# beetles in rustic furniture



## dmmcm (Nov 24, 2008)

What would be the right thread to post about beetles in my rustic furniture? and how to treat the wood?


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

What kinda beetles ? Powder post beetles ? Is this stuff you are building or have purchased ? There are some products you can apply TIM-BOR, BORRADA D, Bora-Care...off the top of my head. They are boric acid based treatments. Some have said Borax laundry detergent works :confused1:. Other than that heat sterilization is the only thing I know of, like in a kiln to kill the bugs and most importantly the larvae...cause they will keep hatching.


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## bradleywellsoff (Nov 27, 2008)

Nothin worse then that phone call from your client about those little piles of sawdust under that new piece you just delivered.:wallbash:


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Tell us the species also. For example if it's eastern red cedar the bugs will most likely just leave after they've had their fill of the sap. They won't eat the heart. With Mesquite, they will definitely burrow into the outer regions of the heartwood a little if they attack the sap. For some reason it takes them a while to figure out they don't like the taste of mesquite.

To kill borers while they are wreaking havoc in the sapwood follow Daren's instructions. 

If it's a softwood like pine, spruce etc. and they are entrenched borers you are pretty much screwed unless you can get poison to them or get the furniture in a kiln, up to . . . . 160F? That's at the core, for at least 3 hours. You will read various temps at various hours but IMO 160F for 3 hours will kill bugs larvae and most extraterrestrial embryos. :blink:

But it isn't just softwoods that beetles and borers like. For example Persimmon, which is one of the hardest woods in North America, if not kiln dried, will host larvae that will hatch months and years later after furniture is built. Just ask a guy here in our county named Wildwood Dean. Over the past 20 years or so he has made an excellent living making rustic furniture, and even "art" pieces by fashioning them from Dogwood, Willow, and various other readily-available native species. Eventually he decided Persimmon was a good idea too. :thumbdown:

Based on their positive experience successfully marketing his Dogwood furntiture, Nieman Marcus signed a lucrative contract with Dean to sell an exclusive line of signature Persimmon furniture. The following year, after having sold a large number of pieces, the calls started coming in. Nightmare is the only word that describes his ensuing experience. 

He somehow recovered from the financial catastrophe but learned his lesson. Investigate the characteristics of wood species before marketing them. I think the buyer at Nieman Marcus who was responible for that contract learned something too. 

I hope you aren't experiencing anything like this. Wouldn't wish that on anyone.


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## dmmcm (Nov 24, 2008)

Well the legs in the back are made out of untreated fence post (pine) and the rest of it is made we call it Scrub Myrtles, the Myrtles are a real hard wood.. The Myrtles are were im finding the beetles..I found the same beetles in an old deer leg that i had cleaned, i left it laying around for my Walker pups to play with.. I looked at the leg one day and it was full of these beetles..T he local feed store told me to use this certain stuff to spray on the wood, going to spray all the wood piles and the whole area where my shop is.. I certainly dont want the beetles to get into my cabinets, and counter tops..


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

You and I actually have a similiar problem for different reasons. 

I have piles of lumber of many species, in various stages of processing, and utilize a wide variety of pest prevention measures. Mostly those measures are spraying Diazinon, wait I didn't say that because it is illegal to use that stuff and not possible to buy in the US, because the federal government says we can't have it. The federal government is so smart. 

Like I was saying, I have piles of lumber and logs, and I would have a severe pest/borer problem if I was not taking some precautions. :whistling2:


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## dmmcm (Nov 24, 2008)

After looking up the beetle on the internet i found out that it is a powder post beetle, Ok now best treatment for that is? besides "Diazinon" that no one can get or have..LOL


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## dmmcm (Nov 24, 2008)

After rereading the post scrap that last post, i see that daren already answered the question


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## dmmcm (Nov 24, 2008)

I will have to use a pesticide on my chairs because i already put the seats on my chairs and the seats are made out of Fat Lighter planks..So the kiln at 160 core temp is out of the question..


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

I've heard of some building a poly fumigation tent and fumigating the pieces to get rid of PPBs. I can't remember what insecticide was used. But they attested that it got rid of them. Meanwhile, the experts insist there's nothing short of heat that will kill them because the fumes really won't penetrate the wood. Who's right?

The target core temp to kill all wood boring insects, their larva, and eggs is 130F. The kiln temp required to achieve this is?


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

I prefer the 160F because the spores which cause blue stain, which is a constant menace to me, will not die until you hit 150F. I figure I might as well try to get everything while I am at it.


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