Basswood

[Erwin Nistler]

I been told basswood trees have to be cut in mid winter to get clear wood. Not odd color or grey streaks. Is this correct or is the wood the same cut any time of year? I had thought grey streaks come from mineral in the soil. I live in MN and would like to cut down a basswood now.

 

[Andrew]

Not sure about the time of year to cut basswood (we don't have any of that around here) but the coloration that you speak of is what's called "Mineral Stain". It's not the only kind of wood coloration affecting trees though and may not be the exact cause of the coloration you are referring to. The general term Mineral Stain can refer to anywhere from certain mineral concentrations being transported up through a live tree and reacting with the wood cells or other contaminants; to just an iron nail stuck in the tree leaching minerals and staining the surrounding wood. The exact mechanisms have different names but the general term of Mineral Stain gets us close enough here.

Now, as to why, in the particular case of basswood, it would matter what time of year it was cut as to whether mineral stain was present or not isn't clear. I've not studied basswood. Hope you get an answer as I'm interested too.

- Andrew

 

[George Van Beynen]

Cutting Basswood

I have cut and sawed basswood in northern Wisconsin in the summer; last year after a windstorm. The wood stayed white. The problem was getting the wood dry quick enough to avoid t=turning caramel color or blue staining. We used dry stickers and rotated the pile twice to move new stickers to a new drier spot. If it had not been for the storm I would have cut the trees in the winter the rule for white woods around here is cut in the months that contain an “Râ€Â.

George

 

[Mark Mandell]

Season

I'm not sure, but I seem to remember that wood cut during winter months will not spalt because a basic compound (sugar?) needed by the fungus is not present unless the sap is running. Your "rule" may be a derivation of that. If you cut and surface-dry the boards before stacking, you may avoid the problem. I've also seen some nifty plastic "stickers" that have bumps on each side to keep the wood dry and prevent sticker staining. Don't know who sells them, however.

Good Luck

 

[Andrew]

I'm not sure, but I seem to remember that wood cut during winter months will not spalt because a basic compound (sugar?) needed by the fungus is not present unless the sap is running. Your "rule" may be a derivation of that.
Good Luck

The problem is one of environmental conditions more than anything else. Wood cut in winter tends to have to wait around for a longer time before the right environmental conditions (humidity, heat, etc.) are available to promote spalting (which isn't anything like mineral stain, btw). Too long of a wait will interfere with later spalting attempts because of the trees' vascular system mainly. Not that it can't happen, but it's far less effective than otherwise and you may just not get any spalting at all.

The larger commercial spalting businesses work year round on trees cut at any time of the year because they can put those logs into the right environmental conditions (usually indoors) quickly. Being a smaller operation, I don't have those advantages so I start cutting logs for the spalting business in April. In my area I can expect the right environmental conditions to be present in the late May timeframe. That gives me enough time to cut and prepare about 200 trees for the spring season.

- Andrew

 

[Mark Mandell]

Spalting???

Thanks, Andrew.

BTW, what do you do to get the process going? I've heard stories about burying log sections in mulch, leaves, manure, etc. Can you do sections or does the whole log have to be kept intact?

Thanks again

Mark

 

[Andrew]

Thanks, Andrew.

BTW, what do you do to get the process going? I've heard stories about burying log sections in mulch, leaves, manure, etc. Can you do sections or does the whole log have to be kept intact?

Thanks again

Mark

This is a little article I wrote up some time ago regarding this. I got tired of writing it all out every time someone asked. It's certainly not a complete study of the subject of spalting and I don't get into the nitty gritty details. Just enough to, hopefully, answer the most asked questions by woodworkers and woodturners.

A fungus among us

And, yes, you can do just sections and not entire logs although I would suggest leaving your sections about 25% longer than the final length so you can do some cutting to see how things are progressing periodically.

- Andrew

 

[Erwin Nistler]

The folowing is a reply I got to this question on another forum;
I want oty have the yellowing. This seems like good advice to me.


Basswood is cut in the winter so the color remains bright white. So if color is important, you must cut and saw the wood and have it in the dryer before warmer temps arrive.

Basswood also decays rapidly so regardless of the season it is cut, you need to dry the wood immediately after it is sawed. You can easily cut and saw Basswood in the summer and as long as you get it on stickers right after sawing, with some air flow through your stack, you will get wood that is just as sound as if it was cut in winter. It will be more yellowed than winter cut and dryed, but sound.

Now if you want the bark to stay on the slabs, fall or winter is the only time to cut. Basswood is noted for having tough, stringy bark and anything other than winter cut and the bark will peel off very easily and will fall off when the wood dries.

Gary

Thanks to all of you for your replies.;