Question on using wood with borer damage

Re: Question on using wood with borer damage

Barry Irby

It's an "Either you like it or you don't" thing. Sometimes highly prized and sometimes it's trash. If your daughter likes it, use it. Blow out the dust/frass and carry on.

Re: Question on using wood with borer damage

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I can't offer any advice on the borers but I urge you to practice staining on test piece. I find ash hard to stain with a desirable result.

Re: Question on using wood with borer damage

JohnV

I like the worm tracks. They may take the stain darker than the sanded flat surface. I'm with your wife. Go For It.

Re: Question on using wood with borer damage

John McGaw

It's called character and, in casual furniture, I'd say it is not detrimental. I had a large sycamore sawed some years back and it was full of grubs the size of my pinkie finger and I've never had wood more satisfying to work with -- the associated spalting was quite spectacular.

Re: Question on using wood with borer damage

Don Stephan

For the occasional worm hole and similar in turned wooden bowls I use 2 part 5 minute epoxy tinted with dry pigments. The result is a smooth surface and filler not likely to ever come out. On ash and other open pore woods, though, the surrounding wood might be lightly tinted as well. With a dark tint, the worm tracks are still very visible to provide "character."

Your choice whether the additional time is justified on interior surfaces.

Re: Question on using wood with borer damage

Don Goodwin

Sounds like the consensus is to treat it as a "feature". Thank you. Bill - what gives you fits with staining ash? About 20 years ago, I built a lamp table out of ash, used Min-wax "golden oak" stain (because that's what I stained everything with back then) and it came out ok. I'm interested in what I should be concerned about when I get to staining.

Pay no attention to the idiot who used a mitered picture frame around a solid top. Lesson learned. This table has been in daily use since I built it - when my wife is not looking, I even use it as the kitchen table

I’ve done it

Bruce, a MN Galoot

With cherry. I built a gun cabinet for a friend, using cherry grown on his farm. A couple boards had borer tracks, so I cleaned and filled them with epoxy and cherry sanding dust. Then I put those exposed faces on the inside of the cabinet. My friend liked them, so that’s all that counts.

Re: Question on using wood with borer damage

William Duffield

People have been paid by high class woodworking magazines for articles on how to enhance your furniture projects by making realistic looking but imitation borer holes.

Re: Question on using wood with borer damage

Dave Bair

I don't believe that's ash borer damage. Ash borer damage is a series of "S"-shaped shallow trails on the surface of the log, right under the bark. You have a different species. Any forestry site should have photos of ash borer trails.

Re: Question on using wood with borer damage

Joe Grittani

I don't do much staining, but I've had good luck using gel stains on ash.