How do you finish spalted wood?
How do you finish spalted wood?
The solution is to spot-harden the spalted areas first, using a thin, penetrating cyanoacrylate (or “super”) glue. Use a medium-thickness glue for small gaps and a thick one for big gaps. After the glue has dried, sand the wood. Spalted wood is more easily scratched by sandpaper, so sand up to P600 grit.
What is spalted maple good for?
Like most maple, spalted maple is used as a veneer and typically paired with a mahogany body. It’s unique appearance is due to fungus that invades the wood and creates distinct black striping called zone lines. These lines are built up by the fungus as a way to delineate itself from the rest of the wood or other fungi.
What is Spalted maple?
Spalted Maple is normally a Hard Maple but can also be seen in Soft Maple. The figure in Spalted Maple is produced by decay. Basically, the tree or log starts to decay and during that process, a fungus attacks the wood. This fungus gives Spalted Maple the distinct black lines of figure that woodworkers love.
Should I stain spalted maple?
Yes; it will stain pretty much like normal wood. Presumably the reason for staining is to highlight the basic spalting patterns so I’d recommend a transparent dye stain, either water or alcohol based.
How do you preserve spalted maple?
I rough-turn my spalted bowl blanks first, then let them air dry for about a year to stop the fungal growth. After that, put your dust mask on and turn them like any other bowl.
Is spalted maple rare?
Though rare and difficult to find, spalted maple, with its eye catching black wavy streaks, is in high demand, according to hardwood and veneer suppliers interviewed by Woodshop News. Spalted maple starts as a regular maple until decay causes a black marble pattern to form, making it anything but a commodity.
Is spalted maple strong?
The spalted maple is not a tree rather a board taken from the Sugar Maple tree. Strong, stiff, hard and more dense than all of the other species of Maple commercially available in lumber form. Fairly easy to work with both hand and machine tools.
How expensive is spalted maple?
Domestic Lumber
| Product Name | Size | Price |
|---|---|---|
| SPALTED MAPLE 4/4 | 4/4 | $9.00 |