Baby rattle wood?

Re: Baby rattle wood?

JohnV

Any of those will work. The " preferred" woods would be maple or cherry. Mineral oil is fine. Probably will need to be periodically reapplied. Slobber will dry the wood as well as the needed washings.

Re: Baby rattle wood?

John McGaw

I've always leaned toward a combination of bee's wax and walnut oil as a food-safe finish for turned items -- friction melting it into the object is easy and achieves a bit of penetration. For cutting boards mineral oil is easy. Both are food safe.

As for wood, I've never seen or heard of anything that a baby won't chew on but maple is one of the "safe" choices.

Re: Baby rattle wood?

Dick Coers

Personally, I would stay away from walnut and walnut oil. Some allergists are suggesting early exposure to nuts now, but I don't want to be the one to find out an infant has a reaction! I'd use hard maple and no finish.

Re: allergies

Yonak

I heard a piece on the radio yesterday that it's now considered a good idea to expose infants to peanuts or peanut oil early to help prevent allergies. I would assume the same for walnuts and walnut oil, yet that is not really the subject of the issue as peanuts are.

I couldn't find yesterday's story but here are two that say the same thing :

https://www.npr.org/2017/01/05/508408462/new-guidelines-recommend-when-to-introduce-peanuts-to-babies

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/04/469237111/peanut-mush-in-infancy-cuts-allergy-risk-new-study-adds-to-evidence

Choke hazard

Bill Howatt

Have you read the CPSC articles governing sizes to avoid choking hazards for toys such as rattles?

https://www.cpsc.gov/Business--Manufacturing/Business-Education/Business-Guidance/Rattles

Bill

Re: Baby rattle wood?

JohnV

THE "ALLERGY" to walnut wood is mostly considered an urban myth these days. The offending substances in walnut are exuded by the roots into the soil under the drip line as a defense by the tree to keep down competition from some other species. The only real caveat that appears to be substantiated is not to let horses chew on the wood.

Yes

JL

I make sure that the end diameters are at least 1.75"

Re: Choke hazard

Barry Irby

I made one recently for my Grandson. I used olive wood for the rattles and cherry for the handle. I put a sphere on both ends to avoid the choking hazard and poking the handle in the eye possibility.

I would use maple for the spheres and one of the others for the handle. I like the finer grained woods for this. I rubbed bee's wax in as friction polish. Just not a big fan of mineral oil.

Make the spheres at least 1 5/8" in diameter to prevent getting into their mouth.

Re: Baby rattle wood?

Dave Bair

Let me assure you that allergies to walnuts do indeed exist and are potentially life-threatening.

Re: Baby rattle wood?

Don Stephan

My understanding is the walnut extractive, juglans, is in the heartwood. Juglas is a mild herbicide and mild fungicide.

Re: Baby rattle wood?

JohnV

Walnuts yes not walnut wood.

Re: Baby rattle wood?

walta

This Nick Cook article worth a read.

http://www.nickcookwoodturner.com/articles-babyrattle.pdf

Walta

Like I said, I don't want to take any chances

Dick Coers

Why even take a chance if there is even the slightest possibility. You think the infant or even the family will care if it's maple instead of walnut?

LOL

JL

I used to live in Marietta. I took a series of weekend classes from Nick Cook at his studio when I first started turning. The rattles (and his snowmen, honey dippers, garden dibbles, etc.) were one of the first turning projects.

Re: Baby rattle wood?

John K Jordan

>>>My understanding is the walnut extractive, juglans, is in the heartwood. Juglas is a mild herbicide and mild fungicide.

My references indicate juglone is in walnut leaves, roots, bark, nuts, and husks.

JKJ

Re: Baby rattle wood?

Don Stephan

Wonder then what the tree makes to turn sapwood dark brown and make the wood rot resistant if it's not juglone/juglan. Maybe one of the arborists can educate me - I always assumed the walnut heartwood extractive was the same as juglone/juglan.

Re: Baby rattle wood?

Don Stephan

Last spring a pediatrician told me her daughter, who has a severe nut allergy, had a severe reaction from simply touching raw cherry wood. I had no reason to doubt the doctor.

Re: Baby rattle wood?

Yonak

Here are a couple of rattles I made a long time ago when two of my friends had babies about the same time. They are ash and cherry.

Re: Baby rattle wood?

Don Stephan

There must be something in the wood of black walnut. An Internet search using "horse bedding black walnut" found several sites saying that even a small percentage of black walnut shavings or sawdust in stall bedding of horses can cause serious problems, just from standing on the bedding.

Black walnut

JL

I had to make a dining room table and a pair of benches out of black walnut.

I spread the sawdust and shavings on one of our paths through our woods. There are fewer weeds on that path (still some Virginia creeper) than on the other paths.

Re: Black walnut

Barry Irby

David Ellsworth, of Turning fame, will no longer turn walnut. He had a severe reaction to it.

I think he started with a piece that had the bark on it, but never the less, once he had the reaction, that was enough.

Horses only

Yonak

It is a whole different issue with horses. Horses bedding in walnut shavings can develop laminitis in their hooves. This is specific to horses. It has nothing to do with human exposure.

Not Substantiated

Yonak

These are anecdotes and hearsay .. one-offs based on a person's opinion. I'd like to see a study.

In Ellsworth's case it was bark, which does have a measurable amount of juglone in it, not wood or shavings.

I know I am totally allergic

Michael Farinella

to walnut. My sinuses go absolutely "nuts" when I work with it. I've also read walnut allergies are cumulative over time.