On Mon, 17 Jun 2019 14:01:52 +0000, Spalted Walt
wrote:

pyotr filipivich wrote:

Sonny on Sat, 15 Jun 2019 15:55:58 -0700 (PDT)
typed in rec.woodworking the following:
On Friday, June 14, 2019 at 9:28:58 PM UTC-5, DerbyDad03 wrote:

And yet we don't see the marks on *all* pressure treated wood. At least I
where I live, even on wooden docks. Maybe it's a west coast thing?

It's probably where you live in some applications, you just might not notice it often. Here in south Louisiana, all the wooden cross members on the older wooden high line poles have those slit marks.

I had salvaged some 4X4 cross members, long ago. I had supposed they were treated, but had no idea the slits were part of the treatment process. Cutting/sawing it, to make a porch swing, produced a foul odor, from the chemical(s) no doubt.

They use to treat it with a copper arsenic compound. Worked well,
but - it was toxic. So in the interest of saving the environment,
that formula was replaced with copper-sulfate.
That said, the smell you had may have been from the wood itself.
Somme of them can smell pretty bad when sawn.

Or the "foul smell" was Creosote, prolly the most widely used
industrial wood preservative 'back in the day' for utility poles,
railroad crossties, etc.

I remember as a kid in the `50s & `60s the unmistakable smell of
Creosote being a pretty common thing, especially during the hot
summer months. That once familiar odor has now disappeared.

And good riddance. I didn't have to even smell it to break out in
hives. Nasty stuff.