# Spalted Pecan



## flht01 (Sep 3, 2006)

This is a picture of a pecan log I'm going to cut up in a few days. As you can see, the hinge caused it to split partway up the log.







Any suggestions on the best way to cut it? I'm planning on doing a 3 sided cant just like it is in the picture and cutting either 1" or 5/4" boards right thru the split. Maybe I'll get a spalted board or two.

I'm also playing with posting pictures  

Kevin


----------



## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 3, 2006)

I have a big stack of pecan I milled earlier this year. Quarter saw as much as possible. This stuff warps like crazy and the quality of your stack _will_ determine the quality of your lumber. Sticker at 18"-24" o.c. weight it down generously. I determine the thickness of the boards I mill by the width I want them to be ie. up to 4" = 4/4, 4"-6" = 1 1/8, 6"+ = 5/4 (assuming I want flat 3/4" finished stock). Pecan, especially spalted, is beautiful wood but it can be a bugger.


----------



## woodshop (Sep 3, 2006)

As for how to slice it Kevin, I think you're plan of a 3 sided cant is right on target. Not sure quartersawing pecan is worth it. I suppose the wood would be more stable, but not sure you're going to get any significant grain enhancement from pecan by quartersawing. Just don't know. Slicing through and through as you plan to will get you some quartersawn boards so you can see then. Can't wait to see your boards sliced from that, you might get some nice spalted stuff. If aggies says quartersaw it, go for it, he seems to have more info than us on this wood.

Here is a pecan I cut down few months ago that I havn't gotten to yet, it's not spalted YET, but I can't let it go much longer. The tree has been dying for the last few years, and was dropping limbs, had to come down.


----------



## flht01 (Sep 3, 2006)

aggiewoodbutchr said:


> I have a big stack of pecan I milled earlier this year. Quarter saw as much as possible. This stuff warps like crazy and the quality of your stack _will_ determine the quality of your lumber. Sticker at 18"-24" o.c. weight it down generously. I determine the thickness of the boards I mill by the width I want them to be ie. up to 4" = 4/4, 4"-6" = 1 1/8, 6"+ = 5/4 (assuming I want flat 3/4" finished stock). Pecan, especially spalted, is beautiful wood but it can be a bugger.



This is a fairly small log, about 14" dia, and will probably get boards 8" to 9" wide +/-. Do you get better quality with the narrower boards? I could rip it to 4" +/- wide before stacking if the end results would be beter. I sure hate the thought of putting these on the bottom of an existing stack  but if it's spalted I'll do it for good flat boards. Thanks
Kevin


----------



## flht01 (Sep 3, 2006)

woodshop said:


> Here is a pecan I cut down few months ago that I havn't gotten to yet, it's not spalted YET, but I can't let it go much longer. The tree has been dying for the last few years, and was dropping limbs, had to come down...



Now THATS a real pecan log. Can't wait to hear what's on the agenda for that wood. Maybe we should start a few posts on what some are using their milled lumber for. I've got several stacks that are starting to show moisture levels right at or just below 20% and it won't be long before I'll be able to use it. When that time comes, ya'll be ready for lot's of questions  

Kevin


----------



## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 3, 2006)

woodshop said:


> I suppose the wood would be more stable, but not sure you're going to get any significant grain enhancement from pecan by quartersawing. Just don't know.



I mention quartersawing only for stability in this case. Based from my experience with milling, drying and building with pecan, it's worth it.


----------



## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 3, 2006)

woodshop said:


>



It's looks like you could almost split that log into cants along the checks with a few wedges. It would save you some fuel


----------



## dustytools (Sep 3, 2006)

I am sure that most experienced woodworkers in here know this but for those that dont, breathing protection such as a cheap respirator or a dust mask should be worn when milling or sanding or just working spalted wood in general. As spalted wood contains spores and fungi that may or may not affect you, I guess that it affects people differently. Not trying to be the surgeon general or anything like that, just passing on a little bit of info.


----------



## dustytools (Sep 3, 2006)

I did a little research and for anyone interested you can go to www.thewoodbox.com click on wood information then scroll down to spalted wood. This gives you a little information on working with spalted woods.


----------



## flht01 (Sep 3, 2006)

dustytools said:


> I am sure that most experienced woodworkers in here know this but for those that dont, breathing protection such as a cheap respirator or a dust mask should be worn when milling or sanding or just working spalted wood in general. As spalted wood contains spores and fungi that may or may not affect you, I guess that it affects people differently. Not trying to be the surgeon general or anything like that, just passing on a little bit of info.



