# Pressure treated lumber on jointer



## RockyTopScott (Nov 16, 2008)

Will it hurt my jointer if I run pressues treated lumber over the blade? Same for planer.

thanks
Scott


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## reggiek (Jun 12, 2009)

It should not hurt the blades….This lumber is usually treated with a copper solution under high pressure (to infiltrate the wood and to slow the growth of fungi). You should wear good breathing protection as the copper can be harmful and is an irritant. Some of this wood is also subjected to high clamping pressures in order to allow the solution to get into the deeper wood….this causes those small imperfections (look like staple marks). These imperfections go pretty deep and will be hard to surface out….I would expect a bit of chip out on this kind of wood….

Is there a reason you want to use this type of wood? You can certainly make your own weather resistant finishes if you are considering making items for outside use without resorting to these..and they are more expensive then untreated dimensional woods…


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## thedudeabides (Oct 20, 2009)

For various reasons I've ran quite a few pressure treated boards through the old planer and haven't experienced any problems. I can't think of any reason it would "hurt" your machine, it probably just dulls down the blades like any other piece of lumber you feed through it.


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## RedShirt013 (May 17, 2008)

If only stainless steel or galvanized fasteners should be used with newer ACQ pressure treated lumber (regular steel fasteners would corrode fast), I think jointing/planing treated wood may corrode your machine parts if you don't clean out the the knives and sawdust completely. Never tried doing it however.


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## BlankMan (Mar 21, 2009)

Ed, Yep. I left a couple pieces on my UniSaw overnight a year or two ago and came down the next morning and moved them and I had nice rust racing stripes on the cast iron table top. Don't do that no more.

If I were to joint them I would then clean the table tops and knifes and cutter head with the TopSaver System or something similar immediately after use.

Fresh pressure treated lumber can be wet. I already had clamps on it and watched the liquid ooze out.


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