treating green wood

[treedoctor]

I've got several pieces of green wood(walnut, mesquite, pear)
that have bugs in them. I've sealed them with anchorseal. The
bugs will kick the sealer back out if placed where they are.
What is safe to use to get rid of these? Are insecticides the answer?
Is it safe to put on wood that I will later turn and sand?
Any help is appreciated.

 

[dkulze]

This thread has come up a bunch of times in the past. Usual suggestions are bug spray (not a big fan myself of sanding and breathing this), freezer (works great as long as the wood isn't to big), HSS tx (they go splat when cut), and my personal favorite, which is a garbage bag and a piece of dry ice (CO poisoning).

dk

 

[turner23]

bugs

I had some really nice green cherry that I cut into logs and brought inside the shop. I noticed as I started roughing one of them that a few bugs were crawling around the floor. Never determined if they were termites or carpenter (or other) ants, but they were quite large in size and numerous in numbers; I couldn't believe how many kept crawling out from the logs. I tried plugging the hole with liquid nails (all I had on hand) and sprayed the logs with chemicals, but they pushed through the LN and kept coming. I'm guessing if I had actually roughed the pieces out I would have found the logs to be mostly hollow, with hundreds of the critters inside. To avoid infestation I threw all of the logs back out and later burned them in the fire-pit.

I would suggest you try to find what kind of bugs they are, you may decide the wood is not worth the trouble. At least keep the wood away from the house, just in case.

 

[Steve Worcester]

another option is to immerse the log in mineral spirits for about 1/2 hr. Really pisses them off and I have heard kills them

 

[Joe Greiner]

About 10 years ago, I felled and slabbed a small oak tree for some router work on slightly spalted wood. I'd read someplace on the weird wild web that termites could hold their breath for about 15 minutes. I cut the bottoms off several paper grocery bags (except one) and stapled them together into a leaky long paper bag. I put the slabs in the bag, and tied the free end around my truck's exhaust pipe; let the engine idle for about an hour. No survivors, and no stains.

dk, I think dry ice is CO2, not CO. But probably works almost as well for suffocation.

Oh, and the router work came out fine.

Joe

 

[Peter Hawkins]

hi, some of the pecan I just cut up had some very small black holes in some parts of the sapwood, the beetle I understand to be the armoured borer, I injected the holes with laquer thinners using a hypodermic syringe, boy do the beetles come out and die, then injected again making sure the surrounding around the hole is totally soaked, the thinners seems to kill the worms and break down the eggs in the galleries into a white mush this cleans out during turning and finishing, hope this is of help.
regards peter

 

[robo hippy]

Thin super glue does a number on them also, although they don't come back to the surface.
robo hippy

 

[dkulze]

sorry.

Dain brammaged out for a minute. Yup, CO2.

Cool thing is that it doesn't suffocate them. It literally poisons them. Get the CO2 concentration up above about 15% or so and it sucks the oxygen out of the bloodstream.

dk

 

[David Somers]

In Hawaii we found that Cedar Treat, a product from a company called CedarCide, makes quick work of Termites and Power Post Beetles. It is also approved for use with items that are in contact with food. (FDA). It has a heavy cedar smell, but that goes away completely when it is dry. No affect on finishing that we have seen.

Dave

 

[Al Neighbors]

Peter does the same way I do. Lacquer thinner, injected if there aren't too many holes, and just drenched if there are too many holes. It's never failed me yet.

 

[Barbara Gill]

I am curious about the long term results of the different methods mentioned here about killing powder post beetles. One of the advantages of the high heat method used by some kilns is destroying the eggs. Has anyone kept a piece long enough to find out if their method works long term? Anyone who has uncovered the burrows of the larva knows that they are often very long. I would think that trying to get a liquid to the end of these tunnels could be difficult.

One method that was not mentioned is dipping the wood in a borax solution? This is supposed to kill not only adult beetles trying to burrow into the wood but also those leaving the wood. The crystals left on the surface is supposed to shred them.

 

[Al Neighbors]

I am curious about the long term results of the different methods mentioned here about killing powder post beetles. Barb, I don't know if the larva I've encountered are 'powder post beetles' or not. But they look like a combination of the Michelin Man and a Grub Worm. I've only had one case of the larva still eating on a finished piece (a bandsaw box, years ago)... and I think that was because I just missed, and didn't treat his tunnel. I'm sure the lacquer wash that I learned from a Carole V. post, which I thin down even more, has finished the rest of them off.
Anyone who has uncovered the burrows of the larva knows that they are often very long. I would think that trying to get a liquid to the end of these tunnels could be difficult. If you can get one of these critters alive, and still in his tunnel, touch one small drop of lacquer thinner to him, and you'll see him squirm, leaving openings all around him. I think this is what allows the lacquer thinner to go past.

I hope this makes sense... it does to me.

 

[Barbara Gill]

Powder Post beetles are very, very small and make a hole on the surface of the wood about the diameter of a small pencil lead. Little piles of powered wood are usually the most obvious evidence. When you plane the wood the longer tunnels show up running the length of the board.

I think the first order of business is for anyone who has bugs in their wood should be to correctly identify what they have. Those big grubs are not Powder Post Beetles.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Thoughts. The life cycle of the powderpost beetle is such that you can destroy the next generation with a scattering of borax along with the sex-starved current one as they emerge. The grubs in the wood are an annoyance, but not a real danger to the piece, as they will also mature and depart if they survive their time in the tilt-a-whirl.

Given the ability of most insects to go into virtual suspended animation each winter, I'll say poison other than Carbon Dioxide, and certainly not cooling, is the answer. Acetone, MEK and other staples of lacquer thinners have been mentioned. I like to use moth balls, personally. Might even consider fuming with ammonia as an answer. Garbage can, duct-tape sealable lid and the poison of your choice.

 

[Mort]

Borax

I used the borax treatment a month ago on powder post beetles. It worked a treat. The beetles have not made an appearance since.

 

[Joe Greiner]

Borax is a major component of many professional pest control witches' brews. Saved this DIY file a few eons ago, and Google was able to find the original source:

http://alsnetbiz.com/homeimprovement/homemade.html

Joe

 

[Peter Hawkins]

I have used it on powder post beetles thats the beauty of a hypodermic syringe you get it right in the hole then do it once again a day later, 100% success rate on all the boring beetles so far .
regards peter

 

[Bill Pottorf]

Wanted Dead or Alive!

I will only add one thing here. Make sure you are wearing a full face shield when going back to the turning, because those pests larger than the powder post beatle make big splats at 800 rpm and above - Dead or Alive. Just food for thought.

Bill

 

[Gretch Flo]

food for thought

Just food for thought.

Bill

Is that figuratively speaking or literal? That's why I keep my mouth shut while turning!!!! Gretch

 

[Matthew Clarke]

Borax is a major component of many professional pest control witches' brews. Saved this DIY file a few eons ago, and Google was able to find the original source:

http://alsnetbiz.com/homeimprovement/homemade.html

Joe

Joe and MM, thanks for the information. Now I know what to do about those pesky critters,

Gretch, you must be one sick puppy! I sure do hope to meet you in Richmond.

Matt

 

[Gretch Flo]

Richmond

Gretch, you must be one sick puppy! I sure do hope to meet you in Richmond.

Matt[/QUOTE]
Not this year. Too busy turning and working!!!!!Sure would like to meet the faces of all that participate in this forum. It probably would "turn" me into a tool junkie as many of you are!!!!! Gretch

 

[treedoctor]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Just got some new wood to experiment with.