Replies

1. 
   JohnWW | Mar 10, 2006 02:36am | #1

   Unless the spalting has progressed to the point that the wood is punky, it will act just like unspalted wood, so you should design the piece to allow for seasonal expansion and contraction.

   John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine

2. 
   booch | Mar 11, 2006 10:17pm | #2

   The answer first:Minwax has a product that is like a pint of gasoline (actually something else) that you pour on the wood to make it less punky. Look for it in a specialty hardware / paint store I think I found it at my larger Ace Hdwe. It looks like the std brake fluid canister in metal except it is yellow. It pours right onto and into the wood. You keep on reapplying it until it pools on your final application.

   By my definition spalted maple is bound to have punk in it. Plus the black lines are "fault" lines by my definition. They will split ever so slightly.the mold that make the black is attacking the weakest point in the grain structure. Beauty & frailty.

   I have built a dressing table with top and bottom boards made from spalted maple. It is beautiful but it would be too soft for use and the wood wouldn't have held up unless I used that product. The glueup was almost 24 inches wide by the 40 inches long. You need to let it acclimate to your shop before doing much of an assembly.

   As the other responser said, if it isn't punky it should be the same as other wood. (between the lines read 24 inches has a LOT of expansion & contraction. roughly 1/8" per foot normally so you have a moving piece there.) It'll cost you 15 to 20 bucks for a couple of cans but it sets the wood as stable as a plywood.

   Jack of all trades and master of none - you got a problem with that?
1. 
   fishman | Mar 12, 2006 02:44am | #3

   Thanks for the reply ,I'll will definetly lookinto the (gas)...I take it  it is a clear application and adds no color??? I was going to use waterlox as a finish ..thanks again art

1. 
   booch | Mar 12, 2006 08:45am | #4

   If anything it is slightly yellow. Most likely it is just wet. Not much of a change. frankly it livens up the silvery grey color of the wood.

    Jack of all trades and master of none - you got a problem with that?