Arizona spalted

I've lived in Arizona since 1973, and noticed we don't get very much mold, unless we make conditions that would support it. Whenever I would go back east, I would immediately notice the smell of mold. So, I never thought I would ever see any native Arizona woods with spalting in it. I found a Palo Verde stump that someone removed from their yard, and dumped it in the desert.. I found it, and here is the results from one of the pieces I got from it. It's a Palo Verde lidded bowl/box 5 1/2" tall at the finial, 6" od at the lid, 5 11/16" od at the top of the bowl with 1/4" walls and bottom. The bowl is 2 9/16" tall with a small foot. The finial is Ironwood..... To stabilized the bowl and lid they were vacuumed in laquer sanding sealer for about 10 minutes and left in the liquid overnight. There were no tearouts at all, which surprised me because my knickname should be "Tearout". C&C welcomed..... Jerry (in Tucson) PS, this is the last one for awhile....






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very nice, Jerry, pretty wood and well done

are you going out of town for awhile?

Jerry, don't guess I every really considered the lack of spalting there! You lucked out with this piece, or so it would appear. Is this truly spalting, or is it natural coloration? Sure looks like spalting, but whatever it is it certainly made a very nice lidded dish.

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Originally Posted by charlie knighton

very nice, Jerry, pretty wood and well done

are you going out of town for awhile??

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Charlie, I certainly will be out of town soon. I'll be 15 miles south of Yellville, Arkansas from the 4th through the 6th of May for the Water Creek Knapin. Would love to meet up with you if you could make it and it would certainly be worthwwile for you.
I would need to know what I need to load, rocks or wood..... And, it's a lot easier than sneaking into Tucson and raiding my wood stash. Besides, Debbie is armed and dangerous.... .....hehehehe ......... Jerry (in Tucson)

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Originally Posted by John Keeton

Jerry, don't guess I every really considered the lack of spalting there! You lucked out with this piece, or so it would appear. Is this truly spalting, or is it natural coloration? Sure looks like spalting, but whatever it is it certainly made a very nice lidded dish.

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John, it really is spalting. Until I stabilized it, I was getting some pretty bad tearouts and there were a lot of soft spots.
Ask anyone here in Arizona about Palo Verde. It is a very bland (no character normally) trash wood you can't even burn as the smell is pretty much like burning ironwood... It's also a pretty abrasive wood as I'm doing a couple more pieces with green PV, and I'm continually sharpening my gouges again and again........ It's like there is no temper in them, and one is a Thompson.... The gouges keep their edge on most woods, other that that bowl and plate I just posted.
The finish on the piece is shellac (sp?). ...... Jerry

Great job on the spalting Jerry! Beautiful coloring!

beautiful wood ... with the cover I would follow the curve of the base but it's just a personal preference ..;) sorry for my bad English .. :(

Very nice jerry, as is everything you do. Did it have that musty smell when you turned it? My BIL likes to use it for firewood and boyohboy does it have a musty smell.

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Would love to meet up with you if you could make it and it would certainly be worthwwile for you.
I would need to know what I need to load, rocks or wood..... And, it's a lot easier than sneaking into Tucson and raiding my wood stash. Besides, Debbie is armed and dangerous.... .....hehehehe ......... Jerry (in Tucson)

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Jerry, would like to go but have budget constraints, plan to visit my sister next month, but thats free bed and board, saving for tampa '13 now, thanks for the invite

if you could post some pictures in the off topic forum, thanks

Very nice form and wood and desert spalted! spalt sometimes will dull good tools (Glasers) like crazy--wierd!!------old forester

I agree with Francesco, my preference would be to make the lid smaller so it's diameter was the same as the base, which would give one continuous curve. I'd love to get my hands on any wood with that much spalting.

Jerry,

that is a really neat piece of wood, and a really nice piece.

Alan

That is some cool wood and really nice box Jerry.