character it adds. So with this in mind, do you think I'm ok or do I need to strip the finish, stabilize and then re-finish?

I've added a few pictures, the first is the wood when it was unfinished and the next three are close ups of the finished product. Many thanks, Scott
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[Scott T Smith]

Scott, depending upon how long the logs are left to spalt before milling, some of the wood can deteriorate and become very soft (also called "punky"). It is this type of wood that requires stabilization. This wood is so soft that you can literally dig out chunks with your fingernails.

As the wood dries after milling, the spalting process stops, preventing further decay.

If your wood was all hard, you should be fine, and from the looks of your slab the spalted areas do not appear to be excessively deteriorated.

Nice job on the slab!

SS

[Scott Connell]

Thanks for the input Scott, that's a huge relief. There were definitely no spots I could dig out w/ my finger so I'll keep the rest of my fingers crossed that I am in the clear.
Cheers,
Scott