To sterilize wood or not ... think twice before you say no

[Dorm]

I realize to most woodworkers on here that this is a moot point. But, in the past, I'd been on the fence as to whether to sterilize green, or air dried wood. Today however, the more I work with green and/or air dried wood there's high probability of bug infestation and/or eggs.

To that end, yesterday I sterilized a few pieces for use and wanted to show some results of the heating process. This is some oak which has air dried for ~2 years or so. All of the small black dots on top of the wood are carpenter ants. I'd seen evidence of these prior to use ... thus the need to heat treat. To my point - I no longer question the importance of this step - I just build it into the process with any project wherein I use this type material.

Ciao ... Dorm

 

[Gotcha6]

Know a guy that had his home remodeled using SYP T & G flooring. It wasn't kiln dried and he said he could hear the bugs chewing the wood when he was in bed at night.......

 

[patlaw]

What process do you use to sterilize the wood?

 

[Dorm]

It's a fairly simple process, wherein I use foil faced insulation sheets from Lowes to make a 3 sided box. The box is roughly 30" tall x 24"wide x 7'lg. I stack the material on some small risers, made from scrap material. The risers are roughly 1' tall x 1'wide and these just get the wood up off the concrete such that the heat permeates the wood. I place an oil filled space heater (1500 watts I think) at one end, and a small dehumidifier. I've sometimes used a very small fan to circulate the air as well.

Once the material is stacked and spaced using stickers, I flip the 'box' over to cover the material, space heater and such - turn on the heat and wait for the temp to get up to ~140 degF. I space out 3 meat thermometers to monitor the temp ... just poke these thru the insulation board at even spaces. It takes a bit of monitoring at first to regulate the temp, but typically it settles out after ~ an hour. Once it gets to that point, I can go back to work on other things in the shop, and just look over from time to time to make sure the temps are still good.

140DegF is a bit on the high side and once the wood core reaches this, it doesn't have to remain there long in order to sterilize. There are tables on-line for more specific durations. I tend to err on the hotter/longer side to know these suckers are dead.

Ciao ... Dorm