basilisk wrote:
scritch wrote:

I scored some (almost) free CVG Douglas fir several months ago, and
I'm finally getting around to thinking of its best use. It is
beautiful wood, ruler-straight grain, clear as Lake Tahoe, and has
up to 30+ rings per inch. The pieces were part of an old workbench,
and have a few odd drillholes here and there, but I like used wood a
lot.

Unfortunately, there are also a lot of bug holes, from at least two
kinds of bugs, given the diameters of the holes. I have had the wood
for several months now, and have seen absolutely no sign that the
bugs are still in there. No bugs, no eggs, no bug parts, no
suspicious sawdust. I have had carpenter ants in my house twice,
and know the look of ant sawdust, but have seen nothing on this fir.

Is there any way short of cutting the wood into little strips to find
out if the bugs are still present and alive somehow?

Alternatively, I could treat the wood preemptively, just to make
sure. I'd rather not use poison, because I intend to use the wood as
part of a dresser. Does anyone know how much heat it takes to kill
most wood-eating insects? I saw a method for killing bedbugs that
uses a temporary styrofoam heat box for an entire mattress. If some
reasonably low heat could kill the bugs, I could rig one up myself.

Thanks!

USDA requires 130 degrees F core temperature for 30 minutes,

This will kill any insects present.

Basilisk

Should be able to easily do that with black plastic and sunlight.

--

dadiOH
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