That Wood is Rotten!

I recently completed a table that featured spalted maple, a very unique and beautiful wood. Spalting is basically a process that certain woods undergo while they rot! Who would have thought that letting something decay could actually make it more beautiful?

Insects and fungi are the two main mechanisms of decay in wood, with fungal decay causing the most deterioration. These parasitic fungi feed off carbohydrates and leave behind waste products that can stain and colour the wood. A certain kind of "white rot" is responsible for the spalted maple you see above, leaving behind black pigments as waste. The lines indicate zones of decay where the wood has been attacked by the rot.

If left in the right conditions for the right amount of time you can get some incredible results, but if left too long the wood will completely decay and turn to dust. To stop the rot is actually fairly easy, you just need to dry the wood below 20% moisture content and since most finished lumber is dried to 8-10% you don't need to worry about the rot once it has been properly dried.

So think about using some rotten wood next time, the results can be stunning! 

MB

Innovation (ie doing something NEW)

It's probably a cliche to say, but it seems that innovation isn't that easy afterall. 

A chair is a fairly simple object. It's not a space shuttle, it's not a quantum computer, it's not a carbon nano-tube; it's just a chair. It's been rebuilt, modified, extended, reworked, cut, carved, bent, and molded...and after all of that it's still just a chair. 

Stephen Hogbin is an artist/woodworker with incredible skill and, more importantly, an incredible ability to innovate. In the 70's he decided that he wanted to try turning really big pieces of wood (like 76" in diameter big) because he believed that taking slices of these massive turnings would reveal cross sections of tremendous beauty.  At the time there was no way to turn a 7' piece of wood on a lathe, but with his father in law's help Hogbin pieced together a variable speed lathe to realize his vision using the differential and rear axle from a truck. 

Hogbin's work is valuable because it's both beautiful and inspirational. It may seem simple, but what Hogbin did in creating his truck axle lathe is what innovation requires: a vision and the tools required to realize that vision. If the tools don't exist you just have to go out there and create them yourself...

Here's a link to his website where you check out some of his work:

http://www.makersgallery.com/hogbin/

I know it's just a chair, but to me it's more than that. To me it's an example of what it takes to create something that is truly NEW...and you know what, to me innovation is a beautiful thing.

MB