There are worms in my wood!

[Richard Holub]

I just finished planing approximately 100 bf of red oak down to 1" thickness and in the process I noticed several small worm holes here and there. I mannaged to squash a few of the buggers but I am worried that some might still be in the wood. Anyone have any ideas how to make sure the worms are not going to be active in my finished project.:rolleyes:

[Richard Holub]

This might sound like a stupid question:o but I'm new at this kind of business (hobbie). I have approximately 500 bf of red oak that I want to use to build a built-in desk. A lot of the boards were 1-1/4"+ in thickness and I was able to plane them down to 1" thickness. Is there any reason why I could not use this 1" thick lumber for my desk project? All the plans I have seen call for very few parts made out of 1" material, the rest is mostly 3/4". I could save lots of time in the planing process by keeping the boards at 1". Plus there would be more structural strength. Any reason why this might be a bad idea?

[Joe Pelonio]

Anyone have any ideas how to make sure the worms are not going to be active in my finished project.:rolleyes:
I'd have to say no, I don't. Years ago I a woman brought me a beautiful piece of olive burl, and asked me to make it into a wall clock. Same as you, sanding it I saw worm holes and spotted/killed one. I had no clue how to kill them and called to tell her so, she said not to worry about it. So I finished it and after dry, before she had picked it up, there was a little pile of sawdust and new exit hole, so the clear finish doesn't stop them.
Turned out she liked it that way, thought it added character.

[Jim Hager]

A very common problem with hardwood lumber is the powder post beetle. You will know for sure if it is them by laying a piece aside in the sunshine. That will wake them up and make them start coming out of the material. They bore new exit holes as they metemorphisise into adult insects. They leave a powdery sawdust as they exit that can be found on the floor or around the wood. There are some chemicals but the best thing to do is to kiln dry the wood. The bugs can't take the temperatures and it will stop them in their tracks. If the material has already been kiln dried and the bugs are still active it may have been stored in an area where the bugs were present. They will reinfest materials stored in areas were they are active.

[Chris Fite]

Structural considerations nothwithstanding, the only point is whether a change in dimension might affect a reveal or other mating or alignment of pieces. I doubt that there is anything sacred about 3/4" as a thickness for wood.

[Brett Baldwin]

Richard, the 3/4" typical spec. is because the average 4/4 board will come out to about 3/4" after all the jointing and planing are done. It sounds like you started out with 5/4 or 6/4 material. There is nothing to say you can't use it at 1" thick material but realize that the overall proportions were designed around 3/4"(if you are using plans that call for 3/4") so using 1" material will give it a "heavy" look. You'll have to judge for yourself if that look suits you or not.

[John Stevens]

Richard, this isn't exactly the info you asked for, but it may be of some use to you. My step-dad is a furniture repairman who occasionally makes furniture. He's pretty artistic, so he enjoys using worm-eaten wood as a design element. A few years back, he made a roll-top desk from worm-eaten red oak, and it had a fantastic "vintage" look, IMO. He did nothing to fill the holes, except for the ones in the writing surface (he may have used clear epoxy for that). Unfortunately I can't supply any pics, because he bartered it to a lawyer for professional services.

[Joe Chritz]

I would think a few minutes in the oven should take care of them.

Probably not a good idea to reintroduce heat to kiln dried wood but neither or a bunch of beetles coming out a freshly finished project.

If the projects big better hope you have a big stove. :D

Joe

[Richard Holub]

Due to your responses I have come to the following desisions:

1- If there are any worms remaining, they will have to stay, hopefully I will be able to interfere with their matamorphic cycle in order to terminate them.
2- I will use most of my 1" thick boards to construct the desk and pedestal tops.
3- I will continue to plane down the rest of my oak to 3/4" to construct the main frames to the desk and pedestals. This will keep all structural lumber uniform.

Thanks again

[Jim Becker]

Powderpost beetles are bad news...they can infect other furniture and wood in one's home. They really do need to be dealt with...and you not only need to kill any active insects, you also need to kill the eggs. High heat for a period of time is one method. Borates are another.

[Greg Sznajdruk]

I was just looking at a vacuum press. I wonder if this might terminate the beetles and their eggs.
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Greg

[Barry O'Mahony]

so using 1" material will give it a "heavy" look. It will also make it physically heavier, by 33%. That can be alot.

[William Bachtel]

I use all my lumber in a thick as I can get it, usually that is around 7/8 s Thicker is stronger, stable, and looks better, 3/4 looks thin to me. As far as the worms go, I love worm ee wood. You got lucky on 2 counts. Good luck.

[Richard Holub]

William, I also don't mind the wormy look but I don't think I would like the thingies to go infecting my other pieces of furniture. As a matter of fact I was given a coookoo clock that was made in Poland and the wood is totally covered with holes. At first I thought the person was making a Polish joke (I'm Polish) but then I found out that the clock had more value in this form.

[Roger Bell]

As a matter of information, freezing in an ordinary home freezer will also kill them. Might be simple and appropriate for smaller pieces, such as bowl blanks, etc.

[Richard Holub]

Roger, I don't think freezing will kill the worms because some of this red oak I had stored outside in freezing weather (Massachusetts-10-15 deg. F for several weeks). Worms were still active last week when I started to plane them.