Creating spalting

[Wade Holloway]

You might get some spalt on a finished piece if you mean by finish that you have just finished turning the piece. Once you put a finish on it like a oil or varnish or even wax it would not spalt. That effect only comes from the process of rotting basically. Not sure I would want to take a turned piece and bury it and hope for some spalt. Spalting is not a exact science.

Are the fungi able to create spalting on a finished piece?
She may have addressed that, but I had dificulty understanding her speech.

[Dennis Peacock]

Here is a bowl that I did from wood that I spalted. I kept the log inside my shop, turned up on one end. I covered the top end of the log with sawdust and lathe curlies and saturated the wood shavings below and on top of the log section. I "watered" it once a week for a month and then just let it sit for 5 months. On the last part of the 6th month, I made the decision to turn the wood no matter what....and this is what I ended up with.

bowl.jpg

[Donny Lawson]

Walnut does not spault very well. You may get some lines but it will need to be placed in a semi damp place with shade and a temp above 70 degrees. Place it on its side and wait.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Lots of trees have a natural fungicide build in, so that they will not rot away easily, like Black Locust and Osage Orange Cedars and many tropicals.

Trees Like Walnut and Black Cherry heartwood will not spalt, while the sapwood does.

Trees with a high sugar content (Maple and Birch), and the Elm family plus the closely related Hackberries will readily spalt as does Beech.

So when trying to spalt wood, think about which type you choose, as some will do so readily while other are bound to fail.

[Brice Rogers]

Are the fungi able to create spalting on a finished piece?
She may have addressed that, but I had dificulty understanding her speech.

Yes.
Bill, replay the video and forward to the end where she shows the URL for their website. You can buy the fungi from them. Not cheap for a one-shot test. But she said that if you have the skill and technique, you can keep the fungi alive for your lifetime. Me? Probably not.

[Steve Nix]

These sweet gum bowls were harvested in mid March and turned in early June. Salting was achieved in 8 weeks. I use a 30 gallon plastic trash can w/lid or 30 gallon plastic drum covered with a placid garbage bag to spalted in. Place a couple of blocks, brick, packing peanut in the bottom,anything to elevate your blanks off the bottom of contained 4-5 inches keeping them out of the water. Stack your green blanks (with bark)in container, add 3-4 inches of water. I then throw in pieces of bark or small pieces limbs I pick up it the woods that have fungal growth on them. Cover the container and in about 8-10 weeks you should have spalted wood. Remove from container and rinse off and let dry. Lighter colored wood like sycamore, gum, pecan, birch,the only one I've used show better spalting.

[Russell Neyman]

Are the vials of "spalting juice" still available? How would I purchase some of it? It appears to have been taken off of the market, possibly for liability reasons?

[Reed Gray]

Russell, look up NW Spalting and Dr. Seri Robinson. That was her whole thing. She is at Oregon State U.

robo hippy

[Don Stephan]

If you want to know what was learned from decades of research, and how to spalt wood by intent and not by chance, buy the very readable booK Spalting 101 by Dr Seri Robinson.