Good advice, I'll be using a handheld bandsaw (plenty of fine dust) and didn't think about the dust containing the fungi/spores. I'll try to post a few pictures (now that I know how) 

Kevin


----------



## woodshop (Sep 3, 2006)

flht01 said:


> This is a fairly small log, about 14" dia, and will probably get boards 8" to 9" wide +/-. Do you get better quality with the narrower boards? I could rip it to 4" +/- wide before stacking if the end results would be beter. I sure hate the thought of putting these on the bottom of an existing stack  but if it's spalted I'll do it for good flat boards. Thanks
> Kevin


If I were slicing it up, I would not rip to thinner boards unless you have a specific need for boards that size. In general, the wider the board the more worth it has, since you have more options what you can do with it. Again, I've never sliced and dried pecan yet, so just don't know. Aggie has, and says its a tough wood to dry, so make sure you have lots of weight on the stack. If you're thinking of ripping to 4 inch so they won't twist up as much when drying, not sure that would help the situation. Worse case, if some of the board DO warp and twist a bit during drying, you can always rip/crosscut/jointer/planer them to smaller size THEN. Just my way to looking at it.  

I have no idea what I am going to do with that pecan wood in that pic when I get to it, other than make a few Shaker side tables from some to see how they look in pecan. I figured about 2K bd ft from that tree if I mill the whole thing, which I probably won't have time for. Going to take the best 1000 ft or so, and the rest will probably end up at firewood. I've been sick for the last 3 weeks though, still don't have energy to mill wood. Patience...

Yes aggie, hope those natural splits don't go too far into that log... don't think they do, but if I have to knock a few feet off the butt end, there is plenty there for that.


----------



## flht01 (Sep 3, 2006)

woodshop said:


> If I were slicing it up, I would not rip to thinner boards unless you have a specific need for boards that size. In general, the wider the board the more worth it has, since you have more options what you can do with it. Again, I've never sliced and dried pecan yet, so just don't know. Aggie has, and says its a tough wood to dry, so make sure you have lots of weight on the stack. If you're thinking of ripping to 4 inch so they won't twist up as much when drying, not sure that would help the situation. Worse case, if some of the board DO warp and twist a bit during drying, you can always rip/crosscut/jointer/planer them to smaller size THEN. Just my way to looking at it.
> 
> I have no idea what I am going to do with that pecan wood in that pic when I get to it, other than make a few Shaker side tables from some to see how they look in pecan. I figured about 2K bd ft from that tree if I mill the whole thing, which I probably won't have time for. Going to take the best 1000 ft or so, and the rest will probably end up at firewood. I've been sick for the last 3 weeks though, still don't have energy to mill wood. Patience...
> 
> Yes aggie, hope those natural splits don't go too far into that log... don't think they do, but if I have to knock a few feet off the butt end, there is plenty there for that.



Since this is such a small log I'm just going to slab it and see what it looks like. I've got a stack I can take down, put these on the bottom and restack the other boards in reverse order (putting the driest boards on top). The weight should help it dry straight. I've got a few 4/4 boards that was cut on a woodmizer last October and air dried without weight. I'll try to get a few pictures, some dried straight but most left a lot to be desired. Since they were cut 4/4 and didn't dry as straight as I'd like, I'll probable rip and plane them into door trim. At least that's what I'm thinking for now, I just don't have enough experience going from rough sawn lumber to finished stock to know what else to do with it.
Kevin


----------



## scottr (Sep 4, 2006)

*Intentional Spalting*

Here's a thread that you might find interesting . http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Intentional_Spalting.html


----------



## woodshop (Sep 4, 2006)

Best way to keep nasty stuff out of your lungs when milling is a respirator like in the pic below. Yeah its a pain in the tusch till you get used to it, like any other ppe, then its just something else to pop on before you fire up the mill. Keeps that REAL fine sawdust a bandsaw or a csm makes out of your lungs, as well as any bad spores from spalting, and also keeps exhaust from the saw at bay, which in the case of a Ripsaw or csm, is close to your face.


----------



## Woodsurfer (Sep 4, 2006)

Spalted or rotten and punky... a fine line.

Here is some more yellow birch I slabbed this weekend. This was down for about 15 months. Definately some spalting happening!






In retrospect, I wish I had worn a mask. 
Wood looks good! 

