Ambrosia, bugs, and air drying

[Turtlewood]

All,

So I've got my load of green QS Sycamore from Jeff up in the garage attic and ready to start drying.

My question is... some of it has Ambrosia, and what does this mean for air drying?

I've googled Ambrosia and found that it's caused by critters that burrow into the wood which in turn causes fungus which makes the color change.

If I only air dry, will they multiply and burrow into more of the wood? This probably sounds crazy, but would they move on to the framing wood of the house?

I read that spraying the wood doesn't do much as the bugs are already below the surface.

My attic will get hot in the summer months, but it appears that 130 F is what it take to kill them. I don't think that it will get quite that hot up there.

I know these are a lot of questions, but I bet y'all get my drift on what my concerns are. I'm look for advise from those in the know.

Thanks,
-Kevin

Here are photos of the ambrosia and the holes that start it all:

[DaveO]

The Ambrosia beetle is an interesting group of bugs. There are several different types that invade different species of wood, all leaving the tell tale fungal stains that we covet so. The beetles are not in it for the wood. They utilize the wood as a fertile ground to cultivate the fungus on, which they use to feed their lava.
Wood boring beetles fall into two major categories, those that infest only live trees or recently harvested wood and those that infest dry, seasoned wood. For all practical purposes, it is not necessary to treat wood for beetles such as round head borers, flat head borers, ambrosia beetles, or bark beetles since they will not re-infest dead wood.

So I would say that your house is safe if there are any beetles still inhabiting the wood, but I doubt that you have to worry too much about even the presence of the beetles as the fungus they cultivate won't grow the wood as it is drying...they would rather go to more fertile fields (with an ideal MC of 45%).

If you are still unsettled by the possibility you always can tent the wood stack and fog it with any Pyrethrin containing insecticide and that will take care of them, and offer you the least toxic solution.

Dave

[scsmith42]

Adding to Dave's response, a boric acid based treatment, such as Timbor, is also a good way to treat for many common wood pests. It actually works better to treat green lumber than dried lumber, too.

Attics can get fairly hot in the summer, and you will probably get close to sterilizing the wood if it endures one hot summer in the attic. By the way, the sterilization temp is 130F, not 130C.

If you want to be sure in the future, just by KD wood from Jeff!

[jeff...]

I must admit I know very little about bugs, but doing a little research I would agree with what Dave and Scott have said. Dave when the book due out, I'm telling you there is a wealth of knowledge in between your ears, get it out on paper before you become forgetful like me.

[Turtlewood]

Wow, thanks for the responses. This is exactly what I was hoping for from the knowledge base here.

Seems like all is well, and I will not worry about it too much.

Scott, thanks for the correction on sterilization point. I updated my initial post. And you are correct that if it doesn't hit 130 F in the summer days in the attic, it will get dang close.

If I was to go the Timbor route, would there be any health issues when machining the lumber? They say that it's environmentally considerate, but don't seem to say not to worry about breathing in the treated sawdust.

I was thinking about the KD route as well, but I think I'll stick to "going green" from Jeff for the time being. I kinda like drive up to the mill in the early morning before work, and the price is right too. Also as important is that I'm into woodworking partially as a vehicle to teach me more patience, something that is greatly lacking in my current job. Buying in advance and waiting for lumber to air dry helps me learn a bit of patience.

Thanks!
-Kevin

[DaveO]

Originally Posted by Turtlewood

If I was to go the Timbor route, would there be any health issues when machining the lumber? They say that it's environmentally considerate, but don't seem to say not to worry about breathing in the treated sawdust.



Thanks!
-Kevin

Kevin, Timbor is a borate based insecticide. Borate or boric acid is a very benign compound in relativity.
Here's a PDF of the MSDS data sheet which lists all the hazards associated with it.
www.nisuscorp.com/pdfs/timbormsds.pdf

Basically I look to the LD50 rating of a compound to gage it's toxicity. The LD50 is the lethal dose for 50% of a population expressed in the amount per Kg of body weight.
The LD50 of borate/ Boric acid/ Borax is between 2.68-4.98 g per Kg of body weight. You would have to ingest a tremendous amount of treated sawdust to have any effects. Borates are being researched for an even safer alternative to the high copper compound now being used in pressure treated woods. So I would consider wood treated with Timbor to be as safe/or safer than working with the current pressure treated wood. Also the Pyrethrin compounds are very similar in toxicity. It is synthesized from Chrysanthemums.
Dave

[scsmith42]

Dave- great response (as always) - thanks for the info.

Is your lathe offer still valid? I delayed the project by a couple of days (showed my wife the raw material and she understood about the delay).

Scott

[DaveO]

Originally Posted by scsmith42

Is your lathe offer still valid? I delayed the project by a couple of days (showed my wife the raw material and she understood about the delay).

Scott

Definitely, I even cleaned up around it today

Dave