What to do with ugly maple

ttalma

ttalma

Well-known member
A few years ago I was given about 500BF of hard maple. Last night I discover about 100 BF has a wierd stain to it. I am not sure what happened, and the wood was milled at least 40 years ago.

I would guess some sort of mold or fungus got to it while drying since the outside of the boards looks creamy white, it starts just below the surface and goes all the way through. If it's spaluting it not like any i've seen before.

When planed it looks like someone did a really bad job trying to stain it black.

But other than the color the wood seems fine. Solid and heavy with no checking.

The question is can I use this anywhere? I was thinking as secondary wood, but hard maple seems like I'm asking for trouble making dust dividers. If I use if on upolstered furniture I think the upolsterer(sp?) would not be happy!

So should I use this or is it fire wood?
 
Fire wood sounds good to me, gas and oil are on the rise!

(If it is paintable why not use it for painted back boards on a cupboard.)

Dennis Bork
 
Tim,

I was told by a conservator that he's never seen a piece of maple furniture that didn't have evidence of having been painted reddish brown.  Maple, and probably soft maple, was a favorite wood of New England cabinetmakers seeking to fake mahogany.  Curled maple was especially helpful, as the paints used allowed the figure to show through resulting in a convincing figured mahogany.

A lot of us are spending our time, and some our entire working lives producing furniture that would have looked like the alien mother ship to people of the 18th c.  That maple offers the perfect opportunity explore the furniture people living then would have known.  Its an opportunity to play with period finishes.  I have it in my power to put you in contact with a painter I use who has years of experience painting 18th c repros.  She's gotten to the point where she's making her own 18th c paint brushes.

Adam
 

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Tim,
  I have to tell you what happened to me.  I had a large silver maple cut down on my property ,soft maple,  I had it sawn into boards by having a bandsaw guy come and saw it up on the property.  Unfortunately he could not come for about a month.  This was in the summer.  By the time he was able to saw it turned a creamy yellow in the rough it was starting to spauld.  I was po'ed.  I then stored it under my deck with some walnut under various ineffectual covers.  I discovered it wet with mice , rot in some spots etc.  I was very upset as there was about a 1000 bd ft of maple, 4" ,2" and 5/4.  Some of it 24" wide.  I thought crap!  Its just good for secondary and painted.  However,  I eventually got around to trying to use it.  And then thought lets see what it looks like with a dye stain dark or brown.  And whatdo you know,  all the spalded lines, cream colors and blueblack spots virtually disappeared and wonderful shimmer grain and tiger that was not visible did appear.  I have since used almost all of it up for large tables for clients and chests and drawers.  Sometimes unstained with oil and it looks great.  So I say don't give up just yet .  Try sanding real good and going over with various dyes and stains and some kinds of finish to see what you have got. 
Good Luck!!!
John P
 
Personally the maple is still usable.  It will be great for secondary woods for: drawer sides/back, runners, kickers, glue blocks, great for seat frame for chairs (ash & maple are upholster's favorite woods to tack into).  Also, the use of chemicals can be used to stain it different colors.  The way I look at it is that it' wood and it just adds character to the whole thing.  So use it and have fun with it!

Freddy Roman
 
Tim -

If you don't like spalted maple, I'd suggest selling it.  Typically, maple that is correctly spalted (i.e., spalted but not rotten) goes for a premium over run-of-the-mill maple, though not as much as curly or quilted maple.

If you intend to use the maple for secondary wood or in a painted piece for someone else (either a paying client or a friend/family memeber)  I'd suggest giving it a ride in a kiln.  The kiln will kill any active mold/mildew infestation that otherwise might cause some problems for someone that's sensitive, particularly if used in the interior of a case piece that's used to store clothing.  A less preferable way to do this would be to thoroughly seal all surfaces both inside and outside the piece with a film finish such as shellac or polyurethane.
 
Thanks for all of the suggestions. I never really thought about painting it. And fortunately it's only about 100bf. So that will get used up quick.

It's hard when you see what you think is a nice piece of wood and you’re wholly disappointed. I have more (Lots more) so that’s not the issue. I just hate to think of a piece of wood going to waste. I hoard wood, which is bad when I'm trying to store it, but good when I need it.

I always follow the 300% rule. If you think about building something you should buy the wood for it + 300% more. Actually building the piece is irrelevant

Hello, my name's Tim, and I'm a woodaholic
 
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