Wierd Wood Problem or Question

[WadeH]

A patient of mine that cuts trees down for a living gave me some wood to cut up for handles. Got some really neat stuff too, including a piece of cherry that came from the Governors Mansion. But the question I have is that he also gave me some Persimmon. It was a fairly large piece and I am not sure what kind of Persimmon it is, but I cut it up on a band saw into 2.5"x8" pieces and stacked them up in an old grain bin that we have on our property. Earlier today I was going through them to take some of the wood with me on our move and noticed that there was several pieces that were stuck together. Now when cutting it up I did notice that there was a few small bore holes in some of the wood pieces but not allot and thought I could cut around them or get some of it stablized to fill them in. The wood has allot of cool grain patterns and color changes, light tan to brown. But when I pulled the pieces apart that were stuck together there was this white substance that was acting like glue. It is real white and light when you touch it. Kind of reminds me of a kind of styrofoam and will scrap of real easy with a knife. Is this something from some bugs that might still be in the wood or some kind of sap that is seeping out of the wood? I have never seen anything like it before. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Sorry for the long post.

 

[mongolguy]

I'm no expert but it sounds like a wood fungus. Kind of like the mold on some stinky cheeses. If it is a fungus you can spray the pieces with a bleach/water mix. I don't know how that might affect the grain of the wood though.

Mark

 

[steelshaper]

Yes from your description it is a fungus. It is very important to dry wood with air being able to get all the way around it. Normally fresh wood is stacked with stringers between each layer. I would suggest to simply dry the wood out and then plane off the fungus.
Wear a respirator. The fungus and bacteria in the wood, once it starts to rot (the fungus is a sign that it’s rotting) can make you very sick. It can give you lesions in your lungs. It can kill you.

Some pics would help me be sure.

Good luck.

 

[WadeH]

I would have took some pics of it, but my digital camera is already packed in the bottom of a big box. I know that would have helped allot. It is always better if you can see a problem. I did move the pieces around on the shelf where air can get to them. Never thought about a fungus getting to them. I guess it is a good thing that I am moving, otherwise they would have set there untill they were ruined. Thanks for the help.

 

[A C Richards]

Fungus can be a good thing if you are looking for spalt. It will give an ordinary piece of wood to something very striking.