Something is eating my boards ...

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • poolhound
    Veteran Member
    • Mar 2006
    • 3195
    • Phoenix, AZ
    • BT3100

    Something is eating my boards ...

    I am in the process of making a live edge table from two large old slices of black walnut. I know that there was some bug related holes which I thought I had cleared of debris and then sprayed with termite killer and filled. This was a couple of months back I am now setting to to plane them down to size and it seems like there is some fresh damage.

    How do I kill the little blighters? I dont want to finsh the project and have something eating it from the inside out.

    BTW when I did into the holes I do not see any insects so not sure what they are.

    HELP!
    Jon

    Phoenix AZ - It's a dry heat
    ________________________________

    We all make mistakes and I should know I've made enough of them
    techzibits.com
  • capncarl
    Veteran Member
    • Jan 2007
    • 3564
    • Leesburg Georgia USA
    • SawStop CTS

    #2
    My first guess without seeing the damage is powder post beetles. There are chemicals that kill them, can't remember them off hand though. I purchased 100 bf of old souther yellow pine a couple of months ago and found pp beetles in them, I sawed the boards into manageable pieces and carried them right to my neighbors fire pit. The way I understand them is they leave the wood and come back to lay eggs for future pp beetles. I didn't want them to carry on their future generations living in the structure of my shop! Maybe I'm wrong but I felt better with them being cooked.
    capncarl

    Comment

    • poolhound
      Veteran Member
      • Mar 2006
      • 3195
      • Phoenix, AZ
      • BT3100

      #3
      Thanks, good info. I will take a pic of the damage. The post beetles look pretty big and I have not seen any sign of any bugs at all, just damage. I would think if I poke around in the holes something might crawl out but not seen a thing.
      Jon

      Phoenix AZ - It's a dry heat
      ________________________________

      We all make mistakes and I should know I've made enough of them
      techzibits.com

      Comment

      • atgcpaul
        Veteran Member
        • Aug 2003
        • 4055
        • Maryland
        • Grizzly 1023SLX

        #4
        I would guess powder post, too. You need to kiln dry them or apply a borate containing product like Timbore to kill them. Unfortunately the borate part is cheap, but the polyethylene glycol it's dissolved in is not.

        I think PPB comes in two forms and they make different size holes. I had some poplar boards that were infested. I coated them in the borate solution and let it soak in. I actually came across a beetle while I was planing the wood. I was convinced it was dead but when I pulled it out, it started moving! Anyway, I've also read that once you finish/paint the piece, they can't enter/exit and die. I don't know about that, though.

        Comment

        • capncarl
          Veteran Member
          • Jan 2007
          • 3564
          • Leesburg Georgia USA
          • SawStop CTS

          #5
          The power post beetles that I've seen were about the size of ants, maybe slightly larger. No idea what stage of the life cycle they were though. They seem to be just as distructive as termites and do not have to have the in ground connection that termites have. In my book that makes them more dangerous than termites.
          capncarl

          Comment

          • poolhound
            Veteran Member
            • Mar 2006
            • 3195
            • Phoenix, AZ
            • BT3100

            #6
            Just ordered some Tim-bore says it is disolved in water. Still no sign of beetles or larva. The worst section is on the underside. I may just route out that part and see what I can see. It will be easy to fill the void with another piece of wood and I can apply the Timbore at the heart of the board.
            Jon

            Phoenix AZ - It's a dry heat
            ________________________________

            We all make mistakes and I should know I've made enough of them
            techzibits.com

            Comment

            • capncarl
              Veteran Member
              • Jan 2007
              • 3564
              • Leesburg Georgia USA
              • SawStop CTS

              #7
              After you get the timbor applied you can wire brush the bore damages that is exposed. Unless it looks offensive it is just part of the natural wood and adds character, just like the old nails, screws, knots, burls, bird and squirrel damage and bullet holes you might encounter. If the damage is to drastic you can attach a plate with a pipe fitting and pump the ppb tunnels full of a low viscosity slow dry epoxy like West Epoxy. Kinda messy but it can help bring the strength of the wood back to original or better.
              capncarl

              Comment

              • poolhound
                Veteran Member
                • Mar 2006
                • 3195
                • Phoenix, AZ
                • BT3100

                #8
                The Tim-bore arrived yesterday and I routed out one of the sections of damage on the underside so I could treat closer to the middle of the board. here are some pics. I did actually see a really very small (1/64) white bug crawling around but thats it and still no sign of any wood eating larvae which I would think would be fairly big to make these holes.

                Click image for larger version

Name:	2015-12-05 17.33.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	104.7 KB
ID:	787507Click image for larger version

Name:	2015-12-05 11.14.19.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	127.6 KB
ID:	787508
                Jon

                Phoenix AZ - It's a dry heat
                ________________________________

                We all make mistakes and I should know I've made enough of them
                techzibits.com

                Comment

                • capncarl
                  Veteran Member
                  • Jan 2007
                  • 3564
                  • Leesburg Georgia USA
                  • SawStop CTS

                  #9
                  Looks like you have some nice pecky black walnut! People pay lots of money for pecky cypress. As bad as that is eat up it is not good for much except decoration pieces....and now you could have power post beetles in your shop. They are small, really small, that's probably one you saw. You better keep your eyes open and watch for them showing up in your rafters and walls. They seem to like dark areas like between boards in stacks, under houses and in attics.

                  Comment

                  • poolhound
                    Veteran Member
                    • Mar 2006
                    • 3195
                    • Phoenix, AZ
                    • BT3100

                    #10
                    Culprit found

                    Last weekend having repaired the underside section with some pieces of walnut I was stripping and wire brushing the bark edges of the boards. I found one soft spot and revealed 2 holes and this beastie came out. I thought they were both dead but after sitting in this jar in the sun for a while one of them was very much alive.

                    I believe this to be a carpenter bee and its size now makes sense of the size of the damage and holes in other places on this board. Having treated all the other areas with Tim-bor I think it will be fine now and once the piece is fully finished with a BLO/Varnish mix I dont think it will be tasty any longer.

                    Click image for larger version

Name:	2015-12-13 11.45.16.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	72.4 KB
ID:	787513
                    Jon

                    Phoenix AZ - It's a dry heat
                    ________________________________

                    We all make mistakes and I should know I've made enough of them
                    techzibits.com

                    Comment

                    Working...