[Arran]

 I was thinking of something they have here called "Copper II" actually, it kills fungus and deters bugs, the solvent is mineral spirit based. Actually one of the wood worm treatments I found through poogle was something called "Boron 12" which looks like it may be similar, if not the same, as the boric acid crystals you can buy from the drug store, it kills bugs and rot but does not smell.
Regards
Arran

[HOTWIRE]

So.
Anybody got any thoughts on constructing a cabinet to install a microwave system.

How about using an old but structurally good fridge. ? Would the fridge seal provide sufficient wave insulation or should it be modified.?

Would a single magnetron do the job or should there be two or more. ?

Any suggestions for temperature control / sensors. ?

[Ron Ramirez]

I think the group consensus was thumbs down on the homemade microwave idea. After all, we don't want to find out later on that you'd accidentally barbecued yourself.

Have you exhausted all conventional woodworm killers (chemical)?

[Warren]

Yes, in my opinion making your own microwave is a rather dangerous thing to do.

[Phlogiston]

Well, you'll know which parts are isolated or grounded and where the RF is leaking. Look for burned and melted items and scorch marks around the door gasket. OH, and don't forget to wear your pie tin hat - it also keeps the government out (of your head) . . . . not a political statement, I think.

[Arran]

 Unless it's a very old fridge, like one from the 1950s, with a mechanical latch, I would not even entertain trying it.  By the time you construct this thing, you could have dunked the entire cabinet in kerosene, pesticide, or baked it in the oven several times to kill the bugs, maybe the antique restorers have such a device but I can guarantee that they didn't simply throw it together in an afternoon.
Regards
Arran

[Alan Douglas]

Why take chances when there are safer methods? This website has some good information on freezing or inert gas treatment:
http://www.buildingconservation.com/arti...odworm.htm
A sealed plastic bag and some dry ice for a few weeks ought to do it. Someone on another discussion forum even mentioned that you can get CO2 by shaking a bottle of soda. Or aren't there pressurized cartridges for charging seltzer bottles?

[Phlogiston]

I was thinking that a CO2 fire extinguisher would be a great way to fill up a bag.

[Alan Douglas]

Do they seal after being used part way?

[exray]

Ho boy, y'all got me started.  I used to buy a lot of European sets back when shipping was tolerable.  Have had several that came with woodworms.  The first was a B&O Master 38.  I first froze the cabinet for about two weeks and that did nothing.  Then I left it in the neighbor's deep freeze for about 6 months.  Then I puttied over all the so-called 'exit holes' and that seemed to stop it.  For a while.
I had my Euros on display together so they took turns infecting each other.  Not to mention I had powder post beetles in the wood shelving.  That's how I learned to tell them apart.
I had to be away for about a 18 months and knew I had a problem with one English set so I quarantined it in a plastic bag.  When I came home one of my many first orders of business was to address the problem.

The English radio in quarantine was almost totally eaten away under the veneer.  Didn't look bad from the outside.  Quite the colony going on in that one.  The cabinet was totally trashed but I reconstructed one from scratch.  Other sets weren't so bad.

I went over everything.  First with malathion which didn't seem to be having much effect.  And finally with a termite killer made by RealKill that we get here rather inexpensively.

It has been over a year and I haven't seen a speck of wood dust on the shelves or any of these sets.  I give credit to the Real Kill product.

Pics to follow.

   

   

   

   

   

[exray]

The Real Kill product.  Surely there is a mainland equivalent to this.  Its about 8 bucks at the grocery store.

   

I might add that anytime I see any powder pop up on my shelves or desk I zap the area with this stuff and never see it again.

There's a backstory to my powder post shelving. I worked in a cabinet shop for about 2 years recently. Boss had bought a load of 3/4 veneered cabinet plywood from a vendor on the main island that was unknowingly infected with powder post. He sent out a lot of cabinets using that stuff, probably 40-50 sheets worth, and made a lot of people unhappy that he could not cure/replace the work. When I started working there were still a few sheets of that ply hanging around. He was all too happy to make me a deal too good to pass up to carry it home. So I did a lot of shelving work with it. I knew what I was getting in to and I think finally, years later, I have found the magic cure.

[Ron Ramirez]

Unless our friends at the EPA have outlawed the stuff, I think we can still buy Real-Kill in the USA.

(Actually, a quick online search does not find their termite killer product here on the mainland. Home Depot has it on their website but it does not appear to be in any of their stores. Neither Wal-Mart nor Amazon list this product. If it works, it certainly will not be available here . Insert rant here, i.e. Ooooh, eh eh, it might harm the habbbitaaat of the common terrrrmite!)

The trouble is, Hotwire (Willie) is in Ireland. So that begs the question: is Real-Kill Termite and Moth Spray available there?

[exray]

Can't answer for Willie but sometimes even common grocery store stuff can be the magic cure. It seems that whatever is effective against termites is also effective against woodworm. Or maybe it has something to do with the season of application. I might mention that in spraying this product around be prepared to leave the room. We are under all the US laws for stuff so I always figure if it doesn't kill us then it shouldn't kill people in the states, either

I've fought the little b****rds for about 10 years and this is the first product that seems to work.

[codefox1]

Years ago I turned found-in-my-woods-rural-Tennessee Oak limbs and logs into lamps as a hobby. One partiular Oak lamp I kept for a couple of years until I saw a little sawdust on the table, and sure enough, there was a worm about to make its way out. Hard to believe since the lamp was stained and laquered so the only air that could get in is where the wire went in at the bottom.

[HOTWIRE]

So much has been written about these pests. Every forum one goes on. in the area of wood restoration or antiques or furniture etc produces pages and pages of the same stories.
Many conclusions have been drawn and many of those conclusions are wrong.
For example. It has long been agreed that the adults bore out of the wood and not into it. WRONG.
I can post pictures of a philco with four or five chew (IN) holes. It goes on and on.

Bottom line to me is this.

KILL THE EGGS. Kill the eggs and you also kill the larvae and adults.

We can kill the larvae and adults by freezing but not the eggs.
We can kill the emerging and entering adults by chemicles but not the eggs and not all the larvae.
So . We have to kill the eggs, and it seems to me that the most scientifically proven way to do this is by heating them beyond their tollerance, ie +50c. So heating above this and below around 60c will destroy all stages of the bug and not damage the vaneer or wood.

So guy,s. My conclusion is, Either an Oven or Microwave.

By the way. What a wonderful subject this would make for a students thesis.

Regards all
Will