Spalted Maple What Do I Do With It?

[rarefish383]

I finally got down to my buddies house to mill up an old Maple log. The tree had been dead for about 3 years and we cut it down about 6 months ago. It had so much English Ivy growing on it it looked like it was alive. It only took about 2 weeks for the deer to eat all of the Ivy off of it. Here's a few pics. I got 7 slabs cut and there's one good slab left, ran out of fuel. I started setting up at 12:00 sharp and was all packed up at 1:30. I got exactly 3 slabs per tank of fuel. I gotta say I'm realy happy with my 38 year old Homelite, Joe.

 

[betterbuilt]

Congrats. nice looking maple.

Spalted Maple What Do I Do With It?
Are you asking how to store it?

 

[mtngun]

Looks pretty far gone to use for a table top, but would work for shelving, or perhaps for the sides of a table or sides of a cabinet, someplace that is not highly stressed and doesn't need to be 100% intact.

 

[Timberframed]

Good work of that Maple. I have some spalted birch that is coming into fruition. Image # 5. That shadow looks like your dog is drinking a beer!

 

[rarefish383]

All I wanted was enough to make a picture frame. I'll sticker it and stack it on the back of the shed where it's covered. I'm just geting into wood working, and I'm having more fun just milling the wood. I was thinking about turning a couple file handles, but, I'm gonna have a litle left over, Joe.

 

[Daninvan]

I got 7 slabs cut and there's one good slab left, ran out of fuel. I started setting up at 12:00 sharp and was all packed up at 1:30.

Wow, an hour and a half to do 7 slabs, including unpacking and packing up? That's about 13 minutes per slab - very impressive. I'm lucky to get an average of 20 min per slab on my VERY best days.

As for what to do with the spalted maple, it's a highly sought-after wood by many cabinetmakers, including those who follow James Krenov's style of cabinetmaking. It makes a great wood for, well, cabinets, if it is not punky.

There is an example of a spalted maple cabinet about 1/2 way down this page.

Spalted maple is also popular with the lathe crowd for bowls and platters and such.

You can use it also in slab form for tabletops and such. If there are punky sections a popular remedy is to soak them with cyanoacrylate (Krazy glue) or epoxy.

If none of these appeal, you shouldn't have too much trouble trading it away to another woodworker for something you want.

Dan

 

[SPM in King]

Another treatment for the punky or slightly rotten wood is "Polyall" (just Google it). I have used it on some punky Silver Maple used for a table top. It's very watery and will sink in a long way. It's about half the cost of the epoxy I buy. You won't likely save all of the rot, but it might get you a nice piece for a hall table or a coffee table. Spalted wood gives that "wow" factor to the grain. Looks great!

Steve.

 

[rarefish383]

Wow, an hour and a half to do 7 slabs, including unpacking and packing up? That's about 13 minutes per slab - very impressive. I'm lucky to get an average of 20 min per slab on my VERY best days.

As for what to do with the spalted maple, it's a highly sought-after wood by many cabinetmakers, including those who follow James Krenov's style of cabinetmaking. It makes a great wood for, well, cabinets, if it is not punky.

There is an example of a spalted maple cabinet about 1/2 way down this page.

Spalted maple is also popular with the lathe crowd for bowls and platters and such.

You can use it also in slab form for tabletops and such. If there are punky sections a popular remedy is to soak them with cyanoacrylate (Krazy glue) or epoxy.

If none of these appeal, you shouldn't have too much trouble trading it away to another woodworker for something you want.

Dan

I think some underate my old Homelite 1050. On the few logs that I've milled, 2 were old spalted logs, the Maple and a Poplar, and a couple of big White pine logs, all were pretty soft. It self feeds pretty well, and I do have to hold back on it, or it will start to bog down. I have several dead Oaks blown down on the farm, and they will be on the list of things to do the next time I go up. I bought a new camera just so I can shoot a video of Ol' Red at work. Now, I just have t figure out how the darn thing works.

Thanks for the tip on the crazy glue and epoxy. I kinda would like to make a slab table to go with my Poplar slab bench, Joe.

 

[rarefish383]

Another treatment for the punky or slightly rotten wood is "Polyall" (just Google it). I have used it on some punky Silver Maple used for a table top. It's very watery and will sink in a long way. It's about half the cost of the epoxy I buy. You won't likely save all of the rot, but it might get you a nice piece for a hall table or a coffee table. Spalted wood gives that "wow" factor to the grain. Looks great!

Steve.

Thanks for the tip, I'm gonna google it right now, Joe.