Seal or not - trying to increase spalting

[ZMan]

I am confused - I have 6 Maple logs that I am trying to increase the spalting in. I put them in bags and covered with moist sawdust per the directions I found on the web.

But, standard procedure to prevent checking is to debark and seal the ends.

Would sealing the ends defeat the attempt to increase the spalting?

Bob

[D L Ames]

ZMan, I am sure someone more knowledgable than me will chime in soon on to give you the answer you seek because I have zero experience in this process.

I have read about the same technique you mentioned in your post and agree it does sound confusing on whether debarking and sealing would be required. I know that you want to do both of these when drying wood but maybe it is not required with this technique since you have added moisture into the process which will slow the drying process and limit the amount of checking. I would assume that once you reach the level of spalting you want then you would have to stop the spalting process to prevent further decay. I am guessing that would be the time to seal the ends.

Like the ZMan, I would be interested in hearing how this process is supposed to be done. Can anyone chime in here with some advice?

D L

[DaveO]

I have never done any spalting procceses, but I would agree with D L. Most of the spalted "found" wood I've seen has been in firewood piles and it isn't sealed. Insomniac had a nice pile of logs spalting at his shop and they were just lying there on the ground (I don't know if he was intentional trying to spalt them, or just didn't take care of some of his turning wood). I believe he bandsawed some of them into boards and is now allowing them to dry enough to be used. So I would vote for not sealed, but sealed after cutting in boards, or just turned green. Dave

[D L Ames]

ZMan, here is a photo of the spalted wood Insomniac posted that Dave was referring to. These just came off of his new bandsaw and he only has them stickered in this photo. Hopefully Insom will let us know if he plans to seal the ends and maybe even give us a status on the current moisture content and updates occasionally.

D L

[Monty]

Hey, that looks familiar!!! DaveO spotted my stockpile of turning wood outside my shop. The wood is stacked up just like you would stack a cord of firewood - although almost all of it is end-grain sealed. I left a few pieces on the ground, and some with no end-grain sealer, just to experiment a little. That piece in the picture was in the stack WITH end-grain sealer, IIRC. When I cut it up, I just left it as-is, with scraps in between for stickers. It's still sitting on that counter, and is drying pretty well!

I turn something out of that stack everytime I get the bug. Maybe I'll get the ol' lathe going again soon...

Anyway, I've read about techniques for accelerating the spalting process also, and I always figured I would try that out some day. The reality is, though, that if you procrastinate as long as I do trying out something new, you'll find that the wood spalts itself quite nicely!!!



... one of these days, I'm gonna stop procrastinating!

[sapwood]

Well my approach is 100 percent nonscientific
So I'm very interested in Insom's progress and additional posts. I've got lots of firewood logs lying around (uncovered) that I occasionally look over and test on the bandsaw. It's easy, but only works about 10% of the time Most commonly the wood is rotten

But the occasional success is worth it




Sapwood

[Phillip]

bob, i would try not sealing the ends. if they're wrapped checking should be minimal. i've got some small pieces of beech, wrapped but not sealed, one has bizarre stuff all over it, the other has nothing at all, and no checking on either. they are halves of a small log, been wrapped about 3 months. let us know how it goes.

phillip