Spalting pecan testimonial

[marekz]

Hello, I am in the proccess of attempting to spalt some pecan. I was given a few large "logs" of pecans approx 8 months ago. The pecan was cut after it had fallen from a big storm. So it was as green as green could be. I initially put a couple logs in the basement for a bit and during that time my basement flooded 4 times. The logs were covered in anchor seal on the ends but that was it. They began to turn black under the anchor seal ( black splotches)Approx 6 months ago I decided to try and spalt some pecan along with some maple in the great outdoors.. In the warm weather , I made sure the pile was kept moist and in a very shady spot. I covered the wood with spalted saw dust, compost and spalted scrap pieces- some of the spalted scraps look fairly large- they are covering the logs under them. When the colder weather arrived , I still kept it moist but I put A tarp over it. In the meantime, I added some more pieces of wood and the pile grew. Using my insinct ( not scientifically proven), I want each piece of wood to touch the ground---so i need to rearrange the pile a bit, since the new additions.lol. The photos show my pile, with a few pieces having different colored growth , one of which is a mushroom fungi-I am researching the other fungi with great determination. I am particularly amazed by the different shades pecan can take on, well not that many , but some of the blocks look like white maple deeply covered with " blackline spalt" , but then when you wet the pecan, darker streaks expose themselves adding complementary shading of brown with the more than occasional contrasting deep rust brown streaks silhouetting the lighter browns and the whites. --I CAN NOT BE SURE IF THE CUT BLOCKS IN THE PHOTOS WERE SPALTED FROM THE FLOODING OR BY MY OUTSIDE SPALTING --OR BOTH. I did my best at presenting these pictures true-it was difficult. The cut blocks look better in person.There are many sites that provide different ways to spalt. I spoke with a few folks and I was assured that there is an element of luck that must be present in the spalting process. I hope to update this thread when I cut into some more of the pecan and throw some fungi descriptions at ya'll. Thank you for looking --Marekz-----This is not a tutorial-although it may be of benefit to someone. This is just my attempt among many -Thanks again-Marekz.

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

That's cool man, looks like it is coming along nicely. :thumbup:

Be sure you don't spalt your lungs, I've heard of that happening...

 

[Dixieblade57]

Looking at that makes me sick. :barf:
Back when we lived on the farm we burnt a lot of blow down and trim up pecan wood. I woould have it stacked it in the winter months and we get a lot of rain here in the winter.
Generally those pieces that were on the bottom of the stack would look like that when I split it for firewood. Back then I didn't know what spalted wood was or what it was good for!
That is going to have a beautiful splat to it!

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

Looking at that makes me sick. :barf:
Back when we lived on the farm we burnt a lot of blow down and trim up pecan wood. I woould have it stacked it in the winter months and we get a lot of rain here in the winter.
Generally those pieces that were on the bottom of the stack would look like that when I split it for firewood. Back then I didn't know what spalted wood was or what it was good for!
That is going to have a beautiful splat to it!

I've burnt some spalted wood too, just didn't know what it was!

Marekz, that is just beautiful, thanks for taking the time to post it.

 

[The_Dave]

That's cool man, looks like it is coming along nicely. :thumbup:

Be sure you don't spalt your lungs, I've heard of that happening...

Oh no... Are you serious?

I've had nightmares about that stuff getting in my eyes, you're gonna cost me a week of sleep!

My stomach is turning just thinking about it...

:barf:

Marekz,

Sorry brother, didn't mean to detract from your thread. The wood looks fantastic! I had no idea it could be done in your backyard. Then again, I know nothing about wood

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Oh no... Are you serious?

I've had nightmares about that stuff getting in my eyes, you're gonna cost me a week of sleep!

My stomach is turning just thinking about it...

:barf:

Marekz,

Sorry brother, didn't mean to detract from your thread. The wood looks fantastic! I had no idea it could be done in your backyard. Then again, I know nothing about wood

Sorry, not trying to freak you out. Some wood workers have gotten sick from allergies and fungal infections caused by working spalted wood. It appears to cause some people problems with their lungs and eyes, I guess because the fungus likes moisture.

One person in particular, Tom Frazer, died from scaring in his lungs that he attributed to inflammation from working spalted wood.

I don't think it is any more dangerous than a lot of the things we work with. I'd just take normal dust precautions, that's all.

 

[The_Dave]

Oh nothing too serious, just have a thing about fungi and eyeballs

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Yes, wear good dust protection and clean up all sawdust when cutting the blocks. Vacuum the filters on you respirator aand vacuum the whole sawing area. Then have the wood stabilized, which will kill the fungus and bind up the spores. I hear some folks bake the wood at 250F to kill/control the fungus,too. Others microwave it.

Just remember that it is the spores that does the damage to you. Just killing the fungus does not remove the problem anymore than mowing the dandelions does to get rid of weeds.