Lumber pest question

VictorL

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
589
Hello,

I bought nice rough saw cherry lumber. :) I put it in my shop for moisture acclimatization.  I noticed fresh holes with chewing hills underneath this lumber today. :(
I think there are some worms or bugs are still alive. Is there any method to kill these pests? I found one solution to start very expensive campfire, but does somebody has other suggestions?
Lumber is from New England.

Thank you,
VictorL

 
 
Victor,

This won't stop it, but it might contain it a little.

If you have any bark or sapwood, cut it off and get rid of it. That's usually where it starts.
 
VictorL said:
Hello,

I bought nice rough saw cherry lumber. :) I put it in my shop for moisture acclimatization.  I noticed fresh holes with chewing hills underneath this lumber today. :(
I think there are some worms or bugs are still alive. Is there any method to kill these pests? I found one solution to start very expensive campfire, but does somebody has other suggestions?
Lumber is from New England.

Thank you,
VictorL

could be those are old, and the kiln drying process (I'm assuming kiln dried) took care of them in which case you have some wormy cherry!  Did you see piles of sawdust on your floor or pin holes?  If you did. get that stuff out of your house or you could have much bigger problems.  There is a thread on this subject over at fine woodworking forum knots that oulines solutions drom chemical treatment to heating to fiewwood.  Do a search and you will see the discussion.  Good luck.

   
 
VictorL said:
I bought nice rough saw cherry lumber.

Depending on how much lumber and how nice, you can cook it yourself to kill the bugs.  Fabricate an insulated box to hold the lumber.  Heat the lumber to 120-130 F for 24 hours.  That will kill anything alive in the lumber.  Depending on how large, sealed and insulated the box is, you can get that temperature with incandescent light bulbs.  It isn't a trivial amount of work to do this hence you have to make a decision dependent on how nice and how much lumber there is.

I'm not a fan of working with fumigated lumber.  You've got insecticide all over your lumber - not something I want to breathe as I work the lumber.
 
Ive lost some nice alder this way. I could hear the little buggers grinding away from across the room.
Try reaming the hole out with some flexible wire, if your'e feeling extra mean, heat the tip so its red hot.
A blast of 120 psi compressed air can't hurt either.
 
While you're waiting to do something with the infected wood, put it outside in the cold.  The beetles think it's spring and they're hungry and setting up house.  They may have done much more damage than you think.  Before investing much more I would sacrifice part of one board and resaw around a few of the holes.  They can excavate quite a lot in a short time and you may have more damage than you realize.  Also... Check any neighboring lumber, building framing, etc.  Nasty buggers.  Lost a bunch of beautiful QSWO last year to Powder Post Beetles.  All fresh cut lumber I buy gets a spray of Boric Acid solution (Boracare) before sticker/stacking after my QSWO disaster. 
Good luck!
 
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