Introducing spalting?

[Bnew17]

I have some Red Maple, Hackberry, Magnolia, Cherry, etc on my property...probably the most and biggest are Red Maple. I do not see signs of spalting in any of the living trees. Is there a way to encourage or start the spalting process? I read somewhere that you could cut the tree down, cover it, and let it sit in log form. Just looking for someone with more knowledge because I do not want to waste the wood. Thanks

[Southside]

Spalting is akin to making cheese. The material is decomposing, we just choose when to stop the process. 

Yes you have to kill the wood and keep it damp enough for a good spalt. A wide open field in full sun and wind is too dry, lying in a mud puddle is too wet. Along the edge of a tree line or a log pile works well usually. 

[YellowHammer]

I've done it, cut them down, roll them into the woods on the leaves, every few months roll them a little like hot dogs so they don't all rot on the same side, and when you are pretty sure they are just about gone, then they are about right.  I normally can do it in a year.

Remember, spalt is the precursor to rot, so you are destroying the logs little by little.

[Bnew17]

Do you have to stabilize the wood in order to use it (after it is sawed and in slabs) or does the spalting process stop once it dries out?

[Southside]

It stops when the lumber is dry, now if it's a little too far gone you may have to do something to stabilize it say along the lines of an epoxy pour, but if it's really too far gone then it's worm food. 

[doc henderson]

after a few logs, you can put the new ones in the old spot to help.  maple is the easiest for me.

[JoshNZ]

This thread came to mind reading through this one. Not quite what you're doing but educational nevertheless.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=118855.0

[Larry]

I'm a wood turner and often turn spalted maple popcorn bowls for gifts.  To get the spalt I'll have a couple of maple logs laying at the edge of the woods.  The problem with this idea is the spalt starts on the outside and works its way to the pith.  It's rare that a log will spalt uniformly throughout the log.  Most common is the outside will have good color while towards the pith its just grey stain.  If the pith shows good color the outside is past prime and will be rotten.

By far the best spalt starts in the pith.  This can be found in standing live trees.  Look for split tops, woodpecker holes, and broken limbs.  The limb will decay allowing water to sit in a hole in the tree.  Trees that have been improperly pruned by the homeowner or power company are also great.

I just put a picture of maple lumber in the whatcha sawing thread that had great spalt that came from a tree that had both a split top and a couple of holes.

[Bnew17]

Thanks for all the advice.

Should i seal the ends when i cut it? I have some anchor seal.

[tmbrcruiser]

I don't know if I'm wasting my time but I've saved saw dust and shavings from the mill and shop. Once the pile got to 6'/7' tall I buried some maple and sycamore logs a few months ago. Thought I would leave them for 6 to 8 months, thru the summer. Has anyone tried this before?

[YellowHammer]

I know some people who really like the technique, but it was a bust for me, I must have done something wrong, other than burying a bunch of logs with sawdust, it seems pretty simple.  I tried it on a half dozen log batch, and it was a waste of time and space for about a year. :D  I grew a crop of mushrooms on the sawdust, but the logs didn't really do anything, but stay wet and just kind of sit there.  I also didn't like that I couldn't periodically inspect and roll the logs, as they were covered with wet sawdust.  There is a fine line between spalting and rot.

The biggest spalting stack I have done the hot dog roll technique was on a batch of 27 maple log, and would go out there once a month or so, and roll them 180 and look at them.  It worked out really well.  I'm not sure it was worth the effort and time, and it killed me to let that many logs I had paid good money sit there and basically rot. :D :D

I would say the first requirement of log spalting is to use free logs.

[tmbrcruiser]

+ 1 I've started out right with free logs. Not sure if it will make a difference but I made sure the pile was in direct sunlight and plan to pull the logs out this fall. Thank you for the feed back Robert, I'll let you know if I have any luck. 

[scsmith42]

The time of year that they are felled makes a difference too.  I've found that summer felled logs will spalt more quickly, and deeply, than winter felled ones.  You want to leave them directly in contact with the soil too for the fastest results.

If the spalting goes too far, the wood will get soft and punky.  You can stabilize it with a product from RTG called Wood Rot Repair.  It's basically a very thin epoxy (almost same viscosity as water) that penetrates deeply into the wood and stabilizes it.

One word of caution.... It's always wise to use a respirator when milling logs with a lot of spalt in them.  I've found that I will get sick unless I do so.

[doc henderson]

Maple often spalts before i can mill it.  I wonder if collecting the saw dust from spalted logs, and tossing that on and around the selected logs you want to spalt.  there are books on the subject.

Spalting - Wikipedia