the prettiest worthless wood u will see

[dehrlich]

Today I decided to 're stack an old pile of firewood that was on my property when I bought the place. Some of the pieces were pretty big so I got the chain saw to cut them up. When I cut into them I found some nice spalting in what appears to be maple or could be hackberry. Problem is it has gone too far and is soft in over half of the material. I know it could be stablized but not sure it would be worth it. Anyway, you never know what you will find in a firewood pile.

[mtylerfl]

That is a very interesting/attractive pattern in the wood - hate to see it go to waste. I wonder if the MinWax Wood hardener would stabilize that. I've used it for hardening soft parts of posts and sill before filling with epoxy filler and paint, and does a great job. I have no idea if it would work well for that piece you have there or not. I seem to recall the wood hardener has a residual "tackiness" after application, but never let it dry long enough to see if that goes away after a few days. A clear coat would take care of that, I imagine. I buy the wood hardener at Home Depot.

[gashawk]

Kind a reminds me of emerald ash borers. Remember its not kiln dried and can come "alive" at any time.

[unitedcases]

Last time I went to the lumber yard they gave me a piece of amber to try. Or north Carolina Swamp wood as we call it. Looks very similar.

[dehrlich]

I have used and sold lots of spalted wood over the years. It's actually caused by a fungus, generally started after the tree has been cut. Trick is to let it go long enough to get good color but not so long that it starts to degrade. Had I known this stuff was spalted, I would have cut it years ago when I first bought the place and it may have been ok. I have some hackberry I got in a similar fashion several years ago, cut and dried before it got too soft. There are several pieces, I may try to see what i can do with it. Hate to see figured lumber go to waste too.

Here is a coffee table I made many years ago using some spalted maple. The top is one very wide board, 17" if I recall.

[eelamb]

It looks like maple to me. here are some images of a box I made years ago using spalted maple. Coloring is great.