Advice on harvesting the tram layer of Artist's Fungus

[Stanleythecat]

Has anyone here collected their own amadou from Artist's fungus?

I was about in a country park today with an ecologist and we chanced across a willow pollard with at least 6 or 7 brackets growing on it. They look pretty tough, I imagine, with care, that I could probably stand on some of them without damaging them and climbed the tree!!!

I read that the younger smaller brackets are best as the spore tubes extend further and further into the trama layer as the fungi ages. I was wondering how I would go about harvesting the trama layer bearing in mind the whole bracket seems like super hard rubber to cut in to!

Leo

 

[Zingmo]

I finally worked out that it was easier to get the hard outer shell off first - if you whack it with something hard like the back of a knife, then it wil crack. Scrape all the smashed shell bits off, trying not to dig too deep into whats just below (that's the stuff you want). Then work from underneath, splitting up along the grain of the pore tubes and hacking bits off as best you can trying to keep the trama layer as intact as possible. You should end up with a little piece of material a bit like red/brown chamois leather ready for processing into amadou.

You may well end up with several tiny pieces of the trama layer, plasters on all your fingers and a new respect from your children for your command of the English language!

Z

 

[Stanleythecat]

I finally worked out that it was easier to get the hard outer shell off first - if you whack it with something hard like the back of a knife, then it wil crack. Scrape all the smashed shell bits off, trying not to dig too deep into whats just below (that's the stuff you want). Then work from underneath, splitting up along the grain of the pore tubes and hacking bits off as best you can trying to keep the trama layer as intact as possible. You should end up with a little piece of material a bit like red/brown chamois leather ready for processing into amadou.

You may well end up with several tiny pieces of the trama layer, plasters on all your fingers and a new respect from your children for your command of the English language!

Z

Fantastic response!!! Can I ask how big your bracket was and is it correct that younger ones yield more rewards?

Thanks

Leo

 

[Limaed]

Its a fair bit of work but worth it, once the amadou is prepared you have enough for lots and lots of fires. I only use a peice about the size of a thumbnail then add it to somthing else to extend the ember.
Patrick M did a great article on it here: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8071&p=109464&highlight=#post109464
Obviously Artists Fungus is a different species but the method would work fine, as for size the bigger the fungus the more amadou will be produced.

 

[Zingmo]

I have only done the one, (it was about as big as my fist) so I can't advise about the age/thickness of trama layer question. It was an interesting project, but not one I would volunteer for again. (Funny how you never hear "Hey! Let me peel that knusk for you!"). QDanT kindly sent me some of his amadou and I can say it really works.

Compared to the speed and ease of making charcloth, amadou IMHO is for paleo reenactment folks. It did make me realise that, in the past, cloth of any kind was more valuable than the effort of peeling a fomes.

Z

 

[dwardo]

I have tried everything with a pointy or sharp edge within arms reach. I found the best thing was my axe to break it up into smaller bits then slicing with a knife. The stuff is as tough as old boots, grit teeth, swearing and determination is all i can advise... Just watch your fingers when you start to loose your rag

 

[The Big Lebowski]

This may interest you... We where on a night out and i took a large AF from a tree opposite where we camped for a friend to process/play with.

About a fortnight later returning to the site, a large 'blob' had returned to the area the AF was removed from, so it appeared to be growing back quite happily... I harvested this new growth to process some for myself rather than remove another mature specimen.
(its now growing back again, repeating the cycle btw)

The shell was soft and leather like, although i peeled it with an axe carefully, the spore tubes where pretty much non-existent (as it was fresh growth maybe) and what i ended up with was just one large section of amadou like substance. Like a large chunk of felt or suede.
Drying it out for a few days and nothing else, it took a spark form a ferro rod really, really well

But... Strangely it wont take a spark now? I've tried drying it again in-case it absorbed some moisture, being now generally damper in the air but nope?

The whole thing is identcal, so I'm not missing a layer that would have been catching before, it just won't work from spark. I plan to get some more next time I'm passing to investigave with fresh stuff.

One thing it is still very, very good at is extending an ember. Even from a tiny piece of char cloth. Burns slow and very hot once lit. I've sent some to a friend who is going to try various processing to see if it will take a spark again.

If you want some to have a look at now, just PM me your addy and I'll send some shavings off... save you the hastle of trying to peel one, if you like.

I 'think' the trick with AF is to get it peeled asap, at the site if possible as even a few hours later its apparently like 'peeling a hand grenade' LoL!

al.

 

[Stanleythecat]

This may interest you... We where on a night out and i took a large AF from a tree opposite where we camped for a friend to process/play with.

About a fortnight later returning to the site, a large 'blob' had returned to the area the AF was removed from, so it appeared to be growing back quite happily... I harvested this new growth to process some for myself rather than remove another mature specimen.
(its now growing back again, repeating the cycle btw)

The shell was soft and leather like, although i peeled it with an axe carefully, the spore tubes where pretty much non-existent (as it was fresh growth maybe) and what i ended up with was just one large section of amadou like substance. Like a large chunk of felt or suede.
Drying it out for a few days and nothing else, it took a spark form a ferro rod really, really well

But... Strangely it wont take a spark now? I've tried drying it again in-case it absorbed some moisture, being now generally damper in the air but nope?

The whole thing is identcal, so I'm not missing a layer that would have been catching before, it just won't work from spark. I plan to get some more next time I'm passing to investigave with fresh stuff.

One thing it is still very, very good at is extending an ember. Even from a tiny piece of char cloth. Burns slow and very hot once lit. I've sent some to a friend who is going to try various processing to see if it will take a spark again.

If you want some to have a look at now, just PM me your addy and I'll send some shavings off... save you the hastle of trying to peel one, if you like.

I 'think' the trick with AF is to get it peeled asap, at the site if possible as even a few hours later its apparently like 'peeling a hand grenade' LoL!

al.

Thanks mate that is a very kind offer. I'll PM my details. ps will I need gloves?!! (Otzi the Iceman probably boiled his in his own wee for hours before beating the wotnot out of it... and then...? then it was ready!)

 

[The Big Lebowski]

LoL! Mines pee free... Un-refined and as-is

Cant quite figure out why it has decided to stop taking a spark, but put a coal near it and its like a BBQ briquette.

PM replied and some en-route when i get the chance, atb, al.