Salted Beech advice

[pops92]

Hi
Only been turning about 8 months and looking for advice on spalted beech turning and finish. I want to make a potpourri bowl about 5" dia. Got my eye on a blank that should do it.
What problems are there with spalted beech that I should be looking for with turning and finishing?
Any advice welcome.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Make sure you don't put mounting screws into very soft parts. Hot melt guns are your friend. Make sure your tools are 100% sharp. Make sure you have sanding sealer, you may need to use it regularly.

 

[pops92]

Does all spalted wood have soft spots? Or does these areas harden with time?

 

[CHJ]

Does all spalted wood have soft spots? Or does these areas harden with time?

It's rotting, it will not improve, you can only improve its durability by soaking in Sanding Sealer or similar to add stiffness to the fibres.

Sanding the finish is an area that needs care, the softer areas will abrade more rapidly than the sounder areas and leave you with an uneven pitted surface unless care is taken. (avoidance of such being the measure of your turning ability that most turners will notice)

 

[pops92]

Should I turn close to the finished size seal with sanding sealer and Ca on soft areas then through the grits. :?:

 

[Dalboy]

It all depends on how far down the rotting process has gone sometimes spalted beech can be quite hard throughout and as Chas stated if it has gone to the point of becoming soft then you will need to take his advice. Just to add to his comments I use sander sealer that has been thinned down for this purpose about 50/50 as it will soak in better it may need a few coats but allow it to dry between them.
Yes take it down to close to the finished size before coating with the sealer and then when fully dry give it some final cuts as always with sharp tools

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If you have very soft parts use s/s before you are anywhere near the finished size as bits tear out so easily. If the sealer doesn't do much good it won't do any harm. The base of this was so fragile I soaked it s/s for an hour then left it to dry for a couple of days.

 

[pops92]

Here is a piece I am experimenting with today thanks to Luker for this bit. I covered the whole outside with CA then gave it a light skim seems to have worked quite well. However the area shown was very soft and still feels pocky should I continue to turn the whole outside till this is gone?
This is just a practice piece to try different methods so no harm done if it goes pair shaped.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Just keep going with the sealer or CA - if you start trying to turn soft parts away you'll probably end up with no parts. It comes with the territory - some pieces you'll end up dumping. If you get to the point of no return you can always practice filling holes etc. with woodfiller, casting resin. metal powders etc. - you've everything to gain and little to lose.

 

[pops92]

Thanks to everyone for your input,was much appreciated. =D> =D>
This is the finished item turned out fine for my first attempt. Used a combination of CA and Sanding Sealant. Finished with friction and mycrocillite. Have just purchased a spalted beech blank 10" x 4.75" and cut it into 2 blanks. Having done what you guys advised with the small piece I feel more confident to tackle these. :wink: