spalted maple

I am commissioned to do a bowl for a lady using spalted maple and she asked this question. If a salad bowl is made from spalted maple is it safe to put food in it since it has a fungus in which made it spalted? What should I tell her. Bill

Reply to
Bill Badland
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Tell her it won't hurt her. She's not going to be breathing in what extremely few dormant spores there could be in there as long as she takes care of the bowl and doesn't let it go to dust. This also assumes that you have let the bowl get below 20% RH for a few weeks before you apply any finish to it.

Watch out how spalted the bowl is or else it'll seep and leak pretty badly. This can be taken care of with a good filming finish but then you have other concerns to deal with as to toxicity levels and time.

- Andrew

Reply to
AHilton

Have you never heard of penicillin? Molds have been contesting their dinner with bacteria for billions of years. The toxins they have stumbled upon are antibiotics, and _allergens_ to many.

Not to mention the make-the-world-safe-for-bacteria society would descend on you for fostering resistant strains.

Tell her you don't know, because birch ain't brie.

Reply to
George

I'm not sure where in this thread anyone was selling wood, but you're welcome to fill your pickup with some from my woodpile if you pass through upper Michigan.

Reply to
George

I have turned several bowls from spalted maple and nobody has died yet. At least I don't think so. I finish them with mineral oil and tell the recipient to refinish from time to time. My biggest problem is high failure rate because of hidden interior flaws. The successes are some of the stuff I am proudest of and well work the occasional wasted time.

Bob Moody

Reply to
Bob Moody

Actually, the only fear from spalted wood is for other wood that may spalt. We are not made of lignin and thus do not need to worry about those particular organisms. Just make sure to avoid the dust while turning as it is as dangerous as any other dust.

Reply to
Darrell Feltmate

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