Wood saver???

[Jason Silva]

I have three blocks of highly figure spalted maple 20x20x2 inches thick. It is gorgeous wood but is so punky it almost resembles cork at this point. Should i use it as firewood or is there hope?

 

[MichaelMouse]

Tough to walk away from some things, isn't it? But remember, wood does grow on trees.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/You-Know-its-Rotten-When.jpg

That wad of mush was in the hole behind it. I didn't even bother to throw the carcass in the stove. It's out in the woods.

 

[waltben]

I've saved some box elder pieces (a soft maple) that was pretty bad by using a lot of thin CA, but it also wasn't all that large. Years ago I tried something Minwax made for decayed wood, but it was a kind of polymer that never got hard enough to turn - it would just get really messy instead of cutting. Don't know how large or extensive the decay is in your piece, but if there's a fair amount of solid wood, you could probably save it. MM's piece didn't look like it had any at all!

 

[Jim Silva]

I use a product called Minwax Wood hardener and have for years.
It's very thin and penetrates deeply. It makes the wood considerably harder to turn but I've saved some spectacularly bad pieces of wood with it.

Just be generous with the application and let it dry for a day.

Jim

 

[Matthew Clarke]

You might want to try a product called Polyall 2000. Just Google the name to get the website of the manufacturer. I have used minwax wood hardener in the past. Sometimes you get great results, sometimes you don't. The Polyall 2000 gives you great results each time. However there are two downsides. First it is a two part product that costs about $80. Second, when you mix it, the chemicals create an exothermic reaction (gives off heat). So, you have to work fast, unless you keep the mixture quite cool (keep the container you mix it in bathed in some ice). Now, the upside is that it goes into the punky wood right away and hardens the wood almost immediately. You can turn the blank after 10 minutes. Once you begin to turn the piece, you turn away the surface that was darkend and reveal all that beautiful spalting in its natural state. After you complete the project, you can use any finish that you like. I have used shellac, lacquer, polyurathane and danish oil (not on the same piece) with no problem. Just remember that the wood must be completely dry for the compound to work. I think that, if you try it, you will really like it. Good luck,

Matt

 

[odie]

I use a product called Minwax Wood hardener and have for years.
It's very thin and penetrates deeply. It makes the wood considerably harder to turn but I've saved some spectacularly bad pieces of wood with it.

Just be generous with the application and let it dry for a day.

Jim

I used the Minwax Wood hardener for the first time within the past week, so it's fresh on my mind. I had a maple bowl with some really nice color, but it had a very punky rotten streak through it.

The hardener did seem to penetrate all the way through the rotted spot on the roughed bowl, which was about 3/4" thick. As was hoped for, the rotten portion of the wood was harder than before. With the dried and hardened surface, very sharp tools responded a little better, but still was unable to get a clean enough surface to forego some pretty coarse sanding. I ended up with a bowl that looks ok, but the sanding required meant a very uneven surface. This was because of the difference in hardness between the good maple and the punky stuff. The bowl is reasonably sound, but isn't anything I'd ever attempt to sell.......it will be a give-away bowl.

I believe this Minwax wood hardener might work out fairly well on some wood blanks, but there appears to be a point where the wood will be unsalvageable using it.

I'd try the Minwax wood hardener. It's not so expensive that a little experimenting can't be done without large cash investment. It seems to work as advertised, but my particular piece of wood was just too rotten to save.

ooc

 

[john lucas]

I bought some minwax wood hardener. I haven't used it yet. It was very hard to find. I bought the last bottle in our town and was told that they wouldn't order any more.
I've been using thinned lacquer to harden punky wood. I think it about 50/50 with lacquer thinner. It's cheaper than thin CA and penetrates deeper. The smell is bad but nothing compared to CA in the nose. I'm not sure it makes the wood as hard.
I usually put on quite a few coats and let it harden for a good while. I use lacquer or Mahoney's walnut oil for my bowls and compatibility hasn't been a problem. The only problem is sanding. It clogs sandpaper pretty badly. I've found that using a file card (one of those things you use to clean clogged metal out of files) will clean the sandpaper and let you get more use out of it before tossing it. This also works well for sandpaper clogged with green wood fibers.