What should I do with this wet chunk of wood?

[Ty Williams]

I just bought a chunk about the size of a normal red brick of spalted maple off ebay. It's freshly cut and wet to the touch. It's starting to grow a little mold. I know I need to dry it out somewhat quickly to get the mold stopped and to prevent the spalting fungus from softening the wood further. The wood is so spalted and figured I can't identify a face grain and end grain side to figure out which is the end grain to coat it with wax. Should I coat the whole thing in wax? Just let it air dry as-is? Try to microwave dry it?

What do you think?

[Dan Hintz]

Spalting doesn't necessarily weaken a wood... I have plenty of spalted wood that's hard as a rock. Coating the entire thing will certainly prevent loss of moisture and further mold, so it's a vlid plan. If you'd like to dry the piece, however, consider sticking it in a paper bag with some wet shavings and let it dry slowly. Other options are boiling for a few hours, soaking in a DNA bath, and using the microwave to dry it quickly but in a controlled manner.

[Cody Colston]

If you can't identify the end grain to seal it, just let it air dry as-is. The longer it stays damp, the longer the fungal spores will continue to grow. Once the MC gets below 20%, the fungal growth will cease.
You might saw a thin slice off the end/side to better identify the grain. If you can find the end grain, seal it with some paraffin wax (or Anchorseal if you have some).

[Scott T Smith]

Ty, if you plan to use it for turning simply coat the entire piece in end sealer.