Cutting pen blanks (wood question)

[jskeen]

I guess this is on topic, as some of this is going to end up as pens eventually. I got this chunk of hickory at a turning club raffle last month, and suspect I also got a bonus prize of the insectile variety.

Judging from the little piles of frass something is definitely gnawing on this, but I can't see what. My question is, does anybody know what, and should I try to stop them, or let them go ahead and add some interesting character to the wood?

I'm suspecting some variety of powder post beetle larve may be the culprit, and if so and it's desirable to terminate them, it should be pretty easy to drop this in an empty trashcan and fumigate it.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Hickory really isn't a desirable pen wood. Hard to turn and lacking figure. Although your piece could have some curl. The buggies are nearly impossible to stop. Only way is to cut into small pieces and microwave. I would toss that into the woods and forget.

 

[penhead]

Someone gave me a bunch of hickory one time, that had been on the ground to long ;(
It was full of some kinda beetle larvae, they were everywhere, even after I thought I had them all out. It was kinda fun turning it though (did I mention you _really_ need to wear a face shield

Not sure about pen blanks, as Frank said kinda blah wood that small, but on the other hand, you have a crotch piece, never know what's inside, try turning a small bowl with it.

And hickory also makes nice tool handles.

 

[IPD_Mrs]

I don't know about the Hickory or if you might get any good grain in the crotch, but the powder beetles make me nervous. If all that dust from them is caused by the beetles, then I would get it away from my house as fast as I could. I have seen antique dealers burn some pretty nice pieces of furniture because of a powder beetle infestation.

Mike

 

[leehljp]

Originally posted by Rifleman1776

Hickory really isn't a desirable pen wood. Hard to turn and lacking figure. Although your piece could have some curl. The buggies are nearly impossible to stop. Only way is to cut into small pieces and microwave. I would toss that into the woods and forget.

NEVER toss hickory into the woods and forget it - BBQ with it! [^] []

 

[Rifleman1776]

Originally posted by leehljp

Originally posted by Rifleman1776

Hickory really isn't a desirable pen wood. Hard to turn and lacking figure. Although your piece could have some curl. The buggies are nearly impossible to stop. Only way is to cut into small pieces and microwave. I would toss that into the woods and forget.

NEVER toss hickory into the woods and forget it - BBQ with it! [^] []

Yummm.....BBQ'd wood worms.

 

[louisbry]

.

 

[Paul Downes]

That is a powder post beetle infested piece of hickory. You can kill them by putting the block in a mostly airtight bag and getting the inside temps up to (I think) 140 degrees F. I've heard of some people who have accomplished that by useing a black bag and putting it out in the sun for a few days. Check with a thermometer. Also you might just microwave it for a bit and that will probably kill them. I would start out slow with the micro waves and increase the time until the wood feels fairly hot. It would be good to use an microwave oven with a spinning platter so the heat is somewhat even. The bugs have more water in them than the wood so they should heat up quicker than the wood which looks to be dry. This will also dry the wood out some so that is a plus.

 

[Boomer]

I have just replaced some picture frames for a lady that whoever made the frame for her in the first place apparently had these beetles in the same location of thier molding supply. The frame just fell apart. However I did turn a pen out of a hickory crotch and it did have some nice grain.

 

[nava1uni]

Someone brought me back a piece of wood from Guatemala and it has some kind of wood eating bug in it. I sealed tightly in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer for a couple of weeks and then took it out and put it in a new bag and again sealed it tightly and left it for a few days to make sure nothing was alive. Worked great no bugs and the wood is really nice I have also baked wood in the oven on 225 for about 30-40 minutes and the wood got a little shiny, but no bugs survived.