Good luck with the pecan!


----------



## flht01 (Sep 4, 2006)

woodshop said:


> Best way to keep nasty stuff out of your lungs when milling is a respirator like in the pic below. ...



Are you using the charcoal filters or the dust filters? I've got a mask I used years ago when spraying automotive paints with hardeners. It has both the charcoal and dust filters, I'm leaning towards dust only.



Woodsurfer said:


> Spalted or rotten and punky... a fine line.
> 
> Here is some more yellow birch I slabbed this weekend. This was down for about 15 months. Definately some spalting happening!
> ...
> Good luck with the pecan!



Nice looking wood. Some rot, especially on the ends is a small price for the nice patterns the spalting creates. What you got planned for the birch?


----------



## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 4, 2006)

Woodsurfer said:


> Spalted or rotten and punky... a fine line.
> 
> Here is some more yellow birch I slabbed this weekend. This was down for about 15 months. Definately some spalting happening!
> 
> ...



Very nice looking stuff. "A fine line" is the truth. Nothing a little epoxy based stabilizer won't take care of.


----------



## woodshop (Sep 5, 2006)

flht01 said:


> Are you using the charcoal filters or the dust filters?


Using the charcoal filters because they filter out the carbon monoxide from the saw. When your milling with a Ripsaw or csm, sometimes your face is right down near the saw as your pushing down the log, thus the exhaust is right there, and the charcoal filter takes care of that.


----------



## Woodsurfer (Sep 5, 2006)

I can see making some small tables with the birch. With 18" boards, we're talking one piece tops... Bookshelves, picture frames, little boxes, are other typical projects for me. The spalt would look nice in a frame since I can rip out strips that go well together.

Funny, in half an afternoon I can mill enough wood to keep me busy in the shop for months. Ain't complaining!:biggrinbounce2:


----------



## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 5, 2006)

Woodsurfer said:


> I can see making some small tables with the birch. With 18" boards, we're talking one piece tops... Bookshelves, picture frames, little boxes, are other typical projects for me. The spalt would look nice in a frame since I can rip out strips that go well together.
> 
> Funny, in half an afternoon I can mill enough wood to keep me busy in the shop for months. Ain't complaining!:biggrinbounce2:




Not to mention how much that lumber would have cost you at the store. Great job.


----------



## woodshop (Sep 5, 2006)

Woodsurfer said:


> Funny, in half an afternoon I can mill enough wood to keep me busy in the shop for months. Ain't complaining!:biggrinbounce2:


True... I'm not comlaining either. I generally come home with between 250 and 350 bd ft of rough lumber in one days milling, depending on how far I have to drive to the log, and how much prep the log needs before I can actually start slicing it up. After stickering and drying, and culling out the pieces that didn't make it, split, twisted up like a pretzel, I still have couple hundred feet of wood. Enough for 20+ shaker side tables like this one below. That's more tables than I currently make in a year. But just because I have more wood already than I will need in the next 10 years, doesn't mean I'm gonna stop. Most of what I mill would be firewood or landfill otherwise. Therefore, as long as I have space (which I am running out of fast) I will keep milling and stocking wood for future use. I just hate seeing a 16 inch diameter beautiful cherry log cut up into 12 inch firewood chunks like I did on the way to work the other day. What a waste of valuable cherry. Hey I'm only 53, when I retire I plan on doing this woodworking gig full time. For now I can still physically mill logs with the Ripsaw and csm, lots of work. 15 years from now (68????) I might not be pushing them logs around the woods as quickly. The more wood I stock up now, as long as I can keep it from degrading, the better off I figure I am later on.

This Shaker table I make below would also be a good candidate for that spalted pecan.


----------



## flht01 (Sep 5, 2006)

woodshop said:


> ...
> This Shaker table I make below would also be a good candidate for that spalted pecan.




I've got a feeling that your shaker table would look good with the spalted pecan, I'm not so sure it would even be considered furniture if I built it.  I do plan on giving it a try.

Nice work, I'm envious.

Kevin


----------



## dustytools (Sep 5, 2006)

Very nice piece woodshop.


----------



## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 6, 2006)

woodshop said:


> This Shaker table I make below would also be a good candidate for that spalted pecan.



Nice table. What do you use to cut your 1/2 blind dovetails.


----------



## woodshop (Sep 6, 2006)

aggiewoodbutchr said:


> Nice table. What do you use to cut your 1/2 blind dovetails.


