Spalting Maple

[Burt Alcantara]

Have 2 freshly cut sugar/hard maple logs in the backyard. How would I go about spalting one of them?

Thanks,
Burt

[Steve Schlumpf]

Burt - I try to spalt most of my birch logs and figure the process should probably be the same for maple.

Make sure you seal the ends of the logs - the idea being to trap all the moisture inside the wood that you can. Spalting is nothing more than having the wood start to decay. Process starts with mold and mold starts with damp, moist and shaded conditions. I have my logs stacked out in back of the shed - out of direct sunlight. I let the elements have access to them for the first few months and then see how they are doing. I know things are going well when there is mold on the end grain of the logs. After that it is a monitoring game. Birch can go from beautiful spalting to rotten in a very short time. I would think maple would take a little longer.

I do have 2 maple logs I am spalting and have them sealed and covered in wood shavings. I hope to be able to cut them up this coming spring.

Hope that is some assistance to you!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Burt....If you go to Woodcentral .....Russ's Corner....he has a recipe for spalting wood.

[Dennis Peacock]

Also to add to what Steve already said....

A log laying on the ground and covered with leaves also will help it to spalt.

I got some very pretty Yellow Poplar to spalt just by keeping the logs inside my shop, covered with wood shavings (unsealed log ends), had one end towards and sitting on the floor (on top of some lathe curls) and I placed some wood curls on the top end of the log. I wetted the top end and curls with water one each day for 3 days, then I added some water (just enough to dampen the wood curls on top) with water about once a week for 4 weeks and I let it stand in my shop for about 6 months.

As Steve stated, the difference between beautiful spalted wood and "rotten" wood can be a matter of a few days, you really want to catch the wood in "spalt" as early as you can so you can get a "feel" for how long each species takes.

[Quinn McCarthy]

Burt

The fungus spores for wood decay are in the air at all times looking for a good place to land. Spalting comes from 2 colonies of decay fungus coming in contact with each other. Make sure you keep the wood in a moist place were the fungus can thrive.

Hope that helps you out.

Quinn
Forester by day woodworker by night.

[steven carter]

Burt,

I cut some sugar maple last winter at my golf course, and split it with a friend who helped with the cutting. We both used anchorseal on them. I put mine in my shop, where they look just like they did when I put them there. My friend put them in his basement where it is fairly damp. We pulled some out the other day so I could show him how to make bowl blanks, and they were spalted beautifully. They have been in the basement since February of this year. We weren't trying to spalt them, didn't do any of the things that are supposed to make them spalt. I guess we just got lucky, they are beautiful. He gave me a piece to turn, I will post when I get the bowl done.

Steve

[Mark Patoka]

I had a beech tree blow down a few years ago and left it lying on the ground for a year before I was able to cut it up. I was surprised at how nicely it had spalted. It also wasn't sitting on constantly wet ground which probably slowed down the rotting process.

I have heard of methods where you wrap the log in black trash bags and keep it wet or submerged for a specific time period and you will have spalted wood.

[Mike A. Smith]

Burt, I've got some oak in black trash bags in my shop right now. Just looked at them this weekend and I THINK they're about ready. Don't know what they'll look like when I saw them up. If it works, I'll post.

[Burt Alcantara]

My shop is very dry and warm. Outside it is in the low 20s. There is a bit of left over snow on the ground but generally it's pretty dry out too. I'm not which way to go as there are so many suggestions here.

I'm thinking of putting the log in the shed.

Wrapped or unwrapped?
Sealed or unsealed?
Starters (leaves, manure, shavings, etc) or no starter?
Wet or not wet?

The log is sitting outside on pavers. It is very heavy so I'd like to move it just once. The second log will probably go down into the shop and get cut into blanks just so I have something in the event the spalting becomes rot.

I'd imagine if I lived near water I'd have more humidity and that would effect the process but it's bone dry here. The little bit of snow we get is gone by noon.

[Tom Steyer]

I had several wet sugar maple blanks stored in a plastic garbage bag in the corner of my shop. They spalted nicely in about 3 weeks. The clear bag evidently acted as a "green house". I'm gong to try it again when I get a chance and see if it was a fluke or a usable technique.