Is this a fungus?

Is this a fungus? - detail 

Brint K in Atlanta

>

Look like it to me

Ellis Walentine

>If it wasn't there when you cut the log open, it must have grown there. I don't see direct sticker shadows, but it sounds like you suspect wet stickers as the culprits. One clue would be if there had been a sticker centered on that gray patch.

A lot of people cover their piles of wood with Shade Dry (sp?), a polyethylene screening, to allow air in and keep most rain away from the wood. An overhanging cover on the pile is also a big help. The stickers you use should be dry and clean if possible. The latest rage is a type of sticker made of molded plastic with air channels cast into both sides to allow ventilation at the surface of the wood.

You could try chlorine bleach for this type of stain. It won't bleach the wood color but if you're dealing with mildew or some other fungal stain, it might help. Oxalic acid solution would be the next thing to try, but I'm less hopeful that it will help.

Ellis Walentine, Host

agreed and how to prevent

bill tindal, E.TN

>You don't need wet sticks to get stain. I have not dried gum so I don't know about its propensity to stain (grow fungus) but in warm weather maple and pine will stain in a day when dead packed. The sapwood of any lumber will stain in a pile with poor air circulation, even if it is put up on dry sticks.

The surface of fresh sawed lumber must be made dry, and kept dry, to prevent fungal stain. To prevent stain get lumber on sticks quicker than fungus will propagate and that could be one day in hot weather. Use dry sticks, cover the pile to prevent rain from entering and provide good air circulation through the pile.

Back in the old days before EPA, lumber was dipped into tetrachlorophenol (a close relative of pentachlorophenol, penta) after it was sawed. This powerful fungicide prevented stain but made breathing sawdust a problem.

Might be whats referred to as.....

SanMan

>.....blue staining. Its actually gray in color as you are seeing.

SM

I thought that you were going to...

Brian in Sandusky, OH

>...post a picture of your toe, or some other body part.

:)

Re: Is this a fungus?

Dale Lenz

>Could of been caused by poor air flow/lumber getting rewetted while drying? I dried some SYP in 12' stacks and it's blue, similar fungus as the gray in sweetgum. The mottled stain could add an interesting feature is some project. My blue SYP shop walls have character, : ' >. Dale

Re: Is this a fungus?

Scott Banbury

>i don't think it's a fungus. I've sawed and workied a bit of Sweetgum and I've found that there are often darker areas present in patches like you have. Those pathes appear to follow the intertwining grain of the wood and may be mineral staining or indication of varying growth conditions.