| In the early stages of a project when you're just | | | | handy, you'll be glad to hear that creating your own |
| starting to consider materials, do you ever find | | | | spalted wood isn't a difficult process. Read |
| yourself thinking, "Hmm, I bet a nice piece of rotten | | | | "Intentional Spalting" from the Woodweb Knowledge |
| maple would be just about right"? If you're a | | | | Base for great discussion of various methods for |
| woodturner, or any woodworker who's interested in | | | | encouraging and controlling the spalting process. |
| exploring the visually exotic, you might. You'd be | | | | "Producing Spalted Wood", published by the Forest |
| thinking about the unique figures and patterns that | | | | Service's Forest Products Laboratory and available at |
| occur only in "spalted" wood. Highly prized for its | | | | their website, offers a good overview and includes |
| remarkable colors and patterns, spalted wood is | | | | more technical information on the types of fungus |
| readily available and can produce spectacular results, | | | | involved in the process. |
| especially when it is turned on a lathe. | | | | One thing to watch out for, whether your find |
| Is spalted wood really rotten? Not exactly, but it's on | | | | spalted wood in nature or oversee the spalting |
| its way. Spalting occurs in an early stage of the | | | | yourself, is sections of the wood that have gone a |
| decay process, when various colonies of fungi stake | | | | little too far along in the decay process and have |
| their claims to a piece of fallen wood. The | | | | become mushy. In some cases, the only course of |
| characteristic blue-black lines that run through spalted | | | | action is to throw the wood away. But if the piece |
| wood actually represent the lines of demarcation | | | | isn't too far gone, it is possible to strengthen it with a |
| between incompatible colonies of micro-organisms. | | | | wood hardener. Wood hardeners come in two |
| But the specific biological facts aren't what interest | | | | varieties: there is a one-part pour on type and a very |
| most woodworkers in spalted wood, it's the fact | | | | thin two part epoxy type. Either will work, but many |
| that nothing else looks quite like it. | | | | experienced turners prefer the epoxy variety. |
| Many hardwoods spalt, but maple is perhaps the | | | | In some cases you'll find that the spalting is just on |
| most common variety used in woodworking projects. | | | | the edge of making the wood too soft to work with. |
| One way to get your hands on some - obviously - is | | | | For projects where a great deal of strength is not |
| to go on a field trip to a wooded area where spalting | | | | required - such as turned platters or bowls that you |
| species grow and gather your own naturally occurring | | | | actually intend to use - you can simply work with |
| specimens. You can also give Mother Nature a hand | | | | borderline-soft spalted pieces as you would any other |
| and "spalt your own". Either way, it helps to have a | | | | material. When you finish it though, be sure to avoid |
| little background information. Fortunately, there's no | | | | finishes that will penetrate and greatly darken the |
| shortage of information on spalted wood, how to | | | | color of the softer areas, such as Danish oil or boiled |
| work with it, and how to make it. Here are two | | | | linseed oil. A couple of thin coats of wax or a few |
| excellent resources: | | | | very thin coats of shellac without seriously |
| If you don't happen to have a hardwood forest | | | | compromising nature's beautiful handywork. |