High Protein Spalted Wood

[Arlan Ten Kley]

This weekend I picked up a couple pieces of wood from a roadside yard cleaning pile. They weren't very large, maybe 7" in diameter and had obviously been a standing dead tree and showed some spalting. Not one to pass on spalted wood....I took it home. This evening I decided to see if this wood had enough substance left in it to turn.

While roughing the outside of the bowl I noticed some very pleasing spalting along with many worm holes, some open and some compacted. With all the varying textures, this could be an interesting bowl.....

After reversing the bowl and about an inch into the inside, I came across a large hole in the center of the bowl. When I stopped the lathe, I discovered this large grub! I carefully turned down to expose more of him and was able to extract him intact. He was about 2 inched long and half inch in diameter at the head.....

I don't know what kind of wood this is...

[Keith Spaniel]

Wow, great find , nice wood. you might want to turn the rest of those logs before they eat you out of house and home.. Keith

[Scott Hubl]

Kill those lil buggers and keep on turning!

Wow thats gonna be real pretty.

[Nathan Hawkes]

I've used a boric acid powder/borax soap recipie dissolved in water at almost boiling, so you can get it almost supersaturated, and applied with a garden sprayer for killing termites in some cherry that was punky in the middle when I cut flitch slabs. Killed the termites for sure, and only left a little powdery residue when dry; this was easily washed away. No staining to the wood. I'm guessing it would probably work for grubs as well. I don't know for sure. I'm sure a web search could tell you.

[Alex Elias]

Nice piece you got there. I Can't imagine the poor worm how dizzy got there after you were done. That will teach him not to eat from the wrong tree.

[Jim Becker]

I don't know what kind of wood this is...

Apparently, it was "dinner wood" for certain parties.... :D

Very nice piece!

[Kurt Bird]

Arlan,
This wood looks alot like spalted Hackberry. It should make a very pretty bowl if the little bugger left any!:)
Kurt Bird

[Dan Williams]

That is a great looking bowl. Is the bowl turned endgrain. I am new to turning so I don't know much about how you how U turn to show all the spalting. I do know, I love the looks of spalted wood.

That is a very nice bowl.

Dan

[Dale Gregory]

Arlan, nice bowl, great spalted lines in the wood, and thanks for the pictures! Nice of you to save the poor grub from his immanent "death by gouge" Looks like you put him in the shavings pile so he can live to see another day.

Dale

[Steve Schlumpf]

Beautiful spalting Arlan - going to be a great bowl! You are a lot luckier finding the residents than I am - I usually end up wearing them!! A whole nother reason to appreciate a faceshield!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful piece of wood. Normally I get the bugs splattered on my face schield before I find them.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Like Bernie, I find um when they go splat. In the case of termites and carpenter ants, I "Nuke" them in the microwave till I hear them "Crackle"-----UMUMMMMMMM Good!

The piece you have looks more like Spalted Maple. Hackberry, at least around here, spalts black and the wood is whiter.

Bruce

[Arlan Ten Kley]

Trust me...! This was not the only treasure to reveal itself in the process of this bowl! Good thing is...they were a lot smaller!

Dan, this bowl was turned with the grain of the wood perpendicular to the axis of the lathe. This is the usual orientation for bowls. End grain turning is when the axis of the grain of the wood is the same as the axis of the lathe. It is often used in making boxes as the dimensional stability of the pieces is high, creating a lasting good fit between the lid and the box. Hope this helps!

[Jim Underwood]

Where can I find that Borax recipe for spraying? I think I need to do a little on my wood pile so the bark beetles don't eat my shop down...:o

[Ben Gastfriend]

Looks like you got some nice wood there. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Those grubs get on my nerves. Sometimes they fly across the room and splat on the wall. Other times they hit you in the face. That's partially what the shield is for.

[robert hainstock]

Beautiful piece of wood. You should take the grub fishing. :)
Bob

[David Wilhelm]

throw it in the freezer for 3 days to a week. should kill anything left in it.

[Greg Just]

throw it in the freezer for 3 days to a week. should kill anything left in it.

The freezer idea will work. My wife puts the flour in the freezer to kill any bugs that might be in it.

[Richard Madison]

Very impressive that you have a worm that size. The wood must have fallen off a truck that came from Texas.

Certainly looks like spalted hack. There is some variation in colors from tree to tree, and within a single tree. Some is indeed strikingly white and black, and some is more muted shades of gray. Sometimes a light wipe-on and friction-dry coat of BLO will enhance the contrast, after sanding and before other finish products. Sometimes there might be a thin line of green color.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Where can I find that Borax recipe for spraying? I think I need to do a little on my wood pile so the bark beetles don't eat my shop down...:o



Jim, here is where I found it:

http://www.acbs-bslol.com/Gadgets/D97WoodRot.htm

Borax soap is available in a couple different brand names--I used "20 Mule Team", but I think that Arm & Hammer has a similar borax soap available.
I should mention that I used water instead of ethylene glycol (antifreeze) as the liquid medium for it (antifreeze is very poisonous, and also sweet---pets like to lick it.) I found that at cold temperatures, it not only freezes, it doesn't revert back to a liquid. Because you are heating it to boiling, or thereabouts, you are making a supersaturated solution. By adding more borax/boric acid, you throw off the balance, and the solution may crystallize completely into almost a slush!! I lost a pet cat years ago from a leaky radiator in my old ford aerostar van, that is now long gone, but I still remember the cat. He spent several days at the vet only to die the day he came home. I felt horrible.


So, be careful. It isn't especially toxic to people, unless you drink a lot of it, so keep it inside, unless you want to buy a new sprayer. :eek: They crack when they freeze solid(DUUUHHHH!!!!!!!!), and you have to shake it out into a big pan and re-boil it to get it liquid again. PITA.