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John Grace

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Mold vs Spalting?
Jun 3^rd, 2017 at 12:24pm

I just prepped some beautiful slabs of highly spalted maple and have begun my 'first' turning of them. A couple of the pieces seem to have what appears to 'mold' speckling through the pieces. Does this make the wood 'bad' as a future user piece or will this simply dry out and become inert? I'd hate to lose this beautiful wood but thought I'd check first with those who possibly have dealt with this previously.

Thanks as always...John

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Ed Weber

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Re: Mold vs Spalting?
Reply #1 - Jun 3^rd, 2017 at 12:46pm

Without getting into what determines a mold vs. a fungus and how spalting is caused.
"Typically" the wood requires a relatively high (in the 25% range) moisture content.
Once deprived of moisture these molds and fungi will die and not progress any further.
Without knowing what exactly your dealing with, it's hard to say.

If you have the ability (time) I would suggest monitoring it for grow or spread, hopefully there is none.

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Mike Mills

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Re: Mold vs Spalting?
Reply #2 - Jun 3^rd, 2017 at 3:25pm

I agree with Ed, once dry it should stop and not hurt anything. If it is interior I would suspect spalt not mold.
This is Seri's facebook page (Dr. Spalt). There are also websites and lots of articles by her on spalting as well as several turning club presentations on youtube.
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John Grace WR Addict Offline Everyone needs a good wingman... Posts: 1,278 Bel Air Maryland USA	Re: Mold vs Spalting? Reply #3 - Jun 3^rd, 2017 at 3:57pm As always...thanks guys. I've rough turned two pieces with one sealed and the other bagged...we'll see what happens in four or so months.
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Don Stephan WR Addict Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 2,659 Cincinnati, Ohio Ohio USA Gender:	Re: Mold vs Spalting? Reply #4 - Jun 3^rd, 2017 at 5:20pm "Bagged" - plastic or paper? If plastic I would expect mold to grow willy nilly.
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Ed Weber WR Administrator WR Patron Offline Posts: 8,939 Wilton California USA Gender: JET 1642 Grizzly G0584	Re: Mold vs Spalting? Reply #5 - Jun 3^rd, 2017 at 7:11pm Don Stephan wrote on Jun 3^rd, 2017 at 5:20pm: willy nilly. I would have thought helter skelter,
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John Grace WR Addict Offline Everyone needs a good wingman... Posts: 1,278 Bel Air Maryland USA	Re: Mold vs Spalting? Reply #6 - Jun 3^rd, 2017 at 7:40pm Brown paper grocery bag...I typically place the piece in the bag and then cover the piece with shavings. Tape the entire bag shut with the date and type of wood. I've had pretty good success with this method and will typically wait three to four months before finish turning.
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Tom Coghill

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Re: Mold vs Spalting?
Reply #7 - Jun 5^th, 2017 at 3:12pm

I agree:

When I cover green wood with plastic - it will mold. (looking like the photo below, sometimes black)
When I cover green wood with sealer - it does not mold.
When I cover green wood in only paper (3 wraps of brown shipping paper) it does not mold, but it has a higher chance of cracking (because it is drying faster).
When I cover green wood with its own shavings and put that into brown paper wrapping, I find that I get mold about 30% of the time.

These are my observations, nothing scientific about it.. so take these as just my $0.02

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robert baccus Full Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 67 Gender:	Re: Mold vs Spalting? Reply #8 - Jun 5^th, 2017 at 9:36pm Roger that Tom---spot on.
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Ron Rutter Junior Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 30 Port Alberni BC British Columbia Canada Gender: general 25m1 200	Re: Mold vs Spalting? Reply #9 - Jun 5^th, 2017 at 11:37pm I have done a lot of spalted maple & have not have a cracking problem. I did all to finish at the same time. The tree is basically dead. Do it in one stage & save yourself some time & trouble!!
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Don Stephan

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Re: Mold vs Spalting?
Reply #10 - Jun 6^th, 2017 at 6:51pm

Ron

My impression is that the majority of participants here twice turn bowls, but I've always made once turned. I expect that even though the tree you are turning was dead, the moisture content still was high, especially if there were no checks and cracks under the bark. At best in my area (Cincinnati) air dried wood probably goes no lower than about 12% outdoors, but should reach equilibrium at around 7% after several months in a conditioned space.

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Ron Rutter Junior Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 30 Port Alberni BC British Columbia Canada Gender: general 25m1 200	Re: Mold vs Spalting? Reply #11 - Jun 9^th, 2017 at 12:43am Don. Surprisingly the wood was not that wet. It had a lot of solid wood but had been attacked by vines & mushroom/mycelium. It was very stable. A small portion was too punky.
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Steve Doerr WR Addict Offline Wood is one of God's hidden /> /> canvases. Posts: 837 Joplin Missouri USA Gender: Rikon 70-050VS Jet 1642 EVS 2HP Robust American Beauty	Re: Mold vs Spalting? Reply #12 - Jun 10^th, 2017 at 11:27am I have also found that if I include wet shavings from the wood, with the turning in a brown paper bag that I will get mildew. Once mildew is in the wood, it is impossible to get it out. Kind of like trying to get black mold out of your house
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Breck Whitworth

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Re: Mold vs Spalting?
Reply #13 - Jun 11^th, 2017 at 6:28pm

Yes I agree over the years I have found what works the best for my area where high humidity is an every day thing. I never use green shavings anymore because they tend to cause different molds to grow. I coat my green turned bowls with anchor seal then wrap in brown packing paper for a month or so then remove the paper and put them on a higher shelf to finish drying. The paper does help to slow down the drying pace. The bowl will lose the majority of it's water the 1st month or so then slow drying will occur better without the extra layer of paper. Following these methods I never have mold period or spalting unless it had already started before sealing. Thumbs Up

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Steve Nicholson

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Re: Mold vs Spalting?
Reply #14 - Jun 27^th, 2017 at 9:56am

Wood is wet and if you store it in a cool dry place with no air circulation it will mold. I turn a lot of spalted maple and myrtle wood, splatting is the beginning to decay; creates the color which varies by specie. If the spalting has gone too far and the wood is soft I use a hardener after rough turning and sanding. Wear a mask.

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