woodworm again question

[devonwoody]

Found some worm holes in some Black Walnut but they are confined to the sapwood edge. Nothing appears at all on the dark or internal areas.

Am I right in assuming they are most probably a bark beetle not the dreaded kind. (holes are very small in diameter)

 

[maltrout512]

I would put money on it or them as woodworm. You say that the holes are in the sap wood of your timber, well put yourself in the shoes of a woodworm. Would you want to or even try to bore in to concrete, when you have nice soft sap wood instead.!!!!!! :roll:

 

[Wanlock Dod]

Hi DW,

Sorry I can't help you on a beetle ID , but I too have only ever seen worm holes in sapwood.

I love the way they look when you plane through them and the lines they leave on waney edges :shock:

As I understand it they dont use/eat dry timber, so if your stock is dry there shouldn't be a problem. I have heard that if you keep blocks of alder with your wood they will use that in preference. The blocks can then be burnt, or you could take them out to the woods and liberate them there.

Cheers,

Dod

 

[Ironballs]

Where I get my timber from I also buy bags of offcuts for feeding the fire, it's almost all oak and I can tell you that woodworm loves oak sapwood. It's also partial to a bit of cherry heartwood :x

 

[OPJ]

I've got some 1 1/2" American walnut that also has a few small "bore holes" in the sapwood. I don't tend to worry about it much but, just as a precaution to see that it isn't actually spreading, I've gotten in to the habit of circling the holes with a white pencil.... :roll:

I've also noticed it in some English Oak and Ash before - again, both times in the sapwood. The cherry I've got stacked indoors has been fine so far 8) - though, I did have to bin a great big beetle I found lurking there yesterday! :shock: :? ...I tried to stab it with a pencil and it broke the lead!!

 

[motownmartin]

I have some European Walnut and the sapwood is riddled with woodworm, the sapwood is about 3 inches thick though.
I also have some thick slabs of Oak that have woodworm through the heartwood, I shall be using it for outdoor projects.

 

[The_Stig]

Aha, the old Lyctus powder post beetle, it attacks only American and European timbers due high starch content in the sap hence why you don't normally get it in softwoods.

Vacuum kilning generally breaks down the starch in the sap and kills any live infestation although it is not uncommon for bettles to become present in boards again. The easiest method for sorting the problem is to rip the sap off the boards failing that you can spray the boards to kill off any infestation although I would wear a respirator and paint suit as the stuff is usually pretty harmful.

Although African and Maylasian timbers generally have an interlocking grain they can still come under attack from something equally as nasty, the pinhole borer. Maylasian timbers such as Balau are sold as PHND which means that 'pin hole is not a defect' since the holes caused by the borer do not effect the strength of the material.

Hope this helps...

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks for the optimistic diagnosis(ies) above.

I have got a can of woodworm killer (Cuprinol), does it effect the finishes applied to projects?

 

[hpl]

When I've used it it the finishes are fine over the top, even stains seem unaffected. It does like several days to dry though before you are supposed to carry on with the finishing.

 

[maltrout512]

I'll back up hlp on that

 

[devonwoody]

I assume the treatment is not effective if applied over shellac and wax?

 

[Losos]

When I've used it it the finishes are fine over the top, even stains seem unaffected. It does like several days to dry though before you are supposed to carry on with the finishing.

In my experience several days is the very minimum for Cuprinol, I usually leave it for at least a week, and then you can put stain, varnish, or oil on and no probs. Cuprinol themselves advise a long dry time before applying finishes.

When we moved in to this place there was tons of timber around but nearly all infested with the dreaded worm and I can also confirm that they like the sap wood best but that does not mean they won't infest the heartwood too.

Am awful lot of the stuff here has (or will) end up in the workshop wood stove

 

[Losos]

I assume the treatment is not effective if applied over shellac and wax?

You assume correctly - That's something else which Cuprinol say in their technical literature.