I use an old Stanley dovetail jig I got at a yardsale, with a 7 degree dovetail bit. It's not a fancy jig, not easy to set up, so once I got it dialed in for this particular drawer, I keep it that way, don't use it for anything else. I do have a larger Delta dovetail jig I use for other projects, but the little Stanley has just the right spacing for this one. No I don't do dovetails by hand... too labor intensive, and the jig does a much better job anyway.


----------



## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 6, 2006)

woodshop said:


> I use an old Stanley dovetail jig I got at a yardsale, with a 7 degree dovetail bit. It's not a fancy jig, not easy to set up, so once I got it dialed in for this particular drawer, I keep it that way, don't use it for anything else. I do have a larger Delta dovetail jig I use for other projects, but the little Stanley has just the right spacing for this one. No I don't do dovetails by hand... too labor intensive, and the jig does a much better job anyway.



I just finished a trunk with hand cut through dove tails. You're right about labor intensive but the satisfaction makes up for it (usually). I'd love to have one of those Incra jigs but $$$:jawdrop: . They sure make some beautiful joints easy though.


----------



## woodshop (Sep 7, 2006)

aggiewoodbutchr said:


> I just finished a trunk with hand cut through dove tails. You're right about labor intensive but the satisfaction makes up for it (usually). I'd love to have one of those Incra jigs but $$$:jawdrop: . They sure make some beautiful joints easy though.


Aggie cutting good precise dovetails by hand is the mark of a true woodworker (or at least one with some time on his hands ) I agree there would be pure satisfaction in doing a good job. I freely admit, I have never tried it in my shop yet. Yes the Incra jig is a nice toy, and an expensive one too. Personally though, some of the REAL fancy stuff it does, is almost too fancy for me. The multiple layers are so intricate, that they almost start to look artificial, and its very obvious that the joint was done on a fancy machine. Not knocking it, just personal taste, the real fancy ones don't turn me on much.


----------



## flht01 (Sep 10, 2006)

*Spalted Pecan - cut up and stacked*

I finally got around to cutting up the pecan, not as much spalting as I'd hoped but there was less punky wood than there could have been. I ended up with about 120bf, 7" and 10" 5/4 boards. I'm still playing with pictures, tried to keep the file size small for us lowly dialup users  


bug holes and little spalting





Overall view before spraying with bleach to attempt to kill the larve.


----------



## dustytools (Sep 10, 2006)

Great looking stuff. It almost looks as though its already been through the planer. Nice job indeed.


----------



## flht01 (Sep 10, 2006)

dustytools said:


> Great looking stuff. It almost looks as though its already been through the planer. Nice job indeed.



Thanks, with some help from _woodshop_ and _scottr_ I've about got the ripsaw tweaked and tuned. Most of these boards will clean up quick, assuming they dry reasonably straight. I'm going to unstack about 400bf of redoak and stack these on the bottom, then restack the redoak in reverse order keeping the dryest on top.


----------



## woodshop (Sep 10, 2006)

Beautiful boards Kevin, you have lots of things going on in those. Looks like a little figure, some spalting, different colors. I predict that after those are all dry, and you cull out the split and punky stuff that didn't make it, you will have a good 90-100 bd ft.of 3/4 S4S. 

Keep us informed as to how fast it dries. Today I'm un-stickering about 400ft of 5/4 oak that I milled only this past January, but its all dry. Moisture meter doesn't lie, I was surprised, usually takes a little longer for oak. This stuff is all less than 15% already. It's red oak, the tree was cut and milled in bitter cold January weather, temp down in the teens. Wonder if that has something to do with it drying in only 9 months.


----------



## flht01 (Sep 10, 2006)

woodshop said:


> Beautiful boards Kevin, you have lots of things going on in those. Looks like a little figure, some spalting, different colors. I predict that after those are all dry, and you cull out the split and punky stuff that didn't make it, you will have a good 90-100 bd ft.of 3/4 S4S.



I found 8 more 10" 5/4 pecan boards that I'd forgotten about, cut them about 6 weeks ago and stacked them in the same stack with the pine. All together, I'll have about 200bf with some spalting creating a few unique colors and patterns. Should be interesting.



woodshop said:


> Keep us informed as to how fast it dries. Today I'm un-stickering about 400ft of 5/4 oak that I milled only this past January, but its all dry. Moisture meter doesn't lie, I was surprised, usually takes a little longer for oak. This stuff is all less than 15% already. It's red oak, the tree was cut and milled in bitter cold January weather, temp down in the teens. Wonder if that has something to do with it drying in only 9 months.



