Spalted maple question

[MikeH]

Here is a picture of some spalted soft maple, its pretty rotted on light colored spots. I know were a bunch more is but dont know if anyone wants punky spalted maple.
Here is a picture of what I do with spalted sugar maple,but if I did it with the soft maple a fart may blow a hole in it.

[Sparty]

I gues that is why people pay a premium for spalted maple.  If it doesn't sit long enough, its just discolored maple.  Let it sit too long and its rotten.  It sounds like the stuff you have is too rotten to be good for anything....I don't know of any market for it.

[Burlkraft]

Nice bench Mike... ;D ;D ;D

[JimBuis]

There are probably some good pen blanks in there.  Spalted woods do tend to have some punky spots, but there's also some beautiful color left that is solid enough to turn.

Jim

[Robert Long]

Does anybody know the tricks to forming good spalted maple?

Like time, moisture, location of log and type of logs best used for spalting or is it always a shot in the dark or come by chance to aquire spalted logs

Robert ???

[dad2nine]

There are probably some good pen blanks in there.  Spalted woods do tend to have some punky spots, but there's also some beautiful color left that is solid enough to turn.

Jim

Jim - I have come across a very easy cheap way to stabilize those punky spalted pen blanks.

Pickled Pen Blanks

The guys turned out some nice pens.
My turn with the Secret Sauce...

Another secret sauce pen.


A "Secret Sauce" blank takes it's turn

The last special sauce blank and others

The] Spalt & Pepper compliment secret sauce :-)

Anyways if you want the ingredients, I'll be more than happy to share with you - You probably already have the ingredients in your shop. You can take a soft blank let it sit in the secret sauce for a few days under about 25 LBS of pressure, bring it out and let it dry for about 45 seconds and it stiffens up just like wood.

[dad2nine]

Here is a picture of some spalted soft maple, its pretty rotted on light colored spots. I know were a bunch more is but dont know if anyone wants punky spalted maple.
Here is a picture of what I do with spalted sugar maple,but if I did it with the soft maple a fart may blow a hole in it.

I would take that wood in a heart beat - PM me with your price.

Thanks

[ghilliehunt]

I like to give that sauce a try on a table top. dad2nine will you email it too me or send it?

[Robert Long]

dad2nine ;)
Ditto on that sauce....PLEASE!

I have a couple of logs cut that are just staring to be too soft but are showing great spalting and a pen or two made with that sauce would be so nice to have for all that cutting,storage, and milling of what appears to be junk.

Also, would this sauce work on turned bowls etc.?

E-Mail me if you wish to give recipe ;D

[pasbuild]

Can I bribe the sauce recipe out of you with a bunch of norther Michigan pen blanks ??? ???

[woodbill2]

I'd sure like to  have that secret sauce recipe too. I have some spalted maple that I would like to try it on. dad2nine can you send it to me or maybe post it here for everyone?

[Burlkraft]

That's what we ALL have been waiting for....Like any good food recipe....post it so we all can see.... ;D ;D ;D

[dad2nine]

Received a few emails and PMs regarding secret sauce recipe some of you even offered wood in exchange for the recipe which I thought was pretty cool jester but not necessary.

Here's what I know about the recipe (not created by me) but first remember I am not responsible for anything, use at your own risk. 

it's three parts acetone and one part plexiglas pieces (not the supper strong pleiglass but the old / original / single strength plexiglas). What I did is get a gallon sized glass pickle jar, dumped in 3 quarts of acetone and added on quart of small cut up plexiglas chunks and screwed the lid back on. over the course of a few days you'll notice a glob of plexiglas in the bottom of the jar, wait a few more days until the acetone eats all of the plexiglass and the sauce becomes somewhat thicker than water, this may take up to a week or longer depending on temperature. Want thicker sauce add more plexiglass need it thiner add more acetone, you just have to wait a few days for the sauce to equal out.

My first attempt kinda worked, read on... I took approx 20 punky wood microwave dry room temperature pen blanks (3/4sq x 6") and placed them in the gallon sized pickle jar with the sauce and screwed the lid back on. When they went in they started to fizz like the went in an acid bath. After a few days I took them out and let them air dry. Aectone evaporates pretty quick so in about a min or so they were dry on the out side. I sent some of these blanks to a few friends that make pens. They tested them and seemed happy with the workability but their were still a few small punky spots in the center of the blanks. Considering the wood was punky to begin with I was completely surprised they could turn it at all.

My second attempt worked much better and has been successfully repeated several times since then. I took the ball out of a grease fitting and bolted it to the top of the pickle jar (a couple of thin rubber washers made it air tight). Placed my microwave dry room temperature pen blanks in the jar of sauce, screwed the top on hooked up a brake caliper bleeder to the grease fitting and pumped the bleeder till I reach about 25lbs of pressure. I leave the blanks in the jar under about 25lbs of pressure for a few days and now the sauce gets all the way through the blanks.

When the acetone evaporates from the wood it leaves the plexiglas behind, which in turn hardens the wood. My understanding is that plexiglas is acrylic, the stuff they make fake womans finger nails from.  So what your left with is some wood that is tough as nails, well fingernails anyways. As an added benefit the wood is water proof  ;D. A couple of things to note: acetone pulls the oils from the wood, so when you work with a plexi / actone stablized piece of wood it's a little like working with packed dirt, you'll get more dust than chips from your tools. The dry blanks loose considerable weight and sands supper smooth, pens can be left unfinished but the guys I've been working with like to build up a thick CA finish.

I have not tried this with solid (not punky) wood, but I don't see why I would want to stabilize solid wood to begin with. Nor have I tried it with anything larger than a pen blank (3/4sq x 5 1/2") or with anything else other than punky spalted maple and sycamore.

Thanks

[Rockn H]

dad2nine, that sounds pretty sharp!
Another way to put some pressure to it would be to use a metal valve stem from a tire.  Then you could just use an air compressor to put a little pressure to it.

[metalspinner]

That recipe of your's sounds like it has real potential.  Dye could be added to color the wood, too.  For larger pieces, rough turning will reduce the amount of time and material used. 

The price of "stabalized" turning blanks is really high.  Thanks for sharing your idea. 8)

[dad2nine]

dad2nine, that sounds pretty sharp!
Another way to put some pressure to it would be to use a metal valve stem from a tire.  Then you could just use an air compressor to put a little pressure to it.

Rockn - I used the brake caliper bleeder to suck air out of the pickle jar creating a vacuum. Not to sure what pushing air into the jar would do - bad choice of word on my side thanks for the catch...

[Robert Long]

dad2nine

Thanks a lot for the recipe....I will be trying it out ASAP!

By the way......Is that name to mean what it says Dad to nine, how do you find the time for wood!

:D

Robert

[ghilliehunt]

Thanks for sharing this but guess it wouldn't work for a table top. I don't think I can put it in a pickle jar. :'( :D

[dad2nine]

dad2nine

Thanks a lot for the recipe....I will be trying it out ASAP!

By the way......Is that name to mean what it says Dad to nine, how do you find the time for wood!

:D

Robert

Yep I'm a Dad to Nine children, actually I think God wrote Gen 1:28 with me in mind, well the Be fruitful, and multiply part anyways.