[TheForge] aging wood, art/spalted wood

[Bob Ehrenberger]

Ron,

You need to be careful with spalded wood.  I knew a knife maker that got a 
bacteria in his lungs from sanding spalded wood.  It killed him, but it took 
a long time and it wasn't pretty.  He was going around at knife shows 
telling the other makers to stay away from the stuff.


Robert Ehrenberger
Shelbyville, Mo.
eforge at centurytel.net

----Original message----
Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2007 11:06:32 -0500
From: "Ron Childers" <munlaw2 at hcsmail.com>
Subject: RE: [TheForge] aging wood, art

There is a natural process known in wood turning circles as "spalting".
Minerals from the ground and mold, etc leech into the wood and discolor it
with different hues. Oak, hickory and pecan spalted wood is common around
here, but some woods don't spalt. The colors are quite striking. The trick
is to get it before rot, beetles and termites take over and destroy its
structural integrity. It can be stabilized and stained and used for handles
on old coffee mills, corn shellers, hand grinders and the like.

I cut down a dead oak for a friend and turned a bowl for him. The wood was
still sound but was very colorful.

I have an oak that has been in contact with the ground since last Feb. I'll
cut into it and see how it looks.

Ron C