Spalted silver birch

[bwlossie]

Good evening people,
Only my second post so please be tolerant.
I was asked a few weeks ago to remove a stump of silver birch from a friend's garden.
Only 20/24" high and 9" across.
When removed I "slabbed" it and found that it was heavily spalted.
I have tried turning it but it seems to me that it may be too far gone. It crumbles and dusts up as I turn.
Is there anything which can be done to this to firm it up? A scrape with the thumb nail evens makes it crumble.
I hope all you experts may be able to help me save at least a small piece of this. The grain and spalting look amazing and when given a finish it should, I hope, be worth the effort.

 

[PowerTool]

If the spalting hasn't made it too soft,it can be stabilised by (ideally slightly diluted) cyanoacrylate/superglue or sanding sealer; cyanoacrylate does leave dark marks on some timbers,though.

Only my second post so please be tolerant.

I find the whole forum and membership very polite,friendly and tolerant,so post away

Andrew

 

[paulm]

Sounds like it might be a bit too far gone, but as Andrew says, flooding it with superglue of cellulose sanding sealer might make it workable.

Cheers, Paul.

 

[bwlossie]

Thanks for the reply.
What is superglue diluted with?
I have sanding sealer, do you still have to dilute that? If so with what?
Would just a single coat do this or would it need several coats.
As for "has it gone too far" the securing screws on my faceplate are only just holding. Another half turn and it feels they might rip the threads.

 

[paulm]

Not sure about diluting superglue but cellulose sanding sealer can be diluted with cellulose thinners, would suggest 50:50 for this purpose and just keep flooding the timber until it really soaks it up.

It's not cheap though and may still not work if the wood's too far gone, so may be best to give up on this one and look for something better if it's really soft and crumbly.

Just a thought, but if you put some of the spalted wood in a plastic bag with some good timber and some damp shavings for a while you may well be able to spalt your own !

Cheers, Paul.

 

[PowerTool]

Err,never actually tried diluting cyanoacrylate,so don't know

Sanding sealer - depends what type it is.E.g. cellulose sanding sealer can be diluted with cellulose thinners;acrylic sanding sealer can be diluted with water.
And several thin coats would be better,if it is already quite soft.

Andrew

Edit - pipper,Paul types faster.. :wink:

 

[bwlossie]

Thanks Chisel,
Reading this again, I said I have sanding sealer but mine is not celulose sealer. Is that the type I should be using? {you guys don't know what you have let yourselves into, letting me on here} Ha. Ha. Ha.
Your idea of bagging up and doing my own spalting is a good idea. I will certainly try some of that.

So do you Power tool. By the time I had replied to Chisel you had appeared.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds as though it is too far gone... I have a piece of spalted beech that I've given countless dosings of Cellulose thinners... it's still a useless piece of rotten wood :roll:

 

[CHJ]

As for "has it gone too far" the securing screws on my faceplate are only just holding. Another half turn and it feels they might rip the threads.

If your securing screws are holding at all then I would say it is recoverable with low viscosity super glue, however if a high proportion of the piece is in this condition it will not be a cheap solution. Is there enough sound wood to get a good bottom mounting and allow rough turning to near size before using CA? As Oldsoke says I doubt that sealer will be strong enough.

This piece of Hazel with a rotten core that was soft enough to be worked with a fingernail finished as hard as the prime timber.
.

Be cautious if using lots of CA on heavily spalted wood it can generate considerable heat, to hot to touch and expect to see 'smoke' rising.

 

[treefella83]

this was a peice of field maple i turned last year and what looks like spalting on the right hand side is the the only bit of sound wood in the bowl the rest is soft .
it was not fun to turn so the rest of the log is fire wood.
i gave up after half a tin of sanding sealer .

 

[bwlossie]

I managed to get pictures up the other day but now it seems to be failing.
Will try again, please bear with me.

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IF this works, would it be possible to tell from the picture if this wood is beyond hope?

Barry.

Mr Sod strikes again.....
The picture which I really wanted up has not come and shows the crumbling.
Once again will try later.

Barry.

 

[bwlossie]

And again

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[CHJ]

Barry, The only way I see you recovering that, and IMO it's hardly viable unless you are feeling really perverse is:

Treat it with CA glue.
Fill all the open textured (torn) soft areas with fine sanding dust and re-swab with glue, keep repeating 'till dusted areas stand proud.

When hard turn down with sharp tools and sand down to finish which will be a mixture of what you see now and artificial filling, not guarantied to look as appealing as you see it now.

Observations on above:
1: It is going to be very costly in glue.
2: Be very careful of ventilation with so much glue, both in applying and working, breathing the fumes in large quantities is a No No.

 

[bwlossie]

Thanks for the reply CHJ.
I had ALMOST given up hope anyway.
Barry.