NiNler Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Hello all, I recently found some extremely splated red maple for a great deal. It was near that line between amazing and unusable...not sure which side since it had some massive checking along the some of the spalt and I could readily see areas that were obviously punky. But I got suckered into the best spalting show I've ever seen and was given a deal so I took the board. I made some hand mirrors with part of the board and stabilized anything and everything I could see with epoxy. I then started to finish with poly. I put three coats on over four days (#0000 steel wool in between) and then got distracted for a week. I had planned on a couple more coats to even out the coat on the areas that completely soaked up the first two coats. When I came back to the mirrors I noticed surface holes that weren't there before the finish. I'm assuming that it's fresh fungal growth even though the wood felt quite dry. (I do wet the wood in between grits...is it possible to bring the fungus back on cut lumber?) But these holes are for sure growing. Looking for a next step. Should I fill with epoxy and start the finish over, should I try an anti-fungal spray, should I use bleach, should I toss it in the microwave, should I toss it in the garbage? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimV Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 I'm not sure. I haven't come across that issue with spalted wood before. I have stabilized punky wood with CA, never with epoxy. Got pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screamer777 Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Holes? Are you sure it is fungi that cause the holes. Maybe there are some bugs in the wood. Be careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiNler Posted August 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 No I'm not sure it's fungal...and honestly it's probably bugs. It's just that I took a very long look at the rest of the wood as well as every other peice of wood I have and don't see any signs of bugs. The room I do my finishing in is probably the most controlled of the house (wife's studio) and I can't see them coming from there (nor do I see any signs on anything else). All the spalted wood has been sequestered to a big metal tub we have in our garden shed just to be 100% for a while. I've bleached the holes (full drops on the holes for 30 mins) to see if that would kill whatever it is that's in there. The pictures are after the bleaching. I'm thinking I should just toss this mirror as I don't want to "think" I fixed it and then in a year later it's a piece of Swiss cheese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screamer777 Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 That looks like a fungal attack. Is that the only area affected? You must remove the affected area before it spreading. And be careful where the wood dust is falling. Burn the dust. And I think that it is not related to the spalted maple. It just look like some tiny drops of acid had fall on that area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paoloberno Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Put the wood in the oven and raise slowly the temperature to 100°C (212 °F), wait for 30-60 minutes (the wood must reach that temperature inside) then let it cool slowly (inside the oven without opening it)... This temperature should kill any bacteria and fungi without damaging the wood and the finish (i always use the oven when i make wooden spoons or cutting boards), don't do this with green or wet wood... Microwave oven also works but the temperature raises too quickly and any wood not perfectly dry will likely check and/or split... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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