Help! How to stop fungus rot without causing splitting?

[timfolkard]

I'm new to this game, but have recently acquired some big pieces from a 200 year old beech tree.  There's some nice spalting, but the fungus is obviously still active - mycelium oozing out of the ends (despite PVA I applied).  On the other hand, small radial cracks are appearing, which suggests that it's drying out too fast.  How can I stop the fungus before it turns the whole lot to mush?  Should I cut it into blanks and hope for the best?

The two main pieces are roughly 45cm X 45cm (outside surface with bark) by 25cm thick.  Tree was nearly 2 metres in diameter!

Thanks,
Tim

[bodrighywood]

Wow, not something I have ever come across but I'm sure someone will have. Be interested to see the replies to this one.

Pete

[Twisted Trees]

The fungus will stop when the wood is dry, leaving it's pattern behind. Cut it into blanks to speed the drying may be your best way forward, also stack it to get maximum airflow

Incidentally sealing the end grain is not to stop the wood drying, but to slow it in that direction and enable a balance throughout the wood

[fuzzyturns]

The fungus needs 4 things to grow: food (the wood fibres), moisture, air and limited amounts of light. There's nothing you can do about the food. You can limit the amount of moisture by not allowing any more moisture into the wood. You can expose it to lots of light (but avoid excessive heat, you don't want the wood to dry out too fast, and you can cut off the air supply by dousing the entire piece of wood in a coat of PVA. There will be some initial oozing, yes, but it should stop quickly.
It's always a bit of a gamble, and not all fungi work at the same speed or produce the same result. A block of wood of these dimensions will take a looooong time to dry (according to rule of thumb at least 12 years),  and unless you are likely to use them for large pieces of work, it's probably better to cut them into usable blanks, and then go from there. Or do the rough turning in the green and then dry afterwards.

[Tim Pettigrew]

Here's my take on this.  You have two problems:

• stopping the fungal attack
• seasoning the wood.

Seasoning in my experience is the major problem as Beechwood contracts considerably as it dries and is very prone to cracking.  This is what I would do:

• Don't leave the wood in the round or in large blocks but convert it as soon as possible into faceplate (ie bowl and platter) or spindle blanks.
  
• Give the converted wood liberal coats of 10% aqueous borax solution (retards, but won't entirely eliminate the fungal growth.) Borax crystals can be readily purchased on Ebay.  PM me if you need a source.
  
• If you need more time, some of the smaller pieces of wood can be left soaking in the Borax solution for a week or so until you have the opportunity to move on to the next stage.
  

Note that retarding the drying out by painting with PVA is NOT compatible with Borax treated wood.  There is a chemical reaction between the two and the PVA will not solidify when applied to such wood.

• Turn some of the converted wood to completion and be prepared for the wood to distort as it seasons.
  

AND OR

• Rough turn some of the wood and allow to dry slowly in a cool place where the relative humidity is not below about 48%
  
• Weigh the rough turnings (digital kitchen scales are ideal for this) on a weekly/monthly basis until there is little or no change in weight indicating that the turnings have seasoned.  Depending on the size of the turnings and where they are stored this can take in the region of 3-9 months.  The distorted rough turnings are then ready for re-mounting for final turning (See the attached PDF for recording weight).
  

Hope this helps, it works for me 

Tim

[timfolkard]

Thanks everyone - it's being cut into blanks, and I'll try the borax idea.