Turning spalted wood

sawmill · Post by **sawmill** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:59 pm

Has any one turned splated wood on the lathe. I have an 18 foot long 7X7 beam and I cut a chunk off from it and made some bud vases for my wife. It turned good but I had a few places where it wanted to tear the grain. I sanded the tear areas out and everything came out alright. Should I run the speed a little faster to prevent this? I am going to play around with the lathe for the next few days as the outside temps is suppose to be -15 to -20 outside.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:02 pm

Maybe one of our experienced turners will come to your aid here - but until then I will recommend a gouge with a more acute angle (about 40 degrees) and very sharp.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:24 pm

What Chuck said about the gouge being SHARP. Rmember that spalted wood is moldy wood. Might want to wear a GOOD dust mask and run the dust collector.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 2:06 am

beeg wrote: What Chuck said about the gouge being SHARP. Rmember that spalted wood is moldy wood. Might want to wear a GOOD dust mask and run the dust collector.

Yeah! Forgot about that! Cough - cough!:(

rdewinter · Post by **rdewinter** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:24 am

Two things are required to turn spalted wood:
1) very sharp chisels
2) patience

I turned a spalted maple pen for my wife for Christmas using a 1"x1" pen blank. Took me three hours as I wanted to be very careful. You know what I mean when you get a lot of time invested in a turning project simply to ruin it with a careless mistake. Sharpen and/or touch up your chisels more often than you think. Sanding, I found, was very slow on the hard maple, so sharp chisels are the key.

Also a anti-fatigue mat would be a good thing. Standing at the lathe for a long time takes a toll on the feet. I just bought some 2'x2' interlocking anti-fatigue tiles at Costco for under $13. There are 8 tiles to a package. Two tiles by the lathe works real well for me.

Enjoy your "sharp" turning and let's see some pictures.

Bob
San Diego

davevz · Post by **davevz** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:33 pm

A little off the point, but thought you all might enjoy this. I was at an art show last weekend and they had a turner from GA displaying there that had turned a large ten inch jar out of Sabal Palm. That's right out of Sabal Palm, it was exquisite. Those of you that know that wood probably are as amazed as I was. His wife said that he would turn some and then put a light bulb in the jar over night before resuming the process. Wish I had that kind of talent.
Thanks for permitting me to digress.
Davevz

jbooher · Post by **jbooher** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:53 pm

One of my favorite turning is a spalted maple bowl. As said before wear a dust mast and have sharp tools.

james.miller · Post by **james.miller** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 9:03 pm

For the soft spots of the spalted wood I have heard of a couple of ways to turn it.

1. soak the soft part in a mixture of water and white glue for several hours then let it dry before turning it any further.

2. Soak the soft part in diluted lacquer and let it dry. This is much faster but might not finish the same as the rest of the turning unless finishing with the same lacquer.

I've also been told by a master wood-turner that life is too short to turn crappy wood.

But it is a good learning experience to turn difficult woods.

One last thought, if turning a pen you could use thin CAA to harden the soft part then when it is ready for a finish use medium or thick CAA on it.

grouser · Post by **grouser** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:12 pm

Speed is not really gonna help you but it should be turning fast. especially if you doin a pen. More important is the sharpness and cutting action. If you can't get it to cut on on the bevel turn the tool over and use a shearing cut. Try different tools at different angles cutting and scraping and shear cuts. One tool will usually come up better then the others. If all else fails start with 80 grit and sand it down. DUST MASK IS REQUIRED!!!! I turned a piece of spalted alder and suffered an asthma attack, still have asthma,,,funny thing is I'm 46 and never had it before,,,don't take chances!!!!:eek:

drl · Post by **drl** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 1:39 pm

I have a question regarding the CA glue(s) used in turning. I have not use "Super glues" except for their use in "instant" repair projects. How do you use this glue (application) in turning and finishing? Seems to me you would end up with pieces of rag/paper towel/finger glued to the turning piece.
Regards,
Dwight