# Cherry & PPB



## DaveDelo (Jun 23, 2010)

Bought about 1500bf of cherry a few months ago at an estate auction. Turns out the wood had been infected with powder post beetles. Even though I believe it wasn't an active infestation, I didn't want to take a chance on bringing it into the shop. Here's my home-brew kiln solution that holds about 100bf at a time. Has two 375 watt heat lamps plus a fan. Takes about 4 hours to get to 120 degrees and 2 more hours to get to 140. I leave it on for 6 more hours with a final temperature of 155 degrees. From the research I've seen, 120-140 degrees for 4-6 hours kills all life stanges of the PPB.


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

I guess with 1500 bf of cherry on the line, one will come up with some ingenious solutions. Looks like you are well on your way, congrats on the wood and good luck cooking the little buggers.


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## DaveDelo (Jun 23, 2010)

Actually, the wood only cost 20 cents a BF but for some reason I just liked the color of this stack. Even though it's been alot of work & hassle sterilizing it, machining it has revealed a very nice dark cherry color. Only solice is the auctioneer must have lost my check because its been 5 months and the check hasn't cleared yet!


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## SASmith (Mar 22, 2010)

Novel solution.


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

That has to be an all time score, what a price! that could be the greatest $300 lumber purchase ever (assuming they cash the check) thats awesome, suppose you will be cranking out a lot of cherry projects?


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## Nomad62 (Apr 20, 2010)

Specifically speaking, the core of the wood needs to get to 133 deg. f; the time involved depends on the thickness of the wood. If it is all 4/4, and there is air space between each piece, then you should be ok. Nice grab!


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## DaveDelo (Jun 23, 2010)

I've got 3 thermometers inserted at 3 different depth levels into a 2×4. One all the way thru, one about 1/2" deep and the other 1" deep. Most of what I'm working with is 4/4 and some 1 1/8". Temps vary from each other by about 2-3 degrees throughout the process. I wait to start the timer when all 3 get over 140 and then leave it for 6 full hours. After shutting off the power, the chamber still remains over 140 for another hour or so.


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## JacksonLee (Jun 12, 2014)

Dave,

I'm in a similar situation with some hickory that is dry stacked. I bought some Boracare but want to make a small box like yours to bake the little buggers. What the demensions? Materials used? And where you happy with the results? I assume the fan is to keep the hot air moving, correct? Is there any issues with ruining the wood?

Thanks for any input.


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## TheFridge (May 1, 2014)

A guy with a similar problem, but an active infestation in 14k$ cabinets, told me an ozone machine feeding a sealed room will kill anything and everything.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Yes, and the people in the house, too….....


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## Yonak (Mar 27, 2014)

I'm loath to hijack this thread but in the OP, Dave said he didn't want to bring the possibly infested wood into the shop for fear of infesting other wood. This is something I've been wondering about. Is there any evidence that the bugs can jump from one stack to another, as long as the infested wood is not stacked with uninfested wood ?


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Oh yes, when the adults emerge from the wood, they can re-infest that same wood, or they can fly to any nearby wood and infest that.


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## DaveDelo (Jun 23, 2010)

Some of the web links I found back when I was researching this subject are no longer valid but here's one with some decent information.

http://www.palletenterprise.com/articledatabase/view.asp?articleID=2890


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

Dave,

Very informative article. I double treat my hardwood lumber. When green, it is sprayed with a borate solution. After some air drying, I kiln dry it, and at the end of the drying period, I run the kiln at 145 degrees for 24 hours.

I hate powderpost beetles. They are a scourge.


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## Yonak (Mar 27, 2014)

"I double treat my hardwood lumber. When green, it is sprayed with a borate solution. After some air drying, I kiln dry it, and at the end of the drying period, I run the kiln at 145 degrees for 24 hours. " - WDHLT15

..And even after all that, if the lumber returns to 9%~15% MC, it can still get infested, If I understand correctly. It doesn't seem fair .. in fact, it seems downright insidious,


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