how to process spalted logs

[ronald mccormack]

So i woke up today and the city peaple were taking down a damaged tree next door and long story short i have a truck load of spalted mapple in my drive way. how should i go about preserving this wood. Its all chopped up into 2foot sections with a few larger, so its pretty small. should i leave it in log form or cut slabs and sticker it in the barn. I dont have a kiln or sawmill but i do have a barn and bandsaw. Ill probally use some of it for turning so i will leave that in log form but should i leave the bark on or will that give bugs a home. any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Marc Seguin]

Debark it and paint the end grain with something. Wax is traditional, but any thick paint will do to slow down the moisture loss from the ends to prevent checking.

[Stew Denton]

Ronald,

You will probably want to saw it into planks or something similar first, as well as then paint the ends with wax or one of the products specifically sold to for that purpose, as Marc mentioned above. It then should be stacked with stickers between each layer of planks so air can get between the planks.

I think if you don't cut it into planks or boards, the logs will eventually develop splits as it dries and shrinks. These will be big splits that will run the length of the log. You will want to store it in your barn for drying to protect it from rain. The wax will slow down drying on the ends, so the ends will not develop splits.

Stew

[ronald mccormack]

I started working on the wood today, de barking etc.. and i noticed that were all the good spalting is is way to soft for solid lumber. very disapointing. so im left with sections of sound mapple with just a hint of spalting and other sections were it just pulls apart. Is there nanyway i can encourage spalting in the sounder timbers without them rotting to pieces like the other stuff. or should i just cut my loses.

[Joe A Faulkner]

I painted the ends and let the logs sit in a shed for two years. Longest logs were 4'. I re sawed on the bandsaw. Got a few 7" wide boards but most boards were 4-5". Dramatic figure used to make jewelry boxes. I got some door panels out of the lumber and have some saved for small drawer fronts. I sometimes wonder if the logs did not continue to splat while drying.

[ronald mccormack]

I keep finding yellow cenitipede looking things inbetween the bark and tree, are these serious problems?

[Marc Seguin]

Spalting is caused by fungus which is breaking down the wood. So having 'structurally sound' spalted wood is not generally a common occurance. It's often too far gone for making things with, and you usually see it 'stabilized' with epoxy or something similar. Sometimes you do get spalted areas that aren't too punky if the tree is dried out in the nick of time so to speak. But it's mainly good for accent pieces like panels in frame and panel doors etc. I wouldn't look to build a table top or chair out of it.

Centipedes under the bark should be a problem since they are carnivorous and don't eat wood. They are an indication that there have been lots of insects at work though because they are there to eat something... most likely grubs and woodlice.