Putting up wood for spalting - seasonal differences?

[George Overpeck]

Hey all - I have been getting a bunch of wood staged in the last few months for NE pieces, cutting before the sap came up to retain the bark. It struck me that this might be the less good method for wood that I intend to spalt. If some of my sources are correct, sugars accelerate spalting, making me think that spring wood full of sap might spalt faster or better or differently. All the wood I've spalted has been winter cut and I'd love to hurry it up - here in south central Alaska we are only going to be consistantly breaking 50 degrees for the next 4-5 months.

While we're at it, if anyone has any strong belief in using accelerants other than moisture, heat and air flow to encourage spalting I'd love to hear about it.

[Fred Belknap]

I have heard that fertilizer is the best acceleration to use, I haven't tried this so take it for what it's worth.

[Jamie Donaldson]

Beer and MiracleGro in a 50/50 mix is my formula, sitting wet wood in a puddle in a sealed plastic bag in the shop. Wet sappy wood will spalt much faster and more uniformly than dry wood, and flip the log section end for end several times during the process. Different woods spalt at different rates, hardness(density) being a controlling factor as well as moisture/sap content.

[robert baccus]

Moose droppings, old banana peels and crawfish hulls and covered with old curlings a foot deep is a sure thing.

[Paul Gilbert]

Moose droppings, old banana peels and crawfish hulls and covered with old curlings a foot deep is a sure thing.

I can relate to banana peels and crawdad heads here in TX, but Moose droppings??? Will TX B.S. work as well??

[Brian Kent]

Moose droppings, old banana peels and crawfish hulls and covered with old curlings a foot deep is a sure thing.

Did you find that out by accident when you and your shop moose were eating bananas and crayfish on your turning break?

[Wally Dickerman]

Moose droppings, old banana peels and crawfish hulls and covered with old curlings a foot deep is a sure thing.

Here in Arizona we have very few moose. However it's been found that Javelina droppings along with rotted mesquite chips will do the job.

[Joseph M Lary]

I have used Mayo & beer on Hackberry it turner out very nice. Should have waited longer before I turner it .

[robert baccus]

Nutria & pelican white stuff is the best but is probably hard to come by way up north above I-10. Out of date beer should work great if there is such a thing.

[Ralph Lindberg]

George
Happens there is a PHD (Sara Robinson (ie Dr Spalt)) in Forest Products, who's thesis was on wood-spalting, she also is a wood turner (her blog is over on Fine Woodworking)
She states that nothing you can add to wood, be it beer, fertilizer, Mayo, etc effects wood-spalting.

If you think about her statement it makes sense. The fungal growths what spalt wood feed on the wood fiber, they evolved to feed on wood fiber. Why would some substance that is not wood, make them grow better.

But wet and temperature are big factors

[David C. Roseman]

Ralph Lindberg wrote:
If you think about her statement it makes sense. The fungal growths what spalt wood feed on the wood fiber, they evolved to feed on wood fiber. Why would some substance that is not wood, make them grow better.

Well, the beer might make them happier. Aren't happier workforces generally more productive?

David

[Ralph Lindberg]

I just checked and her book on Spalting out (http://www.northernspalting.com/resources/spalting-book/ ) It appears to be a "print on demand" and is not inexpensive as a result.

Looks like she also has moved and is now in Oregon, and does club demo's (yes I am checking to see if we can get her for our local club)

[Reed Gray]

I think she will be our next club demonstrator. Coming from the Forestry Department at Oregon State University. We Ducks will give her a warm welcome.

robo hippy

[Ralph Lindberg]

I've tentatively booked her for our June meeting. She will also be at the Olympia meeting in Oct.

[George Overpeck]

Yeah, I've seen Dr. Robinson posting here a few times and hoped she might weigh in, if not I'm just going to have to order up a truckload of crawdad shells and javalina droppings.

Thanks for the link to her book, I might have to look into it. I've had some spectacular results but I've also had some failures (white rot veins with weak color or accelerated decay along the outside of the log) and the trial by error is kind of a slow process in these climes.

[Dan Forman]

I looked at her web page for the workshops, says she inoculates wood with fungi, so maybe the contribution of the peculiar peccary is seed fungi rather than fertilizer.

Dan

[robert baccus]

I came across a red gum with redline spalting years ago and have innoculated newly cut gum. Works like a charm--now to try black line on holly. My luck, the redline spalt puts me in bed for 3 days and some friends complain also. Three tries made me a beliver.

[Terry Murphy]

Are we spalting or making cat fish bait!

Terry

[Seri Robinson]

You hoped I might weigh in? I'm too busy giggling! These are some of the most amusing spalting recipes I have ever read.