"JRJohnson" wrote in message
...

"Leif Thorvaldson" wrote in message
...

"Derek Andrews" wrote in
message
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JRJohnson wrote:
Guys, I just got a couple of large box elder trees that blew down in
the
latest storm. The reason they blew down was that they were rotted up
the
heart. Only 1-3" of wood on the outside was solid. But when I cut
the
trunks up, it had the most beautiful spalting and color you could
imagine.
The problem is that the wood is too soft to turn.

Does anyone know of a method to harden the wood? A thin epoxy, or
something
like that? Even a liquid plastic in a high pressure vessel? Any
successes
out there at all? This stuff is absolutely beautiful, and it would
pain
me
to toss it out.

I have used acrylic floor polish with some success on moderately punky
wood. Future Acrylic Floor Finish, but I suspect most brands will work.

I rough turn if possible and then submerge it in a jar of the finish
for
a
day, then leave to dry.

There are two part epoxy wood restorers available, I think the company
is
Smith & Co

--
Derek Andrews, woodturner

http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com
http://chipshop.blogspot.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toolrest/

=====I have used a liquid called Wood Hardener that seems to work.
Dries
very quickly and doesn't penetrate very deeply, so I just turn until I
run
out of the hardened area and brush on some more.

Leif

Unfortunately, this wood is so soft and punky that I cannot turn it. I
can tear chunks out of it with my bare hands. If it weren't so dabburned
beautiful, I would just toss it and not even consider turning it but......
James J

I had basically the same experience with cottonwood and birch, but managed
to get a box and a bowl out of the pieces. Maybe your wood is more advanced
in decomposition than mine was. Check out the following url:
http://www.minwax.com/products/woodmaint/hardener.cfm
Leif