I run a commercial spalting operation for, chiefly, 3 companies in
California that mill the 8 - 15' logs and resell. I know one of them sells
to a guitar manufacturer. I mainly deal with American Sycamore, White Oak
and Sweetgum now and ship 2 to 3 times a year several hundreds logs. That
business is built around predictability from start to finish. Your
description of your method isn't predictable and just plain wrong in places.
I'm not saying that you don't get results but you're not getting them
because of why you might think all the time. Take the following as someone
who knows his stuff INFORMING you and not arguing with you. That's how it's
given.

"lying the piece on its side and rotating every couple of months .... more
evently distributed"

Bad practice...

1) You're hurting the woods' protection (bark) by keeping the bark in
contact with the ground.
2) The fungus doesn't pass through the bark and into the sapwood from the
earth unless there's an opening in the bark to allow it. Even so, it's not
optimal and sporatic at best.
3) You're taking far too much time by turning every couple of months.
Depending on where you live, you only have 3 to 8 months (or more if you're
in a tropical climate) of environmental conditions able to support this kind
of fungal growth. Disregard this if you have an environmentally controlled
operation but I know you don't.

If you'll simply put your pieces with one end-grain section down (or against
or whatever to get contact with your soil/bed mixture) then the fungus can
spread throughout the entire section. Remember the idea of wood being a
bundle of straws? The fungus gets sucked up, in a way, into the wood this
way along with the moisture present (and continually refreshed if needed) in
the soild/bed mixture. You'll not only get better dimensional spalting
patterns but you'll get it higher "up" into the log.


"Keep damp and cool..."

What do YOU think these fungus need in growing conditions? It's certainly
not damp and COOL. There are defined parameters of growth needed to support
these particular fungus.

"...shade and a tarp...."

Shade is fine. Direct, intense light isn't good for the wood or the
surrounding growing environment. A tarp is fine as long as it's not ON the
wood itself. Keep it above it or you'll have other problems (but may be
unaware of them as they crop up later)

"If it's anywhere near the bark or dirt, there'll be plenty of spores."

Not even close. Maybe where YOU spalt your pieces there are plenty of these
particular fungus but certainly not everywhere. There are specific fungus
involved here and they aren't everywhere. Move 5 feet away and you may not
have enough to colonize to the degree necessary for spalting or you'll get
minimal results.

"Don't worry about non-wood organics, they aren't what the fungus eats"

Nor are these particular fungus (the specific fungus' involved in the
process that we call "spalting") lignin eaters. There's EATING and then
there's LIVING. Do you live in what you eat? No. Neither do these
particular fungus. The White Rot fungus (of which the "spalting" fungus is
a part of) don't do much structural damage to the wood. The real damagers
are the Brown Rot fungus'. Having a good wood, non-wood, and generally
fungal-friendly environment (such as leaves, manure or other non-sterile as
I mentioned below) is essential to supporting these fungal colonies. The
specific fungus involved here has to be present in whatever soil/bed mixture
you make the wood come into contact with as well. Simply having fungus (in
general) isn't good enough. This is the same idea as people simply putting
a piece of wood into a plastic bag and getting mold/mildew growth and
thinking that it's spalting. HA! They may indeed get some spalting but
it's certainly not due to the mold or mildew. But try telling them that.

- Andrew


"George" wrote in message
...
Or, for good predictability, I have found the best approach to be lying
the
piece on its side and rotating every couple of months to get the spalting
more evenly distributed. Keep damp and cool by whatever required. For
me,
shade and a tarp good enough.

If it's anywhere near the bark or dirt, there'll be plenty of spores.
Don't
worry about non-wood organics, they aren't what the fungus eats.

"AHilton" wrote in message
...
Stand the wood on end (endgrain down to the ground) and seal the top
endgrain. It's best if you'll have some organic matter (leaves, manure,
non-sterile earth) under the wood in order to increase the chances that
the
right kind of fungus is present to do the spalting in the first place.
No
guarantee that you'll have the right environmental conditions or that
you've
got the right kind of White Rot fungus to do the spalting but at least
you're giving it a chance this way.

- Andrew