Spalted wood, more about

[John K Jordan]

The Spalted Liquid Amber thread was getting long, so a new thread might be better for this for those interested in spalting. In reading some spalting info on the web, I found that the science experts (and spalting fanatics) have written a book:
https://www.amazon.com/Spalted-Wood-History-Science-Material/dp/0764350382

I've ordered a copy, will report my impressions later.

This is where I found out about the book. This is a great place to start for a bit of info about spalting and perhaps dispel a few misunderstandings:
http://www.northernspalting.com/beginners-guide/

Spalting how-to's: http://www.northernspalting.com/workshops-and-materials/diy-spalting-pamphlets/

JKJ

[CHARLES D Richards]

Thks John,
I forgot to mention to check our Dr. Sara Robinson on YouTube as she is an expert on spalting.

Dave

[Rich Aldrich]

Dr. Sara Robinson gave a presentation on spalting wood at the first turning club meeting I attended in February 2010 (Superiorland Woodturners). She had just received her PHD in Colored spalted wood from Michigan Technological University (my alma mater). She gave an excellent presentation on spalted wood. She is a woodturner, so she shares our passion. She is a wealth of knowledge in spalted wood. She started northernspalting.com

I look forward to your report on the book.

[John K Jordan]

This also looks like some good basic how-to information, based largely on Robinson's work:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/2009/04/14/spalt-your-own-lumber

JKJ

[Steve Schlumpf]

We had Sara give demos at our club a couple of times. Like Rich said - she is a wealth of knowledge and has quite the sense of humor - which made for great presentations. I think you will enjoy the book!

[Wes Ramsey]

Fascinating! I found an hour-long presentation on spalting by the good doctor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctDFsIciRCU. Wanted to paste it here so I know I can find it later, but hopefully others will find it useful.

[Ralph Lindberg]

She is a great resource and the book is too (I have a photo credit in the book)

When she was giving her program someone brought up breathing spores, she asked him if he ever went walking in the woods and that when he did he breathed those spores... of course around here it's hard not to (rain forest and all that)

One do the things I enjoy is how her program has changed over the years as she has learned.

[Reed Gray]

One of the most interesting demos I have ever seen, if for no other reason, every thing I knew about spalting was wrong... She said the only one who calls her Sara is her mom, and she usually goes by Sari. I guess she also dabbles in writing Sci-Fi, and fantasy.

robo hippy

[Tom Brouillette]

I don't recall where I read about it, but I've had really good luck spalting my own wood using beer. River birch, magnolia, sycamore, red maple and more. I leave the logs a little long and don't seal the ends. I pour a healthy amount of beer on the cut ends and forget about it for a few months. I cut and rough the bowls before the spalting gets too far along. Here is a variety of boxes I turned for Christmas presents. The second is a magnolia platter. The last is some rough turned stock drying out. I love this hobby. 352484352482352483

[Tim Passmore]

Tom---that Magnolia platter is fantastic (the others are very nice also). Please give me more details on your spalting technique. How much beer? Stored in what if anything? Keep in the dark? Etc. Thanks.

[Tom Brouillette]

I wish I could tell you I have a specific technique. I had amassed a big pile of wood beside my garage. After reading the aforementioned forgotten article, I took a dozen or so various outdated beers out and unceremoniously dosed the wood. I manage a brewery, so I have a pretty good stock of suds around. I'm in the Memphis area, so I'm sure the humidity played a part in the process. I left everything uncovered. im about to try it again with some gum. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[Ralph Lindberg]

I don't recall where I read about it, but I've had really good luck spalting my own wood using beer. River birch, magnolia, sycamore, red maple and more. I leave the logs a little long and don't seal the ends. I pour a healthy amount of beer on the cut ends and forget about it for a few months. I cut and rough the bowls before the spalting gets too far along. Here is a variety of boxes I turned for Christmas presents. The second is a magnolia platter. The last is some rough turned stock drying out. I love this hobby. 352484352482352483

I can tell you her exact words on beer... Drink beer, don't waste it on wood.
Wood spalting fungus does not feed on anything in beer, you are just wasting it.

[Reed Gray]

Her comments about special 'diets' for spalting are that the fungi that cause the spalting will first feed on the easiest food source, which could be the sugars in beer, then they start in on the wood. Put a log end grain down in damp grass, and keep it wet, and it will spalt in a month or so.

robo hippy

[Van Huskey]

Thanks to everyone, this is the exact reason I come to SMC to be exposed to something that I didn't know existed and thus launch a new path of discovery. I have always loved spalted wood and today I learned I can trick nature into playing for my team.

[robert baccus]

Spalting is extremely easy. Simply put your wood(preferred green) on the ground, wet it down, throw some leaf litter and dirt on the cut ends and cover with a tarp. In extremely dry weather rewet it weekly. Start cutting into it with a hatchet after 3 months to check for progress. Also if you have a piece of unusually pretty spalt, save the cuttings to infect the ends of a similar species. I save the cutting in a plastic bag--dry or wet. Hackberry and sweet gum are very easy.

[Ralph Lindberg]

If you read her blogs or book you will find she is not a big fan of the random "put your log on the ground" theory of spalting.
She does hers in sealed plastic tubs, inside. To the point where she had to get "her own place" as her husband didn't want spatting tubs in their apartment. She she got a small apartment just for her work.
Of course today she runs her spalting lab there at OSU.
She used to sell starter fungus to people, exact fungus's for exact results (zone lines, colors, etc)
I know her tub work allowed her to spalt wood in weeks vrs months (controlled environment and all)
She has also developed method to remove the colors some fungus use to "dye" wood, as this natural dye is quite "fast" (ie doesn't fad easily)

[Eugene Dixon]

I've got oak in my garage that has spalted waiting for me to turn it. I harvested it from trees as they were cut down. Slab it withing 2-3 days and sealed the ends with paraffin and candle wax. Stored in my garage for ~3 mos and between the bark beetles and the humidity in NC, I've gotten some nice spalting. Gargage door is kept shut most of the time. Minimal amount of direct sunlight into garage and none onto the wood pile in the garage. Garage houses a car and a truck every night.

I'd show a picture but it keeps failing to upload.

[Reed Gray]

Spalting needs moisture. The process takes a month to a month and a half. Vernon Liebrand, a north Washington turner takes Monkey Puzzle tree sections, puts them on the ground, end grain down, and they are done in a month. Of course, up where he lives, mold grows even in the dry season.

The extraction of die pigments had been around for hundreds of years. Sari mentioned that there were pieces of furniture from the 1400's where the color was still good as new. At the Holiday Market here in town that I used to do, there was a fabric artist who was using dyes taken from spalting.

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

...I found that the science experts (and spalting fanatics) have written a book:
https://www.amazon.com/Spalted-Wood-History-Science-Material/dp/0764350382
I've ordered a copy, will report my impressions later.


I got the book this morning. Very nice! Hard bound (288 pages), packed with excellent photos, history, stories, and science. A lot of pictures of turnings, furniture, and ancient intarsia. Until I looked through it I didn't appreciate how much people have relied on spalted wood for color over the last 500 years or so.

The book describes the black "zone" lines we all love as actually lines of defense created by fungi as walls of protection against competing fungi. The actual spalting is between the zone lines and often colored distinctively.

I think this book would be a welcome addition to the wood and shop libraries of many of us. The YouTube generation may not get as much out of it since it has actual printing on actual paper. [gasp!] :)

JKJ