I'm wondering if anyone has ideas on how to treat wood, either before or after turning to kill critters - permanently? I was warned by one customer to be sure to soak the piece in laquer thinner before even bringing it in to her store! So how concerned are we?
Depends on whether or not the wood has "critters" in it. They let you know by holes or "frass," which is droppings. If you turn with critters in, they generally fly out. Some favor cooking them, some fumigating.
The customer wants what the customer wants. The rest only as required, in my opinion.
You can microwave it; bug-bomb (or equivalent) it, use liquid chemicals/solvents/etc. in a soaking bath, or just turn it very very thin .
Whatever you do, you'll do it after you've either turned it all the way to completion (but before a final finish) or almost to completion. Nothing is going to penetrate 100% more than an inch at most. Microwaving will get you about an inch depending on the wood specie but then you risk causing too many other problems before there's enough heat/vibration to absolutely kill everything in there.
- Andrew
=================================== Some woods, like mesquite, probably will have critters in it, others probably won't. Part depends on where you are and what kind of wood it is. Lacquer thinner is a little extreme for me. I usually use mineral spirits. It's cheaper, and doesn't tend to dry the wood as badly as lacquer thinner does, and it's safer to be around as well. You don't want to be in a closed area with a big pan of lacquer thinner; the fumes are noxious to inhale and there's a bigger fire hazard than with mineral spirits. Just my opinion, tending to try to be a llittle safer.
Ken Moon Webberville, TX
Be careful that the cure isn't worse than the disease. A piece of = solvent soaked wood is going to outgas for months. Ditto for a Raid = soaked bowl, which could be termed a 'wood wick.' Regardless of what = the buyer asks, you are responsible for your product. Make sure it is = safe. I would place the piece on a rack in a sealed 5 gallon pail with = an inch of alcohol in the bottom. The fumes will kill insects (that's = how butterfly collectors kill their specimens). Since alcohol isn't = toxic and the wood is soaked with fumes not liquid, it will be much = safer for you, the buyer and the customer. =20
Dan
PS: The store owner is called the 'buyer', not the 'customer'. The = customer is the final owner, not a person in the distribution chain.
Last I knew, lepidopterists and the like used chloroform, not straight alcohol, to send their victims to the big bowl of nectar in the sky. Chloroform is easy enough to make, but I would definitely put it outside or somewhere with LOTS of ventilation before I fumed anything with it, to avoid any unwanted unconsiousness.
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September 11, 2001 - Never Forget
A natural product that works well as an insectcide is Euchalyptus oil availble from any health food store. In concentrated form it has a strong menthol smell but it is non toxic to humans. Just place a rag in bottom of a lidded 5 gallon pail, and sprinkle with oil, then place item to be treated on top of rag, and snap the lid on. and in a couple hours the fumes will have killed all the bugs. You may want to put something between the rag, and the item to lessen the chance of any oil soaking into wood giving it a strong smell. After treatment let item air out. The store sellor is just trying wood borers from spreading to his/her other pieces in the gallery so that's not asking to much though the laquer thinner method is IMHO for reasons already mentioned.
Spy in Hawaii
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