On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 10:52:05 -0400, Brad Curfman wrote:

Some guys like to brag about doing romantic things for their wives.
Well, I made a set of candle holders a couple weekends ago for a candle
light dinner for my wife that night. She really loved the idea and
bragged to all her friends about it.

A few days later, I found out that the pinholes and white residue on the
wood I used were from powderpost beetles. Needless to say, those candle
holders are no longer on the dining room table. Spalted maple can make
turnings look great, but nobody will be impressed if they see bugs
crawling out of your work.



Brad Curfman
http://www.curfman.net

Brad, I've read all the posts in this thread to date and I'd like to offer
my own observations.

While I respect the winters our Canadian brethren get, I'm also aware that
they do not often go from 70 degrees or so to 32 or less in a matter of
minutes. That only happens here in Michigan. ;-)

Living things that are able to survive temp. extremes need some time to
adjust to them. Tossing wood in the freezer doesn't give them a lot of
time to get acclimated. The cooling down period in the forest actually
begins mid-summer.

I toss my really nice pieces in the freezer then thaw them in the
microwave on high long enough for the wood to steam (at least). Some time
back I noticed smoke coming from a piece in the nuker. Closer examination
(when all had cooled!) indicated that a bug of some sort had met a
particularly grisly fate.

Keep the wood cold (and the beasties dormant) until you are ready to nuke
them thoroughly. There aren't many places to hide in a microwave and there
isn't much that can live through temps of 200 deg F or more.

The solvents probably work, (so would soaking the wood in DDT ... and for
the same reasons) but you end up with a drippy piece of wood to contend
with and the vapors have got to go somewhere when they leave the wood. I
do my woodworking in my basement. I do what I can to minimize volatile
fumes. I don't machine wood tht I know to have been recently
soaked in toxic liquids. It's a symbiotic thing. My brain needs me to use
my repirator and my respirator needs me to use my brain.

Bill