Insect oven bake question

[Ron Citerone]

So I planed a glued up cutting board, mixed species, and found some suspected insect damage. A few holes, no insect. It is 12”W x 17” L x 2 3/4” thick. I put it in the oven set at 170 degrees. How long should I “Cook” it to have confidence any internal insects are dead? Read a lot, 133 degree for an hour but no way to know internal temp. Thoughts?

[John TenEyck]

I thought it was 133F for 3 hours. No matter, if you put it an oven at 140F for 12 hours, or more, any critters will be dead. You can prove it to yourself by taking two pieces of wood that are half the thickness of the piece you want to heat treat. Put a thin groove in one piece from one end to the center just deep enough to hold a thermocouple that comes with many digital volt meters. Glue or screw the two pieces together and put it into the oven along with the piece you want to heat treat. When the thermocouple reaches 133F wait however long you think is correct and you're done.

John

[Michael Burnside]

I seriously thought a few of the woodworkers here were asking about "baking insects" so they could eat them...:eek:

If you have deep freezer you can go that route too. Overnight and bye-bye bugs.

[Ron Citerone]

Well after a 4 hour bake at 170 the wood may be bug free, but some of the glue joints have opened up a bit. I guess glued items should never be baked. A lesson learned.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I put a sample in the wood cooker with the thermometer probe in the center of the wood, much like John TenEyck has described. Time required is relative to the thickness and moisture content of the wood. Wet wood needs to stay cool for as long as posable and heats up slowly because the evaporation has a cooling effect. Most species of wood do not respond well to temperatures above 145.

[Ron Citerone]

I put a sample in the wood cooker with the thermometer probe in the center of the wood, much like John TenEyck has described. Time required is relative to the thickness and moisture content of the wood. Wet wood needs to stay cool for as long as posable and heats up slowly because the evaporation has a cooling effect. Most species of wood do not respond well to temperatures above 145.
Thanks Maurice, the lowest setting on my oven is 170.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I hope the cutting board can be saved. I recently helped with some home repairs after bed bug heat remediation. The whole house was 140 degrees for 24 hours. It did a lot of damage to all things wood and even to engineered wood. A kitchen oven makes a good warming cabinet but the heat source is too powerful and not regulated for slow and low heating.

[Ron Citerone]

I hope the cutting board can be saved. I recently helped with some home repairs after bed bug heat remediation. The whole house was 140 degrees for 24 hours. It did a lot of damage to all things wood and even to engineered wood. A kitchen oven makes a good warming cabinet but the heat source is too powerful and not regulated for slow and low heating.

Thanks Maurice, I think the board can be saved by ripping along the separated glue lines and reworked. I won't bake any more glued wood but would bake some small unglued stuff if it had some real character for a jewelry box or something real small.


BTW, I wonder how hot a minivan gets inside on a hot July day? Hmmm

[John TenEyck]

Thanks Maurice, I think the board can be saved by ripping along the separated glue lines and reworked. I won't bake any more glued wood but would bake some small unglued stuff if it had some real character for a jewelry box or something real small.


BTW, I wonder how hot a minivan gets inside on a hot July day? Hmmm

More than hot enough for TBIII to let loose.


"Here is a chart of the kinds of temperatures that you can expect inside your car, depending on the ambient outside temperature."



Outside Temperature (Fahrenheit)


Minutes Passed
70° F
75° F
80° F
85° F
90° F
95° F


10
89
94
99
104
109
114


20
99
104
109
114
119
124


30
104
109
114
119
124
129


40
108
113
118
123
128
133


50
111
116
121
126
131
136


60
113
118
123
128
133
138



And from Titebond's website:

BOND STRENGTH ASTM D-905 (ON HARD MAPLE)



Temperature
Strength
Wood Failure


Room Temperature
4,000 psi
57%


150°F. Overnight
800 psi
0%




Not a good idea to heat treat glued up wood.

John

[Bill Dufour]

I have heard of termite house treatments that use liquid nitrogen to kill them by freezing. Must get to -20 F to kill them. Home freezer is zero, not cold enough. How about sealing in a bag with pure co2?
Bill D.
https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/registration/fs_PC-128934_17-Jan-02.pdf

[Michael Burnside]

Well after a 4 hour bake at 170 the wood may be bug free, but some of the glue joints have opened up a bit. I guess glued items should never be baked. A lesson learned.

Sorry about that. This is why I suggested a deep freeze in case you had clue, wood filler or anything else that couldn't handle the heat. I should have been more clear, apologies.

[Bill Dufour]

[QUOTE=Michael Burnside;3252414]I seriously thought a few of the woodworkers here were asking about "baking insects" so they could eat them...:eek:

In the spring time the biology classes at one high school in town do an experiment with grass hoppers. Then they fry them up and get to eat them. Extra credit if they are brave enough to actually eat one. You can smell them frying from outside the science wing. They smell like fried rice.
Bill D

[Maurice Mcmurry]

A hot car is a common guitar destroyer. It can be very sad.

[Bill Howatt]

A hot car can be a child destroyer - even sadder.

[Michael Burnside]

Too far on that one IMHO Bill... Mod, feel free to remove this if/when you remove the previous post.

[Richard Coers]

Starting at 170 is quite a shock to the wood. And who knows how accurate the control is in the oven. Might be 190? You can put an automotive trouble light in the oven and easily get it to 100 degrees with just the light bulb as a starter. The sterilization process requires 133 degrees in the center of the wood. Most sterilization cycles are run at 150 degrees. I've dried a lot of wood in my house attic. Gets real toasty up there and cools each evening. Pretty much a solar kiln up there! Also a circulating fan is the way to go for even heating of the wood. Otherwise one side closer to the heating element can go much higher than the other and set up an imbalance.