# mesquite slab and bore bugs



## Jeff SATX

i've got a 6ft slab of mesquite. i propped it up in the garage to see if there would be any saw dust from bugs because the guy said, yeah, it's dried and bug free! but i didn't believe him, so sure enough, saw dust trails about every couple feet. 

how can i treat this wood to kill the bugs? should i wrap it up in something? spray it with something? i was thinking to get painters plastic and wrap it up and leave it in the sun this summer when it's 105 but my wife wants to see if i can do something sooner than later.

ideas? it's such a nice piece too, it's going to be a heavy shelf one day (or according to my wife, next year).


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## glennkoks

Good question and I was just reading up on the very topic yesterday because I am drying some slabs and considering using my attic. To kill bugs in wood it is recommended to raise the temperature up to 130F for five hours. The concern is exposing your attic to boring insects.

If it is still green I would highly recommend soaking the wood in Polyethyene Gycol for two reasons. It will help kill the bugs and also keep the slab from cracking when it drys. I have heard of denatured alcohol used as a cheaper substitute.

Perhaps some of the regulars knows someone with a wood kiln and that would kill two birds with one stone. Dry the wood and kill the bugs.


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## glennkoks

In addition the concern with using pestacides is staining the wood. There are a few non-staining chemicals you could use. I will see if I can find a link a post it.


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## t-astragal

They generally stay in the sapwood. Heat would be a good way to kill em. They are grubs that turn into cool looking black and yellow beetles. I don't think they eat pine or any other specie. I've only seen them in mesquite. If you knock off all the bark and sap you would see if any are bored up in the heart wood. You might be able to dig em out if they are. They are jelly bean size. 


Steve


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## BIG PAPPA

*The cheaper way*

The way it is done in Mexico is to spray it down with Ammonia. That even Kills Puff Beetles. My In-Laws had Puff Beetle in their expensive cabinets and Crown moldings years ago. Terminix Fogged/Fumigated the entire House. They put the Biggest Tent over that house I have ever seen to Kill those Bugs. 
Their House was 8,500 sq ft under roof..
Very Dangerous job from what I was told.


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## Jeff SATX

The wood is pretty dry, they seems to be near the bark.


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## speckle-catcher

find someone to kiln dry it for you.

it'd take a lot of PEG or DNA to soak that...and DNA runs about $16/gallon at Home Depot.


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## Slip

Sink in a pond or pool for a day or so. Drown the critters and will dry out just fine.


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## Jeff SATX

slip knot said:


> Sink in a pond or pool for a day or so. Drown the critters and will dry out just fine.


that might be the easiest thing to do!


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## glennkoks

Jeff SATX said:


> that might be the easiest thing to do!


Don't do that! You are trying to get it to dry slowly to avoid cracking. Soaking it in water will kill the bugs but probably invite big cracks when it goes to dry. I can't see how thick it is from the picture but they say one year per inch thick is the standard drying time and soaking it in water may kill the bugs but not their larva or eggs. It's a pretty board but I would try and find someone with a wood kiln.


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## glennkoks

*Brazos Forest Products - Houston*

I have never used these guys but a quick google search led me too them and they advertise kiln drying. If they want too much or it is too far I would put a wanted add up on craigslist with the words "sawmill" or "custom cabinets" and see if anyone contacts you.


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## trout250

get youself a dental syringe and inject household ammonia into the holes, it will discolor the wood some but color will usually return to normal. I havve used this method on wood worms in anique furniture or if you can get hold of some methyl bromide you can gas them, stack on a clean concrete floor use heavy neoprene to tent the wood duct taping heavily around edges and inject gas or tablets in tent. gas will take 73hrs tablets longer


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## Slip

As Glenkok states above, I have stabilized a lot of wet wood by soaking for a week or two in a 50/50 mixture of water and soap or water and PEG and kills any bugs and dries much more stable than drying in the open air by itself. I have turned a lot of projects very wet and unstable to final thickness of as thin as 1/8" and almost completely eliminates warping and checking or cracking. Likely hard to do the mixture on a board however, but the soaking has never prolonged the drying or caused damage and know from experience, drying without soaking was much worse. In fact, it allowed me to dry faster using hard sun and even microwave to speed drying. The mixture could likely kill bugs and stabilize the wood if you could get a vat to use? Can research it and is a pretty proven method of stabilizing without harm. I used to turn a lot of very wet wood and treated always after final turning. Just a thought? Drying wet wood is more than removing moisture (water) it involves drying the sap moisture and the mixture helps replacing the sap molecules with an alternative and still dry, more stable. Many Old time cabinet makers used to cut the trees and put in ponds until closer to time of need, then dry and use as needed. That was way back in time and soaking in just water eliminated wood rot or other from what I have read. Still, kiln drying would definitely be a best method to dry and kill bugs., just more expensive and harder to find a source.


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## t-astragal

Get the bark off #1 and then get rid if the sap. Simple solution. The beatles love the sap wood. They will sometimes find it later anyway. Most floor companies cut off all signs if sap to make sure they don't get called back later to fix a bug problem. 


Steve


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