Turning Punky Box Elder

[Ken Loy]

I have some nicely spalted Box Elder, but it's giving me a helluva hard time. I think the tree was dead for some time and its rather punky. I tried a push cut and a shear cut with a very sharp gouge. These pictures show the best that I could do with it.

Any suggestions on how to deal with it? Does hardener work?

 

[Randy Anderson]

I get a fair amount of punky wood to work with. It can come with the package for some spalted blanks or ones I just don't get to in time. My typical routine is different cuts, like you've done, different cut directions (uphill vs downhill), very very light cuts, lots and lots of light passes with a NR scraper with a good bur. A lot of times I can get to a surface that works and I don't always try to get to where it's all gone - can be part of the character if it fits and not too deep. I'll sometimes resort to some slow spin sanding with my power sander and 80 grit and just work it down.

 

[john lucas]

Box elder can be a problem even when it's not punky. I use whatever tool.has the most acute cutting edge and will still let me ride the bevel. Soak it with thinned lacquer or minwax wood hardener. Try to cut warmth a shear a gle and dont for e the cut.

 

[Dean Center]

Like John said. After the lacquer has dried, wiping on some paste wax is an additional benefit, presumably by lubricating.

 

[hockenbery]

I start with a screwdriver test. If a dull flat bladed screw driver goes in a 1/2” with no effort I don’t bother.
I probe all over quickly.

then like everyone else different cuts ( pull cut with the wing is usually best)
I try a Spindle gouge if it’s a smallish piece.

If the tear out is minor I wet the piece with water. That often swells the fibers to yield a clean surface.
Next level is thin shellac for me.

 

[Tim Tucker]

Ken take heart. I think am still the master of "tear out". If you look at the pictures on the Monkey Pod thread....I have come to believe that this piece of wood is just too soft. If I had a large enough container to immerse this in a 50/50 mix of lacquer and thinner.... believe I could have saved it. I tried the lacquer immersion ( tho I would think that any material which will dry and harden would work - it was just that I had the lacquer on hand...) on the piece in the picture. I do not have a picture of the rough turned...and I DO mean rough.... spalted Sycamore bowl in the following picture - but an interesting thing you can see in this picture: The pre-cat lacquer I used had a very green color to it. Transparent - but an almost deep olive oil color.....the Sycamore had NO green in it before the 3 week bath it took in the lacquer. But look how the green is present in sort of a pattern in the wood, following along with where the salting lens appear. This - I think - is because that is where the lowest density wood it, and the lacquer filled in more than other areas. It leaves me to wonder if I could duplicate this effect with clear lacquer, and just some drops of Trans-tint....?

 

[Steve Nix]

The way I deal with punky woods is to turn bowl to final shape. Mix a solution using Alumilite Amazing Clear two part epoxy cut with 50% DNA. Brush on mixture until wood is saturated then let dry over night . Make your final cut then don’t be ashamed to start with low grit sandpaper.

 

[John Hicks]

40 grit sandpaper; when all else fails!

 

[hockenbery]

When it stops being fun time to get a new piece of wood

 

[Karl Loeblein]

Try lightly spraying the wood with soapy water or alcohol before making very light cuts.

 

[Donovan Bailey]

40 grit sandpaper; when all else fails!

Couldn't agree more...

 

[Dale Lynch]

made a couple large bowls recently with some bone dry spalted elm that was just as punky if not worse. i dealt with it by using JB weld wood restore liquid hardner. I slathered it on the torn out areas first and then grabbed a handfull of the shavings and rubbed them in.Then I brushed some more of the hardner all over,then let it dry over night.The next day i gave it some super light shear scraping passes to knock down the big patches a little,then I started power sanding with 180 grit cubitron II.The outside was easier than the inside.I had a couple spots where I had to repeat the process a second time on the inside.Despite all the effort the bowls are lumpy and bumpy due to the uneven hardness from one area to the next and wen I oiled them up to finish them off they warped and moved even more.I think they look good with oil and wax.Would look awefull with a gloss finish.