I cut a couple of red oak trees into lumber about 3 years ago and let them air dry. Now as I am starting to get the boards ready to use, I noticed some worm holes. How can I tell if the worms are active and how do I make the lumber safe to use. What can happen if I use the wood and bring the finished projects inside?
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Wipe away all dust from the holes and if more dust reappears then they obviously are still alive. They may be dormant in which case you need to poison them and if you don't when you bring the finished furniture inside you may come to find some weeks later little bugs boring up through the wood and finish.
According to most info I've seen, they go dormant when the wood reaches somewhere around 10% moisture content. You can spray w/ a borax solution to kill, but to thoroughly penetrate, it does take some time. I spray my lumber with the borax as soon as it's cut. One brand name is Tim-bor. Go to
http://www.doityourselfpestcontrol.com/
& look up powder post beetles.
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