Hello all,
I’m new to the Knots forum and look forward to getting acquainted with the whole discussion process. I’ve had a problem that maybe somebody could shed some light on. I have some property in Colorado with a lot of aspen. Anybody who’s been in our aspen forests knows that aspen generates a lot of downed wood. I’ve been making furniture, boxes, toys and whatnot with it. I use a Laguna bandsaw to cut my logs. I’ve found that cutting standing dead trees works best, but sometimes there are just too many attractive logs on the ground to pass. When you cut it you often get some worm holes that can give the wood a lot of character. BUT does anybody know of a convenient way to kill the critters? I’ve searched the web and haven’t really come up with a method that I can do it myself. I’ve thought of approaching a small lumber mill and seeing if I can place my rough cut lumber in their ovens but was hoping for a “home cure”. I’ve also posted in several forums but nobody has any tips yet. Am getting desperate!!!! HELP!!!!
Replies
Jay, NUKE em...All depends on the size of the wood and your wife also! I used to kill off some critters by putting the wood in the microwave and doing some short runs with it. These were mainley turning blanks and you need to be very careful doing this because this will cook it from the inside out and start the wood burning from the inside out. You can experiment with times and power settings to see if your little friends leave or if your wife tells you to get the heck out of her kitchen and that smelly wood with you. Like I say be very careful doing this cause you don't want a fire or one to spring up later from the wood smoldering from the inside out.
Good luck
kk
heat is a good answer - a regular oven might have some advantages over the microwave - 180* for a couple of hours will take care of critters - a solar kiln if you are dealing with larger pieces....
Hi Jay,
In the past I've made an air tight chamber from some scrap wood, plastic sheeting and duct tape, from Home Depot. You can cheaply built the chamber to accomodate the lenghts of wood that you have. Then buy a pet flea bomb from either a pet supply store or hardware store and open it in the chamber. Let it sit overnight and the little buggers are gone. Also, stack the wood so that there is an air space between the boards, lathe works well, so that the fumes can enter the worm holes.
Bill
Edited 8/1/2003 3:46:21 PM ET by BillC
Or just enclose the wood in a plastic bag and tape it up with the bomb inside. Let sit a couple of days.Gretchen
thanks bill,
this is the direction my mind was heading, although i've learned a lot in the meantime. The links posted above were quite informative. I'm going to contact a local mill and see what it would cost to heat my lumber there for a while. I understand that only 1/2 hour at (i forget the temperature) will kill the bugs. Also picked up a lot on the whole drying process. I think I like your method best; I'll just wait until I get a nice big store of lumber and do it all at once. Besides, it gives me a chance to use duct tape!
Another method is to "paint" the wood with paint thinner.
See if you can find an antique dealer that imports furniture. They can probably refer you to someone that can treat the wood for you. I have used a company in SoCal, and they use boron. Basically, it suffocates the bugs. Not to expensive either
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