Another one saved!!!

[Paul.J]

I cut some more logs up the other week that i have had now for some time and this was amongst the pile,i have the other half to do now and if it turns out as good as this one i'll be happy
This had to be worked on though as the spalting had gone too far in places,but with two good doses of sanding sealer to help harden the fibres and a nice resharpened gouge on the finishing cuts it came out ok. :shock:
This is spalted Beech 11" x 5" finished with food safe oil.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

lovely Paul....stunning figure with the spalting

 

[Spindle]

Hi

Lovely useable bowl =D> =D> - I'd be hoping the other one turns to make a pair.

Regards Mick

 

[woodfarmer]

Beech normally looks a bit plain, Your efforts and the spalting has transformed it into something beautiful.

 

[Dalboy]

Congratulations on managing to turn this I had some spalted beech which was the same and needed a good soaking with sealer,.

I think you did well and well worth the effort in the end, hope the second one turns out as well

 

[winemaker]

nice =D>

 

[Grahamshed]

That is a superb piece of work.
Is it just me or does it look like marble to you as well ?

 

[Silverbirch]

The plain and simple shape really shows off the beautiful spalting. Lovely!

Ian

 

[Harlequin]

Lovely piece of wood and expertly turned and presented.
Minor gripe - would have liked the taper on the rim the other way ,creating a bit of shadow. The light bouncing off the edge detracts a bit IMO.

 

[Paul.J]

Thanks everyone glad you like it
Harlequin- The top rim is flat with just the sharp edges knocked off :?:

 

[Harlequin]

Thanks everyone glad you like it
Harlequin- The top rim is flat with just the sharp edges knocked off :?:

just the way it looks in pic I guess Paul

 

[gregmcateer]

Paul,
That is lovely - I really like the simple shape - letting the spalting do the decoration.
Could I ask - If you want to spalt some beech, does it have to be done green, or will dry wood spalt?
TIA
Greg

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

To encourage the spalting fungus you need to leave the wood in contact with the ground ideally. It will get naturally wet and a damp environment is essential to all fungal life. It doesn't happen quickly though...you may be waiting for between 1 and 3 years.

 

[johnny.t.]

You've got some stunning spalting going on there PJ 8)

 

[Paul.J]

Thanks Greg
Re the spalting as ROS says it needs to be encouraged or just left to do its thing.
When i got my last load of Beech i tried various ways of encouraging it to spalt.
I left some cut balnks in the shop in the dry,which had some very slight spalt, some just whole logs lying in the earth,some lying on old bark chippings and some covered in previous turned spalted shavings,you can even apply yoghurt which i never tried??
This particular piece turned here was left outside for about four years on slabs and only brought into the dry a few months ago and i thought it had gone too far,which is summat you have to keep a very careful eye on when trying to do your own spalting,especially with Sycamore as that goes over very quick.
The log this piece came from i had forgot about and only noticed it when i was sorting the log pile out,so got lucky with it :shock:
I do have another log cut in half now but i think that has gone too far as it feels too light whereas the log this piece was turned from had some weight to it :?:

 

[Paul.J]

Why thank you JT

 

[gregmcateer]

That's helpful, thanks a lot.
Will try a few different approaches, (Well, if the truth be know, I'll keep leaving some out there as I've run out of space to strore it properly and cannot get in the shed at present!!)
Ta
Greg

 

[procell]

Beautiful piece. hope the other half turns out as well

 

[Paul.J]

Cheers Pro, i think the other half came out ok in the end

 

[EnErY]

I Have a lot of spalted beech and am getting problems with it I not turned in months but the pieces in question gave me a lot of tear out and became very fibrous almost to the point where it resembled a coconut mat I tried filling the problem parts but on sanding back they developed in other parts of the bowl but the bowl I turned further down the log seemed much harder. Tried sanding sealer on them to harden them off but found that Ron seal seemed to be more effective but it did alter the colour of the timber.as for spalting timber other than it going through its natural course I was told that covering the blank in yogurt does help the spalting process along I have done this myself with results
Regards
Bill