Spalted Maple Bowl

[Curt Fuller]

This is my first success at getting wood to spalt. This is silver maple with a little birdseye marking. I cut it a year ago and have had it in a bag with dirt, leaves, miracle grow, and a few horse biscuits. The bowl is 13" x 4.5" with a little rim design and an ogee shaped top edge. AO finish

[David Wilhelm]

Nice colors. You had this bagged for a year? May I ask in what temp you kept it? I see your location just wondering if you kept it warm. Great job of spalting.

[John Devost]

Hi Curt, great work on the bowl and I'm also interested in hearing more about your 'spalting' technique?

[Curt Fuller]

I've always loved the look of spalted woods. In some wetter climates wood will spalt just by leaving it lying on the ground. But here in Utah it's so dry that it doesn't seem to spalt. I had read several recipes for forcing wood to spalt so I combined a little of each. This was cut into a round bowl blank and then I just threw it in a black garbage bag with some dirt, a bunch of half rotted leaves, a few of the neighbor's horses biscuits, and about a cup of liquid miracle grow fertilizer. I left the bag sealed up in my yard shed from May last year until March this year. The wood was all slimey and had all kinds of mold growing on it. I washed it off, roughed the bowl, soaked it in DNA for a couple days and bagged it for about a month, and this was the result when I finished turning it. I have a couple other pieces still in the bag that I haven't checked out yet.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking bowl and wood Curt. Thanks for the info on spalting.

[David Newson]

Curt - Good looking bowl and spalting is good.

I've also heard yogurt spread on the wood also works, not tried myself though, also grass cuttings sealed in a polythene bag with the wood, both these ideas are of the web, I'm sure their must be several ways some not even thought of yet!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Great looking bowl Curt! Beautiful wood - well worth the wait! Nice detail work on the rim area! Looking forward to seeing your next spalted piece!

[Glenn Hodges]

Curt, looks great. I can't get over people trying to get wood to spalt. Down here I try to keep it from spalting. I throw it outside and with all the humidity it will spalt in no time, and then it will be rotten.

[Tom Keen]

Your spalting technique really produced. The bowl has great form. The simple lines of the bowl are contrasted nicely with the rim treatment..very nice

TFS
Tom