I’ve spent a lot of time on this blog talking about white rot – the fungi that cause bleaching and zone lines on spalted wood.  What I haven’t talked much about, however, is white rot’s evil twin, brown rot.  Brown rot grows primarily on conifers, while white rot tends to prefer hardwoods.  However, when presented with no other option, brown rots will grow on hardwoods, especially in spalting tubs!

What does brown rot look like?  Brown rot decay on wood turns the wood brown (surprise surprise) and causes a cubical cracking. Unlike white rot, which turns the wood soft, brown rotted areas are crumbly to the touch, and cannot easily be stabilized.

One of the major benefits of controlled, indoor spalting is that you can completely prevent these fungi from colonizing your wood.  So how do you keep brown rot fungi out of your tubs?

1. Never pick any mushrooms that are growing on conifers.
2. Don’t spalt conifers, or if you must, keep your conifers in a different bin from your hardwoods
3. If you see any of your pieces developing a brown cubic cracking, remove all pieces from the bin and sterilize the bin immediately. If you’re lucky, it won’t be too late to save some of the pieces.

Brown rots can spoil the best laid spalting plans, so its important to always keep an eye out for them.  Below are a few photos of a bowl I recently finished.  It had only just begun to start its pink phase, when I discovered it had brown rot damage.  I had to pull the bowl immediately, even though I already had nearly a year invested in the bleaching, zone lines, and blue stain on the piece!

Seri

http://www.northernspalting.com

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

DeWalt 735X Planer

At high speed, the planer works fast and leaves a smooth surface. But the slower, finish speed produces an almost glass-smooth surface. Knife changes are easy.

Buy at Amazon

Ridgid R4331 Planer

Priced nearly $300 less than the DeWalt 735X, the Ridgid R4331 is an excellent value. Its three-knife cutterhead left wonderfully clean surfaces on plainsawn white oak and white pine. It did not perform nearly as well on curly maple as the 735X.

Buy at Amazon

AnchorSeal Log and Lumber End-Grain Sealer

Good for both sealing the end grain of freshly cut logs and boards, this wax prevents end-grain checking and saves material

Buy at Amazon