[NorthOblivion]

Hi, I have a concern regarding waterlogged wood. I remember the carver who got me started carving mentioning respiratory risk associated with wood that's been exposed to some moisture and I'd rather be overcautious on this issue than cause myself any problems... attached is a picture of the wood in question (basswood), I've already whittled away a bit of it and it's been drying for years before I came across it. I'm just wondering if this is OK to carve and if anyone could fill me in on this issue I would really appreciate it!

[mark yundt]

I'm not really sure about your piece,,but I know some woods as they start to decay actually contain some fungus/bacteria.I've read it is not good for you to breath any of the dust from this stuff,,but it does impart a beautiful color and pattern in the wood.Quite highly prized by some.Done a vew bowls out of it myself. But I would imagine that anything left damp would or at least could be a breeding ground for fungus.Anything that is starting to rot,,well this is the stuff that's doing it to break it down.As I said I'm not really sure for certain,,so a respirator would be a step towards protecting yourself if in doubt.Can't hurt.

[AlArchie]

Good advice from Mark, there! One step further.....don't use just one of those paper dust maskes, but get a good respirator with the cannister type filter. They fit a lot better and that activated carbon filter removes a lot more of the pathogens.

You might be very dissapointed in that particular piece of basswood, as it looks like it has a pretty good fungal infusion (all that blue/black stuff). it may add some interesting color and pattern, but is usually accompanied by some pretty severe deterioration of the wood itself. It gets soft, punky, stringy and difficult to carve. .

Al

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

If you are power sawing or using power tools to carve ie foredom etc, then you definitely need a good mask, if you are carving with a knife, I don't see any problem, I could never get my knife going fast enough to create dust

[mdallensr]

One of the problems with air-dried basswood is the eventual decay, particularly the heartwood. You can have the punky, tearing bad wood without the discoloration. See below. That blank was going to be a grizzly bear, but I decided to cheerfully start over with a good pice of basswood. You can see the growth rings in the photo and know it's pretty close to the center of the log. 1-2" away from that bad area, the wood was perfect. No fun to carve. Mike

[wade clark]

Hi_HO hit it on the head. You won't be creating dust if not power carving. If power carving it wear a good mask. It's a good idea to wear a good mask whether there's "funny stuff" in the wood or not when power carving...dust of ANY kind is foreign material when it's in the respiratory system...micro-slivers in your lungs. Some woods are naturally toxic in varying degrees too. Cypress dust will shut my lungs down and give me a severe headache, even if cutting it on my table saw. I love to carve it, so I use a Dust-Bee-Gone mask if the dust isn't too bad and a respirator if it's really stirring up, plus I use a pretty good dust collector. Not gonna let the dust spoil my fun or my lungs!
Wade

[NorthOblivion]

thanks for the great responses... I think I'm just gonna chuck this bit of wood, the discolouration would really hinder my piece. Ah well, plenty of other tree in the forest