I've often wondered if cutting in the winter when the sap is down would speed up the drying process. Maybe someone that's experimented with this will chime in. How do you handle the wood that's air dryed? Sounds like your pulling it out of the stickered stack and moving it. Just curious, I'd like to be able to create a few sticker stacks outside to air dry with and (after it's dry) move it inside without the stickers if it wouldn't have any negative effect on quality.

Thanks for the tip on the pecan, aggie. I've got it stacked under about 400bf of oak, that should help keep it straight.  

Kevin


----------



## woodshop (Sep 11, 2006)

flht01 said:


> How do you handle the wood that's air dryed? Sounds like your pulling it out of the stickered stack and moving it. Just curious, I'd like to be able to create a few sticker stacks outside to air dry with and (after it's dry) move it inside without the stickers if it wouldn't have any negative effect on quality.
> Kevin



I have limited space, in fact I can only sticker about 1800 bd ft at one time, ( 8, 12-14 inch wide stacks, about 6 ft tall). So I often get backed up to where stuff is still drying and I am scrounging for a place to sticker and dry something I just milled. SO... as soon as that wood gets down to around 15% MC according to my moisture meter, I pull the stack apart, and restack it without stickers under roof, currently my garage and shed. I have 10 ft cielings, and thus can stack several thousand ft of lumber that way in very little space. As long as it was indeed dry before you pulled it from the stickered pile, then it won't degrade any stacked up w/o stickers. The main thing is to keep the weather and bugs away from your stacks. 

I just got turned on to a white oak log, 36inch dia, and a good 35 ft strait bole till the first branch. It blew down in a windstorm. Quick and dirty estimates are a good 2000 bd ft of white oak in that monster just in those first 4 clear 8 ft logs. This one will take a while, and I need to stock up on milling chains and Ripsaw bandsaw blades. Hope the homeowner doesn't change his mind for whatever reason, I have tons of red oak, but very little white. I'll be posting pics of the operation when I get to it.


----------



## flht01 (Sep 11, 2006)

woodshop said:


> I just got turned on to a white oak log, 36inch dia, and a good 35 ft strait bole till the first branch. It blew down in a windstorm. Quick and dirty estimates are a good 2000 bd ft of white oak in that monster just in those first 4 clear 8 ft logs. This one will take a while, and I need to stock up on milling chains and Ripsaw bandsaw blades. Hope the homeowner doesn't change his mind for whatever reason, I have tons of red oak, but very little white. I'll be posting pics of the operation when I get to it.



Can't wait to see pictures on this one. Are you going to have access to any equipment to get it set up on bunks :help: ? With logs that big, are you going to quartersaw it? So far I haven't run across any white oak. What kind of projects do you have in mind for it? 

Sorry for all the questions, just got carried away.

Kevin


----------



## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 11, 2006)

Great looking lumber, Kevin. Now comes the hard part... waiting for it to dry.


----------



## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 11, 2006)

flht01 said:


> Thanks for the tip on the pecan, aggie. I've got it stacked under about 400bf of oak, that should help keep it straight.
> 
> Kevin



That should do it!


----------



## aggiewoodbutchr (Sep 11, 2006)

woodshop said:


> I just got turned on to a white oak log, 36inch dia, and a good 35 ft strait bole till the first branch.



Looks like you got your work cut out for you (get it, har har). Just think of all the Shaker furniture that will make. I'm drooling.


----------



## woodshop (Sep 11, 2006)

flht01 said:


> Can't wait to see pictures on this one. Are you going to have access to any equipment to get it set up on bunks :help: ? With logs that big, are you going to quartersaw it? So far I haven't run across any white oak. What kind of projects do you have in mind for it? Kevin



Well, don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, it will be several weeks before I get to this and a lot can happen between now and then. IF and when it happens, yes I plan to quartersaw at least one of those 36 in dia 8 footers. White oak has huge rays that result in killer quartersawn figure. Quartersawing is very time consuming if you do it right, and time is one thing I don't have tons of this fall, so that will dictate how much gets milled that way. No access to equipment, just me, my csm, my Ripsaw, tools, floor jack and cant hook. I can get the van within 50 ft of the tree, so not far to carry the mills in and boards out. I plan on eventually making furniture out of this oak.


----------

