On May 14, 2:43 pm, Olebiker wrote:

SNIP

one of his neighbors cut down a big specimen and was having trouble getting rid of it. It has turned beautifully so far.

It is so damn hot around here sometimes that we never see anything of
"spalted wood" unless some is discovered along a creek bed or some
place that stays at least a little shaded and moist.

You might try this if you have a bunch of it. Turn your wood as green
as possible, and then your project to about 20% of final thickness.
Put about 4 inches of the green wet shavings in the bottom of a
plastic grocery bag. Put the piece in a plastic grocery bag, and
then pack in the wet shavings in at about 3-4 inches all the way
around.

Open a beer. Drink as much as you need (this may require two beers)
to cool off. Pour about 3/4 of a beer into the shavings and cinch up
the top. Put the bagged piece into another bag with knots down, so
that when you tie the top of the second bag you have knots on both
sides.

Toss this into a cool, dark place (for me, under my shed) for about
three - four months. If you can wait six months - even better - just
in time for Christmas gifts!

When I have done this it spalts like crazy and looks like it has been
on the forest floor for years. I tried all kinds of recipes by adding
molasses, sugar, honey, etc, but none of them really made any
difference.

The cool part is that when you get to the end of your wait period it
is like unwrapping a present. DON"T forget to wear your particle
mask, though. I have pulled these out and they have been anywhere
from slightly spalted with just a few ink lines to slimy and messy
from me putting way to much moisture in the bag. It doesn't really
need that much. If I upack them to take a look after a couple of
months, I will add more beer as needed to wet the shavings.

Some of the pieces I have forced to spalt this way have come out
beautifully.

Robert