controlled rot

[rhett]

I have been told that you can spalt oak by putting compost material on it and checking it monthly. My fairly reputable source also added I should pour some dark beer on it to speed up the process. Not being one to waste wood or beer I was wondering if anyone has ever tried or heard of this. I seems like it would work since spalting is a by product of rotting wood.

 

[DaveO]

I think that you put the compost material on it, or even just wet sawdust. And DRINK the dark beer :lol: :lol:

There are enough fungal spores in the air to innoculate it and the compost or wet sawdust just keeps them warm and moist.
Please don't waste the beer :eusa_pray

Dave

 

[NCPete]

Dave, it is rare you get things wrong, but clearly this is a solid case of it.

put the compost material on the subject wood, and GIVE ME the beer!

 

[jeff...]

Dave, it is rare you get things wrong, but clearly this is a solid case of it.

put the compost material on the subject wood, and GIVE ME the beer!

Beer and compost does work well to spalt logs, but one should consider a better use for beer, like drinking it :-D

 

[Toddler]

hmmm. Do you have to match the beer to the type of wood? Pilsner for Walnut, Ale for Maple, Lager for Oak??

Chocolate Oatmeal stout for Hickory?

Todd

 

[DaveO]

Actually the beer thing isn't too far fetched. The Malt and alcohol sugars will feed the fungi and the remnant yeast can provide somewhat of a starter culture. A dark beer would have more sugars and less acidness from the Hops than other beer styles.
I found this recipe for spalting -

[FONT=comic sans ms, helvetica, verdana,arial][SIZE=+3]Spalt Your Own[/SIZE][/FONT]
A Recipe for Creating Spalted Wood

Since the question of spalting comes up time and again, I will share a description of what I use when the natural ingredients aren't available.
A "brew" of some kind is required when the conditions for natural spalting do not exist. There are a lot of ways to induce spalting. Like everything else in woodturning, nothing is "tried and true". You will have to experiment. Some wood spalts. Some wood just rots. Others (cherry and walnut) don't do much of anything.
This spalting brew has everything necessary for almost anything to grow in any wood that wants to spalt. I have used it on maple, birch, beech, sweetgum, oak, alder, holly, and pecan.

• 1-qt water
• 2-scoops Miracle grow
• 2-cans beer, drink one and put th other in the spalting brew.
• 1-qt horse manure, doesn't have to be fresh, but the ammonia odor should still be present when it gets wet.
• 1-qt dried oak leaves

There is nothing sacred about any of the ingredients as long as we have the nitrogen, organics, ammonia, sugar, malt extracts, tannins, and leaf molds - everything necessary for all kinds of things to grow in the wood. The only additional ingredient is heat.
I have used packaged steer manure from the garden store and added a half cup of household ammonia. Don't use the sudsing type because it contains detergents which will kill the growth.
All leaves contain some amount of tannins, oak leaves contain more than others. I have used maple, alder, sweetgum, and apple leaves, but about 3 times more. Wood chips will not work because you need the leaf mold. You can use chunks of rotten wood to replace the leaves, but the spalting is different with more of an area discoloration than the lines we are looking for. The large black areas look good in oak, but not other wood.
Put the wood in a trash compactor bag (they are heavier than the others) when it is fresh cut and still wet. If the ends have dried, saw off a slice to open up the wet wood. It works better in wood cut in the spring when the sap is up and the free-water in the wood is at its highest. Apply a liberal amount of the brew on each end, and seal the bag.
Now we will need that last ingredient, warmth. Store the sealed wood indoors under an old electric blanket during the winter months when the outdoor daytime temperature is below 65-degrees. Otherwise, outside is fine.
Check it after 2 months. You will be looking for a black slimy mess on the wood, with things growing out of it. Mushrooms are good. Clean it up and split it in half if you can. If it isn't what you want, put the halves together and back in the sealed bag.
You can use chunks or shavings of spalted wood instead of the brew, but it takes forever, and sometimes doesn't start because it is dead. The brew is faster, more reliable, and gives better spalting (my opinion).
You could just seal the wet wood in the bag without adding anything, but some will spalt, and some won't.
And, when all of the ingredients are available in nature, then you don’t need a brew to start the process. Just throw the wood under a tree, let the grass grow up around it, and nature will take its course. Covering it with some leaves will help. Put something under it to get it off the ground, otherwise it will rot on that side.

http://www.woodcentral.com/russ/russ4.shtml

This was penned by Russ Fairfield.

Here's another bit of info:
www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/techline/producing-spalted-wood.pdf

More:
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Controlled_spalting.html

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Intentional_Spalting.html


Dave

 

[jeff...]

There is only one bad thing about cutting spalted logs - THEY FREAKING STINK BAD, REAL BAD. Then there is a race to get them drying as quick as possible. If you don't, spalting will continue in the lumber and will rot the lumber pretty quickly. Remember there is a fine line between good and spalted and good and rotten.

I got my eye on a few logs out at the log yard that have the potential to become some interesting spalted lumber. I havn't done anything like pour beer on them, I figure if they are going to spalt they'll do it on there own without my help. Plus why would I want to waste perfectly good beer?

Just my two cent's

 

[LeftyTom]

I will post this recipe on a guitar forum I frequent. A few forumites build their own guitars, with a few doing their own woodwork.

 

[DavidF]

I have been told that you can spalt oak by putting compost material on it and checking it monthly. My fairly reputable source also added I should pour some dark beer on it to speed up the process. Not being one to waste wood or beer I was wondering if anyone has ever tried or heard of this. I seems like it would work since spalting is a by product of rotting wood.

Use any of the Bud or Coors products, it's no good for drinking anyway..:lol: :lol:

 

[Toddler]

:lol: :lol: I think somebody has to try this with both an ale and beer, to see if the two yeasts do anything differently. . . You could wind up with a maple pilsner cigar box and a sweetgum ale end table to put it on, with your remaining beer of course . . .

I may have to try this when I get back next week. Thanks for the info,

Todd

 

[4yanks]

Use any of the Bud or Coors products, it's no good for drinking anyway..:lol: :lol:

Here, here.

 

[rhett]

Glad I asked. My fatal flaw would have been using already dry wood. I guess I will just drink the beer until I get some green lumber.

 

[rhett]

Use any of the Bud or Coors products, it's no good for drinking anyway..:lol: :lol:

I think a water hose would be as effective as the two.

 

[NCPete]

Use any of the Bud or Coors products, it's no good for drinking anyway..:lol: :lol:

amen!