Induced spalting / fighting mold

[Nathan Clark]

Two or so weeks ago I picked up some Elm--a large hunk that had sat all winter. About a week or so ago I picked up a couple of bowl sized hunks of crabapple. I cut them from the base trunk of a tree that died a year or so ago. I had stored them both in a large Rubbermaid in my cool dry basement. I cracked the lid now and then (sometimes for days). I thought I saw mycilium and thought it would be cool if I got some mushrooms. So I continued to crack/remove the lid to let them breath and lose a little moisture from the container. Well I peered in today and noticed that this was not mushroom spawn but white mold mixed with a little green mold . So I mixed a bleach solution to kill off the surface mold. That is when I noticed what did not look like mold, but black streaks in the wood could this be spalting?

It's a whole lot of wood 3 large containers full. I'd hate to throw it all away. What do I do? If I just let the wood dry the wood will crack. If I keep it lidded, surely It will get pretty disgusting and become unusable, If i turn it now, I'll expose my house to mold.

[Roger Chandler]

if it is spalting.......sounds like it is.......if you are a turner..........you have a prize on your hands! Spalted wood is highly prized by turners and makes some beautiful things!

[Dan Hintz]

It's a whole lot of wood 3 large containers full. I'd hate to throw it all away. What do I do?

Give it to me, of course! There's nothing more terrifying to a turner than to hear about someone burning a nice piece of wood. Spalting is one of the best things you can do for show wood, along with letting the Ambrosia beetle have its way with the wood. Add in mineral staining, and you have a recipe for turner's to get all giddy.

[Dennis Ford]

You likely have some spalting. Putting wood inside plastic container (or wrapping with plastic) is a sure way to grow mold. Keeping the wood warm, damp and open to air is a good way to induce spalting.

If the spalting has started but not yet "right"; rough out some turnings and seal them with Anchorseal, store on a shelf. The spalting will continue for a while as the wood dries.

If the spalting is "right" or almost too much; turn to finish thickness and dry quickly before the wood gets too punky to work with.

[Lloyd Butler]

If it is not spalting, then the mold would be more surface and once you turn that off you will likely be clear of it. At worst on a light wood, it may have caused grey stains into the wood surface.

If there is a bit of grey stain, then these pieces become candidates for bleaching if you have some, or surface texturing to try and make it not stand out so much.

The wood itself should be fine, just may not be as clean as you might like.

Lloyd

[Nathan Clark]

Thanks guys, I'm happy about the spalting. I'm worried about the health hazards of the mold, and the possibility of it contaminating the rest of the house. Do spalting and Mold go hand in hand? Surley I don't want to turn this wood now as it will send spores flying throughout my basement.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Nathan how do you think the spores got on the wood ??, also you opened and closed the container a few times already, did you get sick or feel bad ?.

These spores are all around us, if they were not the world would not function as it is, I never worried about mold spores, and I have had spalting wood in my house and have turned it for years, no problem ever.

[Reed Gray]

I think spalting and mold both like fairly cool and damp, but they are not the same things. Best story about spalting I ever heard was from a turner in northern Washington, almost on the Canadian border. He would get Monkey puzzle tree pieces to spalt by putting them end grain down on his lawn for a week to 10 days. Worked really well. It is VERY wet and humid there even in the summer, which is our dry season.

robo hippy

[Nathan Clark]

Good point Leo, but we also have radiation around us everyday, but I won't go willingly exposing myself to it in large quantities. Mold is one of those things I don't understand, so I'm approaching it cautiously.