how to prevent furthur decay in spalted maple

[ronald mccormack]

Hi everyone, I thought id post this here because you guys seem to have the most experience with working green lumber in small log chunks. anyway i woke up thus morning and the city guys work chopping down my naighbors damaged mapple tree and I just new that stuff was spalted so i went on over and they kindly dunmped it all in my yard.
I saw an ant colony living there, and i think the rest of the damage was wood peckers but sure enough theres alot of good spalted mapple there. so what do i do now, most of the sections are only 2 feet long so there pretty small. I know with boards i would sticker it under cover for some time but my worry is the ants i saw and id like the prevent any further decay. I live in new york if that makes a difference weather wise. I do not have a kiln, but i have a barn were i could stash it. I dont turn much, i mostly build furniture so i would like to get it dry somehow, should i leave it in logs or cut slabs on my bandsaw. my intention is to use it for boxes and such and i know i can turn it green. thanks for any help you can offer.

[Reed Gray]

I would cut slabs and sticker them for drying. Moisture in the wood will let the spalting continue. As soon as it starts to dry, the spalting stops.

robo hippy

[robert baccus]

Bengal spray is death to ants and roaches ect.

[daryl moses]

I would slab, sticker, coat the ends with anchorseal or something similar. I make my own concoction using paraffin and a couple more ingredients.
Keep it in a covered area until dry.
And spray with something to kill those ants.

[Reed Gray]

A citrus oil like orange will get rid of ants too, but mostly their nest has been disturbed, and they don't want anything to do with the wood any more.

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

Ronald, my experience is the ants will leave when thier home is destroyed so unless you have a chunk with a big hollow with the nest, they will be gone. However, you might not want them to relocate into your yard so ant killer might be appropriate. As someone mentioned, the spalting will stop as the wood drys.

Unless I plan to turn big chunks green, I always cut up the rounds into smaller pieces with a bandsaw. If the rounds are large I cut them in half first with my sawmill or with a chainsaw, then use a shop bandsaw.

Cutting them up will do three things: One, help prevent major splitting form shrinkage stresses as the round dries. (If there are already splits starting, cut lengthways along the largest cracks first.) Two, cutting into smaller pieces will let them dry much quicker which will not happen if left in the round. Third, air drying as soon as possible may retard an ugly grey stain which may develop, especially in warmer weather, and perhaps more likely if this is the softer red or silver maple.

Chunks intended for large or natural-edged bowls still need to be sealed immediately and cut into at least half to minimize splitting.

Since I mostly turn spindles and smaller things, I like to cut into a variety of turning squares and immediately seal both ends (or more if burl). I imagine what they might be good for as I cut, usually making blanks from 1" to 4-6" square. I let these air dry for years before using. If as I cut I discover the spalting is relatively coarse with fairly widely spaced dark lines, I make larger blanks.

I sometimes slice rounds into fairly thin boards for making boxes and such. Sticker and weight the stack. Small stacks might be clamped instead od weighted. Wire and wedges work well for small stacks. The thin boards dry very quickly!

JKJ

[ronald mccormack]

thanks for all the replies. I started working with it today, debarking and sealing and i noticed all the heavily spalted areas are way to punky, they just pull apart into fibers. like really good pulled pork. so im left with sections of sound timber with just a hint of spalting and rotten logs. is there a way to encourage the sounder timbers to spalt through without over rotting?

[ronald mccormack]

I forgot to ask: Is there any danger of bugs being transfered to my shop if i take this stuff up and cut it on the bandsaw then stack it in the barn. It would only be inside a short period but sawdust will be getting wiped around. im concerend because i have large stores of dry hardwoods in my shop that i dont want infected with whatyevers in there. the ants seem to be limited to only two pieces so far but peeling bark ive come across an assortment of other stuff. also should the bark come right of at this time in new york.

[Reed Gray]

Well, bugs are a problem always, and I would store it else where till dry to see what is living in it. I know there are a couple of Borax powder type things to spread around that will kill just about any bug, but don't know for sure.

For spalting, http://www.northernspalting.com/about-me/ Every thing you thought you ever knew and then some. Sara Robinson is Dr. Spalt.

robo hippy