Recently at a job site I’ve come across what looks like spalted white oak. The flooring person gave me a whole bunch of it because he didn’t want to install it on the floor. I’ve read a little bit about spalted maple. Does any one know if the fungus that affects the maple species could be the same that affects the oak species. Would spalted wood of any species be suitable for a Kitchen table top if it has a good lacquer or varnish on it.
Replies
White oak sapwood does spalt, but the heartwood is very rot resistant and I've never seen it spalt. When it does rot,it seems to be brown rot that it succumbs to. The spalted sapwood that I've encountered has been pretty punky, and I can't imagine using it for anything
BK,
I believe if the lumber has been kiln dried it will keep the spalt in check. And a film finish such as laquer or varnish should provide a good barrier between your food and the spalted wood,
Lee
Oh, it spalts. As a matter a fact it was the first spalted wood I ever worked with. Found a couple pieces out by the deer stand. Looks kinda cool.
-Ryan C.
your right it does look cool. I think it'll make a great looking round kitchen table top.
I had a great experience with spalted maple that worked out fine.
A neighbor had an old maple tree taken down and gave me a 10 foot section that was three feet in diameter. I covered it with a piece of plastic and left it outside for over a year. I eventually cut it into very rough boards with a chain saw. Some of it was quite spalted and I stored them in a very dry area for a little over a year with stickers between the boards. When the mousture got down to about 7% I ran them through my planer and made some great boards out of them. I made three tables from them for our school and three years later they are still in operation in spite of the hard usage.
The spalting gives them a unique appearance and doesn't seem to cause any problems.
Hope this helps -- Jigmaker
This stuff will end up being a kitchen table we've been needing for a while. And I never pass up free wood. Did you use some kind of jig attached to your chain saw, or just free hand it to mill up your rough stock? I've been thinking of trying some of my own harvesting on my parents property.
To BKmountain
I am aware tha jigs are available for chain sawing logs into boards but I didn't use one. Normally, I would have taken the log to a saw mill and had it cut and that's the way I would normally recommend it being done.
In my case, the log was too heavy to load it on to a truck without some heavy equipment so I carefully sawed it in place. I was careful to load it onto a homemaid wooden cradle using jacks and 2x4's as pry bars to lift it one end at a time. That way I didn't worry about hitting the ground with my chain saw.
First, I cut the right side lengthwise off the log then I did the same thing on the left side. Then, I rolled it over on a flat side and proceeded to slice the log into boards. You have to be careful to make as straight a cut as possible. To be sure I didn't get it too thin in places, I cut them much thicker than normal.I wasted a lot of wood in the process but it was free wood so I didn't cry (much).
The trick was in running the boards through my Delta thickness plainer because they were not very straight. After air drying for a year,I mounted a board on a sled which consisted of a 2x8 very straight flat board. I propped it up with wedges underneath. To hold it in place, I countersunk large screws through the ends of the board to be plained, into the sled. (I said countersink because I did not want to hit the screws with the planer knives.) Once I got one side planed flat, it was no problem turning the board over and cutting the other side flat.
I attached a straight board to one side of the finished thickened boards and ran them through my table saw to get a straight edge. the rest was a piece of cake. It was a lot of work but a challenge that was a lot of fun. Besides, at today's prices for lumber, I got hundreds of dollars worth of lumber for nothing axcept a lot of effort.
Have fun, Jigmaker
"Does any one know if the fungus that affects the maple species could be the same that affects the oak species."
There are a wide variety of fungi that decompose the complex carbon compounds in living and/or dead wood. Some are found only on softwoods; some only on hardwoods. Those on hardwoods might have a penchant for oak and others for maple. Some will go for both. Some degrade cellulose, some degrade lignin (brown rotters vs. white rotters). With an estimated 1.5 million species of fungi in the world, you need access to forensic mycology, otherwise it would be tough to determine which species of fungi are involved.
OK, I'll be quiet now.
RoyH
Here are a few photos of a cherry/spalted maple medicine cabinet we made last year. Finishing is a bit of a problem since the softer portions of the decayed wood soak up almost endless amounts of finish material causing the harder surfaces to build up quite a heavy film.
I just sawed up some spalted oak that was in the firewood pile to use as drawer fronts. It's gorgeous stuff.
tuol,
How 'bout posting a pic?
Sure, I occasionally borrow a digital camera from work. It might be a few days. The wood behaved very strangely. The log sat in a covered wood pile for 8 months and I sealed the end grain, but it already shows unusually long end splits. I may only end up with 18" wide drawer fronts! I too have read that the fungus spores released from such wood are not what you want to be breathing.
This is rough sawn, but still hints at plenty of character. It looks like the fungus must have been at its beginning, the bands are not as wide or widespread as some I've seen. Still, I have a nice stack of drawer fronts here. Maybe someone will confirm/dispute my identification for me. I'm no wood expert for sure. I've had Bruce Hoadley's "Identifying Wood" out of the library a few times. I just need another 20 years practice to figure out the details. I think some correction or reassurance would be a very helpful part of this learning process. Thanks.
Just be careful when working with it. The fungus that forms the spalt remains infectious and sensitizing. It can cause serious lung problems when inhaled. Wear masks and do not touch eyes, nose or mouth without careful hand washing.
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