Help: Green marks in old Kauri pine

[byron]

Hi all,

I picked up an old bashed together work bench the other day with Kauri pine floorboards used for the benchtop. The surface is in fairly bad nick so I have been gently sanding back. However I have noticed green markings in the wood which seem very deep...are they some type of fungus as I cannot remove them by sanding. I have noticed them in other neglected pieces of Kauri pine also.

What are they and how does one remove them??

Any help much appreciated.

Byron
A newbie.

[Neil]

G'day Byron - Welcome to the Forums.

Don't want to trivialise your post or scare you off with a rant, but it's "an old bashed together work bench", not a precious antique dinning table. Who really cares.

The stain could be anything from a metal or chemical stain to soaked in green dye. Most likely it's not a fungus, unless the timber is really soft or punky in the green area, if it is then it's probably rot and there isn't anything you can do about it anyway. You may be able to lighten it with some Oxalic acid but I would be pretty sure you are wasting your time as most Kauri stains tend to go very deep and are almost impossible to fix.

Personally I'd learn to live with it. And maybe put something a bit more substantial on the top of the bench than Kauri floor boards or at least cover the boards with some tempered masonite or similar to give you a tougher, more durable work surface.

Cheers - Neil

[rsser]

Have seen grey/green stains develop in Plane and Norfolk pine as they dry. No idea why but it sure wrecks the look.

[ubeaut]

It'd the beginning of rot also known as spalting.

[JB]

I think a lot of pines show this staining if they are not milled and aired straight after felling. It's a mould, beginning of rot as mentioned, but it's no longer active and the wood is quite sound. What I've seen is more blue than green, assuming we're talking about the same thing. Stained wood like this would be ideal for... a workbench top.

[byron]

Thanks JB, the marks do have a tinge of blue to them. Thanks all for your thoughts.

cheers
Byron