Anyone else get black colored finger tips w working w certain woods?

Walnut will stain your hands, it is from the oil in the wood.

-- David in Damascus, MD

Again for the Oil, If you are not itching or Peeling skin, Probably NOT an allergic reaction !!

-- Pat - Worker of Wood, Collector of Tools, Father of one

I agree that it is the oil from the wood but the oils in the wood don’t do this to everyone do they? I guess I don’t much care what causes it but I more want to know if anyone else has same reaction.

-- Dan - "Collector of Hand Planes"

Yes same reaction !!

I Scrape with the Fingernail & soap & water

-- Pat - Worker of Wood, Collector of Tools, Father of one

DaddyZ- That makes me feel better. I was hoping it wasn’t just me

-- Dan - "Collector of Hand Planes"

Whenever we harvest walnuts the juice from the hulls will turn whatever is touches, especially skin, black, I would imagine there is a relation.

Probably just a precursor to turning into a cigar store indian :-)
Seriously I think it’s a reaction with the oils in your skin and the oils in the wood.

-- Don't rollerskate in a buffalo herd

I get it from red oak and walnut. Haven’t run enough mahogany at once to know.

On recent juniper projects I could feel a minor reaction in my hands.

The red oak shows purple on my fingers.

Kindly,

Lee

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

It’s the tannons in the wood, wash your hands with lemon juice and gone.

-- Al, South E. Az., But it's a dry heat.

I have worked with all three of those woods, especially mahogany and have never had that happen.

In fact I have worked with almost every exotic wood and the only one that did that was Gabon ebony. That is not surprising though since it’s black, but it does just wash off so it’s only the sawdust.

I have yet to find anything that I am allergic to, so that may help. (I always remember poor Blake)

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX

Yup, I have had the inky fingertips from mahogany and black walnut.

-- "Too much hurry ruins the body. I'll sit easy … fan the spark" - I. Anderson

Yep, Alan Coon is right….can’t remember the specifics, but it’s a reaction of the Tannic Acid in the wood, with the Iron(?) I believe it is, on your skin.
Different people have different reactions. It all depends on the amount of Tannins in the wood and the amount your hands sweat.
I typically don’t have a really bad reaction, but my hands are usually drier than a popcorn fart….depends on the time of the year.

Red oak and a lot of chisel work(Iron) = black hands for me.

-- Come to the dark side....we have cookies...

I have found that air dried wood has more oils and the like than kiln dried lumber. May account for the wide swings of reactions. I have some aromatic cedar that was kiln dried and some that was air dried and the differences in fragrance is significant. I just finished a walnut jewelry box and had the same issues on my hands.

Thanks for the tip of lemon juice, never tried that, always used Lava soap (takes everything off).

-- David in Damascus, MD

-- lcurrent ( It's not a mistake till you run out of wood )

Like Lee mentioned above, red oak turns my fingertips dark purple every time, almost black.

-- Dale Manning, Carthage, NY