Woodworm

[georg]

  Well I`ll try yet again may be its 3rd time lucky ...... In response to Steve on another thread all our wood is sprayed with
  Borax to help prevent staining and worm infestation it works very well on light coloured absorbent woods remembering
  that woodworm has a 6 year life cycle and any treatment only kills on entry or exit . So any inside will just carry on
  munching for the next 6 years. Both woodworm .... moulds ... spalting..  like damp warm wood, so keep all wood in a dry
  atmosphere with good air circulation and move it often. To kill worm already in wood it can be killed by heating in a
  microwave. Thickness needs to be under 1 1/4 "to penetrate it needs to be wrapped tight in cling film to stop burning. If dry
  to start with wrap in a wet towel then in cling film. Depending on the size it can then be microwaved... ON DEFROST..
 until heated all the way through HOT about 10 mins depending on the wattage and size of wood... DEFROST will do this slowly .Remember that dry wood has no moisture to heat up so will just burn....  large lumps I treat using a steamer
 over 2to3 hrs for heat to penetrate to centre , as said I use a wall paper steamer connected to a 45 gallon drum

  Regards Tony d

[Bryan Milham]

Tony,

for small things, like 'wormy wood' apples, I tend to wrap them against frost and put them in the freezer for a couple of days.

I find that SWMBO is more forgiving of that than using her microwave.

[georg]

          You do know Bryan that a lot of people pay a lot of money to be frozen,
            to be brought back to life at a later date.
           Tony

       

[Bryan Milham]

I'm saving hard already!

[georg]

    Up date on Borax ..... The log has not been protected with borax and was cut down the middle just before the photo,
    the bowl was treated with borax after rough turned to stop mould ingress, The bowl is now totally dry but the log keeps
    changing colour as it is still damp... they are both from the same tree and cut up one month ago.
    Regards Tony d

   

[Eric Harvey]

Tony your wrong about the thicknesses of wood that microwaves will penetrate,the European Journal of Wood and Wood Products did scientific test on blocks of wood ( Quresus Alba White Oak)ranging from 10 x 10 cm squared to 25 x 25 cm squared for two minutes and got full penetration of the wood,as microwaves cook from the middle outwards,so depending on the size of your wood and the size of the microwave,if the wood will fit in it,the microwave will fully penetrate it.

[georg]

  Normally I never post on the Discussion page for the controversy it can generate But I have come to learn it is the best
  way of moving forward. I only ever put in print what I have tried myself. I have been Microwaving from dripping wet to
  total  dry, for over 10 years and have found the cling film on the out side keeps it wet and stops burning the outside until
  the heat works its way in by keeping the wood continuously warm.
  The tests I have done include heating a piece of wood really hot and cutting in half to find the centre is cold. Put three bowls in a microwave
  only the top one heats up. A simple test is to put a bowl of Beans or Custard into the microwave and the outer edges of the
  bowl and beans/custard will become hot while the centre will remain cold.
  Thank You Eric For Joining In The Discussion.
  Kind Regards Tony d

 

[Bryan Milham]

Eric,

Sorry, I'm a Radar (Microwave) engineer, microwaves do not cook from the inside out I'm afraid. That is modern folk-law!

In simple terms, what they do do is energise the water molecules and make them vibrate  and hence heat up, which heats whats in the oven, and when it's food, cooks it.

Given long enough and enough power, they will penetrate any cellular matter.

[Eric Harvey]

yep your right there Bryan,I should have put it better about the liquid in the cells vibrating and causing the heat,cheers,

Eric