Spalting your turning wood with Urine

The whole premise of the article is you can't do anything to speed up or enhance the spalting process beyond placing the wood in the best environment.

Drink the beer, don't waste it!
 
How to really hurry the spalting process:

1) keep it warm (~80-85 degrees F)

2) keep it wet (~20-25% MC)

3) keep it dark (fungi don't like light)

So other wise keep the wood in the bathroom. I keep my barrels and other parts of my Muzzle loader in the bath room while browning the parts. Warm and humid.
 
Daves Comment - - -How to really hurry the spalting process:

1) keep it warm (~80-85 degrees F)

2) keep it wet (~20-25% MC)

3) keep it dark (fungi don't like light)

So other wise keep the wood in the bathroom. I keep my barrels and other parts of my Muzzle loader in the bath room while browning the parts. Warm and humid.


The point of the article is to hopefully stop some people from paying money for riduculous ideas that people try to sell to others, and then explain the spalting process simply............and for free.............see the above............
 
Some of the best spalted maple I've found was next to carpenter ant colonies in a live maple. Maybe ant piss is the ticket? Now I've heard of harvesting deer piss for hunting attractants but I'm not sure how to collect ant piss.........:rofl: Maybe the ants have little micro-breweries going in the colony. So it could be ant beer that causes spalting?:D
 
Sara Robinson went to my favorite university, Michigan Tech. She just received her PHD in Biology. Here MS was in spalting wood and her PHD was in colored spalting wood. Our AAW Chapter, Superiorland Chapter, was lucky enough to have her give a presentation. She is very knowledgeable and very interesting to listen to.

However, I have heard of turning the pith out of wood, but this is kind of literal..:dunno:...:rofl: Ok, I stole that joke from Bill Grumbie from his video Turned Bowls Made Easy.
 
I just throw the wood outside on the ground & let nature take it's course. To help it out I turn the wood once in a while.

Sara told us that if you go out in a hardwood cutting about 3 to 6 years after it was cut, you can find various types of fungi growing on stumps and logs rotting. You can take these and rub you green wood with the fungi, put in a plastic tote with a little water, put the top on and let it grow. Depending on the type of wood you use, depends on how long it takes to spalt.
 
I just let people come around my booth and tell me they have a tree with "that disease" and I can have it if I want... I picked up a whole tree...:D (It was already cut up into smaller pieces... the trunk was over 2 ft dia at the base.)
 
Sara told us that if you go out in a hardwood cutting about 3 to 6 years after it was cut, you can find various types of fungi growing on stumps and logs rotting. You can take these and rub you green wood with the fungi, put in a plastic tote with a little water, put the top on and let it grow. Depending on the type of wood you use, depends on how long it takes to spalt.

Tried that with black plastic trash bags. Didn't work. Nuttin' happened after almost a full summer.
OTOH, my neatly stacked and stickered beautiful maple slabs in the garage, with fan blowing on it almost six months straight almost all spalted. Ruint for building stuff. Will have lots and lots of pen blanks though. :(
 
How to really hurry the spalting process:

1) keep it warm (~80-85 degrees F)

2) keep it wet (~20-25% MC)

3) keep it dark (fungi don't like light)

So other wise keep the wood in the bathroom. I keep my barrels and other parts of my Muzzle loader in the bath room while browning the parts. Warm and humid.

Or just rent some space in a mushroom house over in Kennet Square, Pa sounds as if it would be the answer.
 
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