Spalted wood veneers, spalted engineered wood flooring and method of making
View Patent ↗Spalted wood veneer, which can be used in the commercial production of engineered wood flooring having a spalted wood veneer decorative layer, is produced by forming a wood veneer piece, inoculating the wood veneer piece with spalting spores, subjecting the inoculated veneer piece to a predetermined environment, then inspecting the inoculated veneer piece to determine the degree of spalting, and when a desired degree of spalting is reached, deterring continued spalting.
1. A method of commercial production of a spalted wood veneer comprising:
forming a wood veneer, then
inoculating the wood veneer with spalting spores, then
periodically inspecting the inoculated wood veneer to determine the degree of spalting, and then
when a desired degree of spalting is reached, deterring continued spalting.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wood veneer is inoculated with spores selected from the group consisting of white rot spores, blue stain spores and a combination of white rot spores and blue stain spores.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the wood veneer is inoculated with a solution containing spores selected from the group consisting of white rot spores, blue stain spores and a combination of white rot spores and blue stain spores.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the wood veneer is inoculated by applying the solution containing the spores with a roll coater.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of inoculated wood veneers are stacked in a chamber.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the chamber is sterilized prior to stacking the wood veneers in the chamber.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the chamber is sterilized by subjecting the chamber to ultraviolet light.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inoculated wood veneer is subjected to a predetermined environment having an average temperature of from about 50° F. to about 100° F. and a relative humidity of from about 50% RH to about 90% RH.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the predetermined environment is oxygen rich.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the predetermined environment has an average temperature of from about 70° F. and about 90° F. and a relative humidity of from about 70% RH to about 50% RH.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the predetermined environment is oxygen rich.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wood veneer has a moisture content of about 20% to about 40% during the spalting.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein continued spalting is deterred by raising the temperature of the wood veneer to at least 130° F.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the spalted wood veneer is coated with a wax, an oil, a glue or an impregnation chemical.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the impregnation chemical is an acrylic.
16. The method of claim 3 , wherein the wood veneer is inoculated by spraying major surfaces of the wood veneer with the solution containing the spores.
17. The method of claim 3 , wherein the wood veneer is inoculated by coating surfaces of the wood veneer with the solution containing the spores.
18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising gluing the wood veneer to a base after deterring continued spalting to form a spalted engineered wood flooring.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wood veneer is a species of wood selected from the group consisting of maple, elm, beech, birch, buckeye, basswood, sycamore, apple, hickory, red oak, white oak, and walnut.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wood veneer is formed from a log, bolt, or flitch.
21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the base is machined to form tongue and groove edges.