[TheForge] aging wood, art/spalted wood

[Bob Ehrenberger]

Ron,

Glad to hear you are taking precautions.

My son would get a rash when sanding Cocobolo (sp?) he said that it felt 
like chili powder on his skin.

Robert Ehrenberger
Shelbyville, Mo.
eforge at centurytel.net


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Childers" <munlaw2 at hcsmail.com>
To: "'Bob Ehrenberger'" <eforge at centurytel.net>; "'Sponsored by ABANA'" 
<theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2007 2:55 PM
Subject: RE: [TheForge] aging wood, art/spalted wood


Robert,

Thankx for your admonission; I have a respirator for that kind of stuff-
Most "exotic" woods are toxic; some more than others. Also, horn, bone,
micarta and a host of other materials wreak havoc with your lungs. Any dust
is bad. Don't take the respirator off immediately after sanding because the
toxic material is still in the air. I also use a fan to blow it outside.

Some people are allergic to mahogany and china berry dust and smoke.

Ron C
-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Bob Ehrenberger
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2007 3:28 PM
To: theforge
Subject: RE: [TheForge] aging wood, art/spalted wood

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


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