# Questions about Spalting



## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

I had some oak logs with no spalting at all. I put them in a corner with something that was spalted without realizing and the spalting transfered to my oak logs.

Question 1) I had the oak logs sealed with latex paint yet it still transferred. Is that common.

Update to this one. I no longer use the latex paint, I now use Anchor seal. Will it transfer through that.

Question 2) this one my son asked and I had no answer. How long will it continue to spalt? If I make a pen and finish it, that should stop any further change right?


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## mickit (Oct 5, 2009)

I'll be watching this...I piled up some hackberry(supposedly very spaltable wood) under my cedar tree. Cool, damp...all the requirements. just rotted. :furious:


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Spalting takes several things to create (I don't know them all and I'm not sure who REALLY DOES) BUT the main one is DAMPNESS:blink::laughing:. As with most molds and fungis they need WATER:thumbsup:.

IF you desire to keep a log long time period and don't want spalting...Seal it freshly after cutting and store it in the dry with good air circulation.

The transfer was due more to dampness than fungi. Kinda like termites.....no water source....NO TERMITES:no:.

Grades and stages of spalting. There's three stages (but I don't technically know them) and the spalt most are looking for is the blackness caused from stage one fighting stage two (someone had a great post either on here or woodweb) and stage three is the deterioating ??? /rotting.

Different species of wood "degrade" at different rates. Hackberry seems pretty fast from what I hear and read.

NOW, YOU ALL KNOW my spalting knowledge limit. I advise to find the great post on spalting (in depth) and have as much fun with it as I do. YES I've let some go TOOOOOOOO FAAAARRR, BUT that's a LEARNING CURVE:yes::laughing::shifty:.

Have a Awesome day in Jesus's Love,
Tim


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## ETWW (Mar 27, 2011)

(Spalting requires a moisture content >20%, warmth - 70 deg. F is optimum) and fungal spores. Any whole log will take years, if ever) before the MC drops enough to prevent spalting. Sealing the ends with anything helps hold the moisture in the log and will promote spalting. Inside your shop the temperature was probably close to optimum and the fungal spores needed were already present on the Oak log. They didn't necessarily transfer from the spalted piece. You breath in fungal spores with every breath, both inside and outside.

If you want to stop the spalting process, just dry the wood. That will require cutting the log open and into smaller pieces. Once the MC drops below 20% the spalting will cease, although it can resume if optimum conditions (moisture, temperature) are again introduced.

This site - http://www.northernspalting.com/ contains tons of info on spalting. Sara's blogs in FWW magazine also debunk lots of myth and misinformation regarding spalting and hazards associated with working spalted wood. It's worth reading purely for the educational value.


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

ETWW said:


> (Spalting requires a moisture content >20%, warmth - 70 deg. F is optimum) and fungal spores. Any whole log will take years, if ever) before the MC drops enough to prevent spalting. Sealing the ends with anything helps hold the moisture in the log and will promote spalting. *Inside your shop the temperature was probably close to optimum and the fungal spores needed were already present on the Oak log.* *They didn't necessarily transfer from the spalted piece. *You breath in fungal spores with every breath, both inside and outside.
> 
> If you want to stop the spalting process, just dry the wood. That will require cutting the log open and into smaller pieces. Once the MC drops below 20% the spalting will cease, although it can resume if optimum conditions (moisture, temperature) are again introduced.
> 
> This site - http://www.northernspalting.com/ contains tons of info on spalting. Sara's blogs in FWW magazine also debunk lots of myth and misinformation regarding spalting and hazards associated with working spalted wood. It's worth reading purely for the educational value.


Everything you said sounds good except the highlighted section. I had multiple pieces from the same tree and only the ones in that pile spalted the others in same room did not. Dunno but it sounds like it transferred to me.:laughing:


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## ETWW (Mar 27, 2011)

I didn't say that the spores didn't come from the spalted wood, what I said was _"They didn't necessarily transfer from the spalted piece."_

It's very possible that spores from the spalted piece caused the spalting on the Oak log, but it's not conclusive. 

There were undoubtably fungal spores already present on the Oak log since they are already present in the air. Whether those or ones from the spalted wood were responsible for the Oak spalting is neither discernable nor important.

The thing to keep in mind is that just about any hardwood can and will spalt if the right conditions are present. The spores are there, all they need is moisture and an acceptable temperature to start growing.

Sealing the ends of the log slows down moisture loss and helps prevent end-checks and splits. It's not a barrier to fungi, which is already present in and on the wood.


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## HomeBody (Nov 24, 2010)

I make gunstocks. I've never seen a stock made from spalted wood, at least that I can remember. Would it be possible to make one from spalted wood? Would it even be advisable? If anyone has a pic of a stock that is fit, finished, and spalted I would like to see it. Gary


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## ETWW (Mar 27, 2011)

A quick search led me to this site: http://www.thelumbershack.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=cEcommerce.dspProducts&CategoryID=1530

They are blanks, not fitted stocks but I assume he is selling them.

Spalted wood is weakened and usually not advisable for structural applications. I have no idea how well it performs in a gunstock.


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