Spalted Exotics and Spalting in Tropical Hardwood

I’ve never seen padauk sapwood, let alone spalted padauk sapwood. No doubt that would make a very interesting piece.

-- -=Pride is not a sin=-

Having never seen Paduak sapwood, is there a chance that it always spalts? I would not know. In any case, too bad it is so thin in relationship to the rest of the board. Still, it will make very neat accent colors in whatever you build with this Paduak.

-- Paul, Tennessee, http://www.tsunamiguitars.com

So far, I have only found 2 slabs out of 8 that have the spalted figure in the sapwood.

This morning I have been working with some Gabon Ebony I bought from the same guy, and lo and behold the sapwood is once again Spalted!!!

Am I dreaming here or this more common than I know because I’m still a rookie?

Post the pics in another hour after I lightly sand the board to make sure I’m not jst sleep deprived and wanting to see what I want to see….

Thanks for the input, I appreciate all opinions.

—-Village Boy~

Update above:

A pair of spalted friends. Gabon Ebony meets Spalted Padouk :-))

Most all sapwoods rot, but some look nice as they do so we call it “spalting”. Much nicer term, I think anyway. Anyway, it’s more likely your wood source uses a sawyer that leaves their wood in the weather for a while before slicing it up. Most places prefer fresh wood, but many like spalted stuff. What the heck, looks good from here. So long as it isn’t pithy it should be just fine.

-- Power tools put us ahead of the monkeys

Yep so far, the spalted areas of the boards are not pithy, some have bug holes, and the rest look like the spalted patterns were drawn on with a calligraphy pen!

Cleaned up the spalted Gabon Ebony board and adding pics today.

I have just never encountered spalted hardwoods from Africa before and wondered if it was fairly normal to see stuff like this or not.

Going to pick up a few more boards this week and I’m hoping for a wood gloat!

The Pursuit of Wicked Gorgeous Lumber, A Noble Undertaking

Village Boy~

Spalted Gabon Ebony.

Never heard of this one yet. I think this piece might need one wood gloat. Tell me what you guys think.

I think this spalting stuff is pretty cool. There is I think some mineral coloration in pinks and blues and light grey water stain patterns.

I post more pics on my wood gloat.

The Pursuit of Wicked Gorgeous Lumber, A Noble Undertaking

Village Boy~