# Questions about spalted wood



## lizardlady (Feb 9, 2012)

Say I run into some spalted downed trees "in the wild". Powderpost beetles (I always want to call them powder puff beetles), termites, generally nasty on the outside but good firm wood somewhere in there. I guess I will have to chain saw it up in logs I can carry, load it in the truck, then.... now what? If I stack & sticker the logs they will keep cooking & maybe just rot away. If I bring it in the house.... I just can't see bringing termites in the house with carte blanche. I've read that borates take care of the insect & rot problems. I think Borax is sodium borate. Do ya just make up a solution & soak/spray the logs? Scrape em first? I WOULD like to eventually bring them into the house to dry, but not with wood bugs. Most of my house is panelled in 60+yr old mahogany... no wood bugs, please. What do you use to cut that stuff up? You keep special equipment just for really dirty stuff like that? Axe? Hand saws? Table saw? Band saw? We are not talking about big stuff like you guys normally discuss here. At least not until I can figure out how to get them in my truck :i_dunno: Getting past all that, how do you stabilize the spalted stuff, & at what stage? Thanks, if you can help me. Hope you don't mind if I pick your brains.


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## Mike1950 (Feb 9, 2012)

I have tried the borate(boracare) and after 2 applications I did what I should have done in the first place- I turned the buggy walnut into firewood-no more bugs................ Not worth the risk. Cook them in a kiln or fire.:diablo:


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## Daren (Feb 9, 2012)

I'll take a shot at this, in no particular order: Yes they do make products like Timbor and Bora-Care to kill bugs/fungus.(which we have one opinion on already) Spalting will stop once wood reaches a low enough moisture content, it needs water to live. So once processed into lumber and even air dried outside it will not just rot away.

The first step of processing a potentially ''buggy'' log is to remove the bark, leave that in the woods where you found it, don't drag it home with you. Some species the bark comes off easy...others its very difficult. But under the bark is where most of the bugs like to hide.

To make ''lumber'' or something like it from a log the ways you mention will work. Some use a chainsaw to mill with, as well as shop tools like the table saw or bandsaw, all methods have inherent safety concerns . Or go oldschool and rive it, the primary processing could be done right where the log lays making for smaller chunks to carry off.

As far as stabilizing, depending on how far gone the wood is that may not be a concern. Some spalted wood is just fine to use as is, and well, other wood may be a pile a mush. Spalting can be a crapshoot that way.

I'm pretty sure that is just a partial answer to your complex question(s). I am just ''passing through'' right now and banged out something real quick. Hopefully others will chime in with more advice.


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## Mike1950 (Feb 9, 2012)

I should have specified my bugs-powder post beetles were in rough sawn walnut. Boracare reduced poulation but did not kill all of them.


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## Daren (Feb 9, 2012)

Yea heat (a kiln) is the only sure way to get all those lil suckers.


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## lizardlady (Feb 9, 2012)

Just spent hours researching riving, urban lumber co, & local woodworker guilds. There actually IS a guild near me! Have found a couple porta mill guys within 75 mi of me (or so). I am in Northern Indiana (close to your old home, Chicagy) east of Gary, in a quiet little berg called Chesterton, right on the S tip of Lake Michigan. Thank you ALL for your excellent help & advise. I really appreciate you all taking the time. Maybe I should have made my initial post a bit clearer. I live in the middle of an approx. 20 acre woods. The downed trees get in the way of my mushroom hunting, lol. I just thought since it was all around me, I better start checking out some of those nasty rotting trees that seem to be everywhere. Couple years ago the city took some frontage from me to put in sidewalks & a big ol "welcome to" sign. One of the conditions of the forced sale was to stack the larger trees (sans branches) for later milling. They did, most of it is silver maple, I think. Anyway, maybe I'll have something interesting, down the road. I know many of you are not interested in common stuff, anymore, but it is pretty cool to me!
Daren, I thought your wood dryer was just a dryer not a heat producer, am I wrong? Does it kill bugs with heat or dehydration? I fully intend to buy plans from you but no where near ready yet, so stay healthy mmmk?


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## lizardlady (Feb 10, 2012)

Stabilizing? of course I'm interested!!! Your turnings are GORGEOUS and I'm sure you can give me some great advice.

Joe, aren't you the one who used to live in Chicago? Do you ever come up to visit (and bring your mill...)?? Lol, just kidding. If you are real patient, I may find some maple that wants to go on a vacation... but you have to be real patient. Still looking for mills in my area. Used to live in S Indiana & it seemed there was a wood mill ever 2 miles or so, here... nothin!
Oh, and as far as the mushrooms go... morels. Cripes, with the mild winter we had this year (so far) maybe they are out, already! lol


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## txpaulie (Feb 10, 2012)

> ...i have found a way to totally stabilize turning wood if you are interested.--------------old forester




C'mon with it already!

p


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## Daren (Feb 10, 2012)

lizardlady said:


> Daren, I thought your wood dryer was just a dryer not a heat producer, am I wrong? Does it kill bugs with heat or dehydration?



Sorry I missed this question earlier.
I tell how to kill bugs with heat after the wood is dry in the mentioned plans. No need to really go into it since you are not ready. But if you want to start small scale I outline (post #13) how to build a ''hot box'' for drying wood. http://woodbarter.com/Thread-Drying-Small-Turning-Blanks?page=2 This could be used to kill bugs too. 130 degrees for 6 hours should do it, just throttle back the air intake/exhaust. That hot box is more or less a homemade Easy Bake Oven , dang now I am hungry for a cupcake.


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## lizardlady (Feb 10, 2012)

Great (& simple) plans, Daren. Thank you! Doesn't the micro wave kill the bugs?

Oh where oh where has Old Forester gone? Oh where oh where can the stabilizing secret recipe be?


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## lizardlady (Feb 11, 2012)

Excelllllent! Good to know I don't need a perfect vacuum , centrifuge, or hydraulic crane to accomplish this (or even an extra microwave  ). Thanks so much for sharing your "secret formula". The spalted wood search continues, but only after this new snow melts...


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