What is spalted maple? And does it make a good rifle stock?

Spalted wood of any kind is in the very earliest stages of rot. The spalt is a design made by a wood fungus as it travels up the grain of the wood. Spalted wood can be extremely beautiful; the spalt itself is usually a dark brown or black but the rest of the wood can be changing colors as well, usually darkening. Spalted wood is very popular with wood turners. I don't know what effect it has on the overall strength of the wood but I would predict that as spalting increases, strength decreases. I would thoroughly dry the wood before embarking on any kind of project.

Since spalted is rotted I wouldn't use it for a gun stock - too weak. They do use spalted wood for knife handles but this has been 'stabilized' that is vacuum impregnated with acrylic.Do a computer search for 'stabilized wood' and you'll find photos of it.

I know that Spalted-maple is sometimes used for making acoustic guitar bodies.

I believe the term “spalted†refers to the huge grain patterns in the wood that look almost like large designs that were drawn onto the wood with a dark marker.

I don’t care for the look myself, but that’s a personal thing.

Usually stabalized to harden it to make beautiful handles on custom knives.

The spalt itself is actually a fungi that causes rot and leaves a streaking or spider web patern in the grain that can range from tan to black. But to be spalted means that the wood has not yet started the rot process and is still COMPLETELY STABLE. There is a very fine line between rot and spalt though. You can tell very easily though when it hit the rot stage because it will smell funky and the wood becomes spongy to the touch. It is also mostly black at this point. I have used a lot of spalted maple in furniture I have made and love the stuff.

The main reason for the stabilizing of spalted wood is two fold.

First - spalting is much more prevelant in very unstable woods like sycamore and cotton wood but it does occur in maple and others. In order to take advantage of the beautiful grain and figure the stabilize the wood so it doesnt twist and warp on them.

Second - spalted woods are usually harvested very wet and the acylic they use displaces the moisture in the wood and allows the wood to be salvaged without gettting any drying checks or splits. This is especially used in spalted burls since it also fills any voids that are present.

I would use a nice piece of spalted maple or cherry for a stock in a heart beat. But beware that getting proper grain layout in a piece that has spalted will be tough since it tends to occur in worst places for grain structure in the tree. You can find some very nice pieces on Ebay, just do a search for "spalted".

They use it for guitars. There are several examples of different woods on this site as well as some amazing woodwork.

I've seen a fair number of spalted maple gunstock blanks for sale on ebay, they all looked like flame shell figure to me, very pretty.

I’m sure glad that M1 Tanker posted that explanation...for a moment I thought “Spalted Maple†was a new flavor of coffee at Starbucks!

quote:

Originally posted by Rick 0311:
I’m sure glad that M1 Tanker posted that explanation...for a moment I thought “Spalted Maple†was a new flavor of coffee at Starbucks!

Or ice-cream at Baskin-Robbins.....

I just saw my friends maple tree that came down in a wind storm.It broke because it was spalted.So I repeat my comment - spalted wood is too weak for rifle stocks !!

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
I just saw my friends maple tree that came down in a wind storm.It broke because it was spalted.So I repeat my comment - spalted wood is too weak for rifle stocks !!

I am sorry to tell you, but it wasnt the spalt that made the tree weak. Spalting is nothing except a fungus that causes a color change to areas of the wood. The spalting itself in no way shape or form causes the wood to weaken. If your friends tree came down it was because it had crossed into rotting and was way past spalting. It is a fine line between spalt and rot, but it is still a definative line.

JeeWizz,
In all my years I've never seen such misguided and genuinely bad information about a simple subject. I don't know how you fellows can fawn off such drivel on the honest folks that frequent this arena.
Anybody who has been around at all simply knows that SPALTED MAPLE only comes from one source.
Golf Courses!!!
And just how do trees get SPALTED?
Golf clubs, that's the truth of it. Spalted maple only comes from those singular trees that grow next to golf courses that have been beaten by the golf clubs of frustrated golfers. Beating on maple trees with golf clubs causes spalting, nothing else can do that to a tree, period, end of sentence!
PLEASE!!! Don't try to con these unsuspecting nimrods with this hoaks.
Spalted is not rotten, you guys are!

Hmm, maybe those singular trees are dying because maples grow best in partial shade instead of being completely exposed on a golf course.