I've read a few threads and looked at a few pictures that said the finished piece was made from spalted Maple. What is spalting? :eusa_thin
Will
Will
What is Spalted/Spalting?
- Thread starter Will Goodwin
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Wikipedia has the clinical description. Spalting is what makes you go "ooohhhhh" when you see it.
I love Wikipedia....should have looked there myself, but now the answer is out there for others to see....that is if they don't know already.
And Bas your use of the word clinical is apt. Definately a clinical definition...I like yours better.
Spalting ... things that make you go:jiggy:
Thanks guys.
Will
And Bas your use of the word clinical is apt. Definately a clinical definition...I like yours better.
Spalting ... things that make you go:jiggy:
Thanks guys.
Will
J
jeff...
It's a fancy way to say rotten... I think it is caused by various forms of mold and/or fungus. We turners just love the stuff.
Not rotten :slap: - there is a fine line between good and spalted and good and rotten. Actually it's just a matter of a few months time in the heat of the summer.
Some Spalted Elm Pepper Mill Blanks
Thanks
For what it's worth, I have heard the following about the origination of the word. I cannot confirm that it is 'true', but it goes like this . . . back when they were logging the mountains, the lumber would sometimes lie on the ground for a long time before it was actually brought down the mountain. The 'lumberjacks' working up there were typically not well educated and picked out the logs that were 'spoiled' from sitting too long...with thick accents, it sounded more like 'spalted'.
Anyway...if it's not true, at least it's an interesting story
oh...and...the lines are apparently barriers created by different mold colonies to keep the adjacent colony on their own turf
Chris
Anyway...if it's not true, at least it's an interesting story
oh...and...the lines are apparently barriers created by different mold colonies to keep the adjacent colony on their own turf
Chris
J
jeff...
Jerry that's one way to look at it. No doubt the end goal of the fungi is to decompose the wood.
Actually, the answer has been out there for a while. The scientific community has been on the spalting bandwagon for about 4 years now and managed to successfully induce, stimulate, and control the patterns. Its nice to finally have that information out of the tight academic community and in the hands of woodworkers, who actually use it.
The term 'spalting' actually has germanic roots. 'Spalt' means to split or cleave in German. There are compound German words such as 'der Spaltpilz', which means something akin to 'fission fungus'. I think the theory is that since the fungi seem to split the wood in the later stages of decay, and since the zone lines 'split up' the wood, that the term spalting actually came from the German word.
Which process? Inducing, controlling, machining? Narrow it down for me a little and I'll bombard you with information.
Seri
Great!...perhaps we should start at the beginning....inducing! I am most interested in inducing, but expect I will quickly become interesting in controlling...just a theory
Perhaps you can start a new thread to focus on that?OH...and especially if you can touch on the different 'colors', whether the color lasts. Outside of that, I, personally, would be most interested in creating the dramatic zone lines...no surprise there, eh?
Thanks!
Chris
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I had a nice new thread post up about inducing spalting, and somehow it disappeared. But fear not! I should be able to reconstruct it sometime today.
Odd...wonder what happened to it. I will be looking for your update today...thanks!
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