Replies

1. 
   jazzdogg | Aug 30, 2005 07:13pm | #1

   Thanks for the link!

   -Jazzdogg-

   "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie

2. 
   bones | Aug 30, 2005 08:03pm | #2

   Cool information. I may try one of those.

1. 
   chills1994 | Aug 30, 2005 11:52pm | #3

   I heard over the weekend that hackberry spalts real easy.  Just fell the tree and let it sit for a while.  It is supposed to spalt faster than other woods.

1. 
   forestgirl | Aug 31, 2005 03:09am | #4

   "It [hackberry] is supposed to spalt faster than other woods."  Problem with that is, it might well rot faster than other woods too. :-(  I've seen "spalted alder" in one of the lumber stores here in the Puget Sound.  The line between spalted alder and rotten alder is extreeeeeeeeeeemly thin.

   Not trying to rain on your parade, or your spalting hackberry, LOL, just had that association enter my brain.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   chills1994 | Aug 31, 2005 10:19pm | #5

   No problemo FG.  I've seen other species in boards with spalt.  Seems like they all are kinda close to being punkey.

2. 
   mikegagne | Sep 03, 2005 09:53am | #7

   There is spalt and then there is "advanced spalt". There are epoxies that will firm up the sponginess in the advanced type and make them useable again. Super glue also works, no activator needed. I always use the term "advanced spalt" when a customer is listening, the color and line being so attractive to use in certain design situations. If you have access to tamarind, a citrus family hardwood that grows in Mexico and the Phillipines (as well as Hawaii), its spalted figure is quite beautiful. aloha, mike

2. 
   hitai | Sep 04, 2005 06:53am | #8

   A little experimentation is a good idea. IF you think about it, waiting for the spalt ( bacteria) to work its way into a log almost insures that some of the wood will be rotten before the patterns develop. Cutting the logs or branches to a "certain length" " (varies according to species / diameter/ season/ etc), Covering them with plastic, can get this to occur quicker and more uniformly. The trick then is to halt the process before the wood becomes unusable.
   Sawing it up and drying it out usually does this.You can also saw the wood, hard stack it green, wrap it in plastic and get the spalt to go pretty fast. You disrupt the growth by inspecting though, so you need several test boards/ stacks to check your progress. We have some downright unnattractive woods here ( HI) that can become stunning when treated right. the nice part about this is that you don't lose much if it goes bad. One of my favorites for this is avocado. Mike mentions the tamarind too. Old timers here in Kona would throw hunks into their water tanks / troughs for quite a while. This would produce gem quality spalting and the wood would still retain good structure.
   I'm going to spray a little dluted yoghurt on my next batch to see if things go faster. Who knows? maybe old beer would do it too. ??Aloha Tai

3. 
   robert1 | Sep 01, 2005 12:01am | #6

   Interesting article, thank you.