Blank Canvas Arts and Crafts

Spalted Maple

When a piece of wood starts to rot and decay the fungi and mould combines to produce a strange reaction. This phenomenon causes a wonderful array of lines, colours and patterns that stain the wood. This process creates stunning visual effects and is known as spalting. The best examples of spalting usually occur in lighter coloured woods such as Beech, Maple, Birch and sometimes Oak.

When it comes to woodturning blanks, spalted wood is highly prized by all wood turners. Because it is sought after timber, some craftsmen actually try artificially inducing the spalting process to replicate the fantastic patterns. This usually involves placing a piece of wood inside a plastic bin liner along with a small amount of water, beer and Oak leaves. A small piece of rotting or spalted wood will also speed up the process.

Spalted wood is commonly found on the forest floor. If a tree branch has been brought down by strong winds and left on the ground, you can guarantee that spalting will follow fairly quickly. Spalting only occurs in certain conditions for example, where some moisture is present and in certain temperatures. When the wood dries the fungi is killed but the amazing patterns remain.

The only downside with spalted wood is the reduced strength in some cases. This means sometimes it is difficult to work with. If a piece of timber has been decaying for too long, it can be particularly weak. This problem is not an insurmountable one but decayed wood will require treatment with a specialist wood hardener. This will make the piece stable and suitable for most wood turning or carving projects.

Some of the most impressive turned objects you will see are made out of spalted wood. If you do not fancy purchasing spalted woodturning blanks, you can always ask Mother Nature to help you out by collecting some dead wood from the forest floor. This is a readily available source of spalted wood as long as you have permission and don’t mind getting your hands dirty.

The author is passionate about all aspects of woodturning. He has particular expertise working with and inducing spalted wood. You can see more of his work by visiting Woodturning Tools which is his personal tools & equipment weblog. Here you will gain a valuable insight into the life of a full time professional woodturner. Discover which tools and equipment are worthy of purchase, and which to avoid.

would this type of guitar be good for metal?

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Michael-Kelly-Patriot-Limited-Spalted-Maple-Top-Electric-Guitar-513845-i1276120.gc

I’m a firm believer that 99% of tone is in the fingertips, and any guitar can be a good guitar for metal if it’s in the right hands.

Personally, I like a longer scale, as one of those guys mentioned, but then again, lots of great metal has been played on Les Pauls, which have the same scale length as the guitar you have in mind.

As far as having 24 frets goes, that’s another thing that I prefer. But, truthfully, I only very rarely actually use the last fret, and I’d do fine on a 22, but the 24th fret is great as a marker to measure where to hit a harmonic at. Imagine going proportionally five frets past the 24th, that’s where you pinch to get the harmonic when you’re fretting the 5th. That could also be done by feel, and isn’t the most necessary thing, but I like it.

It doesn’t have the strongest pickups, but with the right amplification they’ll do fine. At least they’re not those wussy single coils.

Your best bet to know if it’s right for you is to actually pick it up and play it. I mean, according to the specs listed in the link, it has most of the attributes I seek in a good guitar, but there’s a certain intangible quality I look for too, so who knows?

Luna Guitars Woodland Series Spalt Maple Acoustic Guitar Product Spotlight

large ambrosia maple spalt bowl blank beautiful color amd figure $15.00

large ambrosia maple spalt bowl blank beautiful color amd figure $15.00

SPALTED MAPLE WOOD BLOCK $4.00

SPALTED MAPLE WOOD BLOCK $8.00

SPALTED MAPLE WOOD BLOCK $2.00

(¯`’•.¸Spalted Maple Burl Turkey Call Blanks•’´¯) $5.00

SPALTED MAPLE WOOD BLOCK $2.00

SPALTED MAPLE WOOD BLOCK $2.00

SPALTED MAPLE WOOD BLOCK $4.00

SPALTED MAPLE WOOD BLOCK $3.00

SPALTED MAPLE WOOD BLOCK $3.00

SPALTED MAPLE WOOD BLOCK $20.00

SPALTED MAPLE WOOD BLOCK $2.00

SPALTED MAPLE WOOD BOOK MATCH SET OF 4 $22.00

SPALTED MAPLE WOOD BOOK MATCH SET OF 4 $26.00

Left Hand Kitchen Utensil Set – 6 Ambrosia Maple Utensils – Ambrosia Maple Holder $105.00 LEFT HAND ORIENTATION Functional Kitchen Decor. Hostess, shower, executive or Wedding Gift. A special treat for the chef in your home, this functional and beautiful Kitchen Utensil Set is unique and original! It includes: Utensil Holder: Freehand cut on our bandsaw of Ambrosia Beetle (Flag) Spalted Maple and six great utensils hand carved from matching flag maple. Included are: our unique Oven Rac…

Spalted Maple Handcrafted Wine Bottle Stopper $44.95 Give the gift of exotic wood – this handcrafted Wine Bottle Stopper exudes luxury and will be the talk of the table at your next dinner party! Each wine bottle stopper is carefully crafted from exotic woods, and therefore each one shipped will be different from another – the picture illustrates four of such stoppers. They’re hand selected, so no two are ever alike – the perfect one of a kind gift…

Spalted Maple Napkin Rings Man and nature often grapple over who can create the most beautiful object. Here they work in tandem. Spencer Peterman, who recovers and turns fallen trees into works of functional art, each of these one-of-a-kind napkin rings is made from spalted maple. Spalted wood comes naturally embellished with patterns reminiscent of pen and ink drawings. It is also a sustainable resource, causing no harm to…

Classic 8mm Laminate in Flaxen Spalted Maple $56.95 U1417 Features: -Edge: Square.-AC Rating: AC4.-Planks Come In: 2 Strip.-Simple and beautiful with natural wood textures for a sleek transition.-Fit for commercial operations with standard amounts of foot traffic such as a small shop or office.-Wall Base: 7QSB1417.-Quarter Round: 7QSQ1417.-Overlap Stair Nose: 7QSS1417.-Incizo: 7QSMULT1417.-Sealant: 1QSKIT14. Construction: -Constructions: Laminate….

Mannington Adura Lock Spalted Georgian Maple Honeytone AW522S Mannington Adura LockSolid Luxury Vinyl Plank Spalted Georgian Maple Plank Honeytone AW522S…

Mannington Coordinations Natural Spalted Maple 8mm 56013L Mannington Coordinations Collection Natural Spalted Maple 8mm Laminate 56013L…

Evaluating loss of machinability in spalted sugar maple.: An article from: Forest Products Journal $9.95 This digital document is an article from Forest Products Journal, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2007. The length of the article is 3609 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle: Evalu…

Queen Cutlery Skinner Hunter Fixed Blade Knife with Fossilized Spalted Maple Handle $64.86 Features: Blade length: 3 3/4″. Overall length: 8 1/2″. Blade material: D2 Steel. Full tang construction….

Queen Cutlery Drop Point Hunter Fossilized Spalted Maple Burl Handle D2 Tool Steel Knife $64.02 Queen Drop Point Hunter Fossilized Spalted Maple Burl Handles. 8″ overall, 3 1/2″ satin finish D2 tool steel drop point blade. Full tang construction. Embossed leather belt sheath….

Queen Cutlery Sabre Hunter Fossilized Spalted Maple Burl Wood Handle D2 Tool Steel Knife $67.79 Queen Sabre Hunter D2 Tool Steel Blade Knife. 8 1/2″ overall length. 3 3/4″ polished tool steel clip blade. Fossilized spalted maple burl wood handles. Full tang construction. Embossed leather belt sheath….