What do you do to make splated wood harder

SnazzyGeezer

Hello,I'm going to make a fingerboard and do a headstock veneer out of spalted beech for an 8 string lap steel
 the strings are 20mm away from the F/B so there's no wear to the actual F/B from fretting
I just want to toughen it up before I start working on it, as I know that it'll be a real nightmare otherwise
If anyone has any thoughts on the subject, I'd be very greatful.

Thanks Guys

Sporky

Flood it with thin superglue?

octatonic

This ^^^^

WezV

Get it to shape and then soak in the superglue.

I used the thin superglue method on some spalted maple for a carved top.  It soaked up about 3 bottles before carving, just on a few inches square of spongey wood... but as soon as i went down a few mm I was back to soft punky wood and had to resoak

SnazzyGeezer

By soaking,do you mean paint/dropped on the surfaces,or compleatly emersed in the stuff  ?

Kalimna

Drop it in until it stops being soaked up. Depending on the level of 'spaltiness' you may not need to do it anyway. My experience in turning spalted beech suggests that not all will be 'punky'.

Enjoy.

Adam

WezV

It's a good point, most of the beech I have used has been solid.

most of the maple has been more variable and can go from solid to spongy in a few mm.... it is obvious though, it normally changes colour significantly too

TimmyO

You can buy big pots of it online - then smear it on and let it soak in, wear 3 pairs of those thin rubber gloves.

The pot s are usually available in thin medium and thick - thin is easier to work with. 

Once you're done sand as usual