Hello,
I recently got a piece of spalted maple that’s about 12 x 30 x 2 ¼, and has been air-drying for about 6 months. Most of it is sound wood, but one edge is heavily spalted and kind of punky. I’ve noticed that the wood in the punky area is starting to crack. Is this normal, and is there anything I can do to prevent it from getting worse? Should I get something to stabilize the wood in the punky areas? I plan to re-saw it into ½ inch slabs to make boxes with, and I wasn’t sure whether to wait until after it was re-sawed to use the wood stabilizer, or to use it before sawing. Also, how long do I need to let this dry before re-sawing it? I’ve always heard one year per inch, but then I’ve also heard spalted wood dries faster than regular lumber. Would it be okay to rip it into two 6 inch wide sections now, and would that help it to dry? I’ve always bought my lumber kiln dryed, so this is all new to me. Thanks.

George