The following critters were chewing up a 4 1/2" d dogwood log I was trying to dry for a froe mallet. Are these the infamous Post Powder Beetle larvae?
I noticed it has a large head in comparison to the body.
Noticed a lot of sawdust at the base of the log, so started scraping bark to see what was happenin'. Probably killed about 30 on a 5' section of log, most under the bark but a few deeper in. I noticed there are still small pinholes in the wood (much smaller than the larvae I found). Does this mean I have more little ones inside? Tree was dying when cut down about a year ago.
I guess. From the top, these looked like the head was noticeably wider then the body. Didn't seem as pronounced from the side as the illustration shows. Sorry for the lousy photos. Couldn't get the camera into macro mode and was too close for a good focus. However, all this leads me to another question: Beings I had to scrape off the bark and hunt the critters down to save the wood, I probably ended up debarking it a bit early. When I cut it up, I measured the moisture content from 18% in the middle to about 12 on the outer edge (this is after a year of it air drying). I went ahead and carved out a mallet (don't have a lathe) from one piece. After I was done, I was getting an 8 to 10% reading over all the outside. I suspect the interior of the head is still probably 15%+. If I just let it dry, will it probably split? Will BLO or wax slow down moisture loss enough to prevent it? I would like to have it dry eventually, because this is a dense wood and will be harder after drying (better for mallet use). Also, because it will be subject to impacts, I do not want a hard, brittle coating.
Head diameter is about 3 7/8", length of mallet is about 11 3/4".
This was a "quickee" I did today. I currently have it wrapped in a plastic bag to slow any drying until I decide what to do. I know its a bit rough, but it will be abused anyway.
