[Lindy]

Hi everyone,

I've been hearing that certain woods are toxic and I am hoping someone here can tell me more about this. I'm doing a sign in African Mohogany right now and I find that there is a red dust within the layers of the wood as I carve it out. I've been working on this sign all week and have actually been a little sick which I put down to a flu bug until I was talking to some friends today and one of them said that some woods can actually be toxic and maybe that's why I've been sick. :-/

Comments please?

Thanks
Lindy

If you are carving with power, it could cause some problems.
It would be wise to use a dust extraction system and wear a respirator.

On the other hand, if you are using hand tools and not blowing dust around, you shouldn't be experiencing any serious problems. Â*I would think that you would most likely develop a skin rash if anything.

Dust from any source can result in respritory problems; when that dust includes toxins, you are compounding the detrimental effects. Â*

Regardless of the wood, when I am sawing, sanding or creating dust, I wear a dust mask and use air-filtration and dust collection systems.

[AlArchie]

Check this chart http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/roche/...isc/wood.toxic

Sounds like your symptoms were due to mahogany dust. The code for toxicity is at the bottom of the page.

Al

[mdallensr]

Lindy, I carve a lot of mahogany and am careful about the dust. I don't power carve, so carving with edge tools is not a problem, but any sawing or sanding, even by hand, can create enough dust to be a problem. I've not had any rashes or real illnesses, but I did have headaches and difficulty breathing after sawing some blanks. I do some scroll sawing to finish my blanks, and that can be a real problem if you don't wear a respirator and control the dust that's being blown around by the air jet from the scroll saw. I've had the same reaction to butternut, and I've heard other exotic woods are much worse.

I have had problems when carving or sawing mohogany.Dryness in nose & throat ,feelings like a sore throat.sleight burning of the eyes.It took me awhile to find it was the mohogany I had in my basement.I finally finished it and no more problems.

Beyond the toxicity of the wood, you'll need to be careful if the wood has any decay or fungus (spalted). Then you may be dealing with a reaction to the spores.

[Lindy]

Thanks everyone for your input. I can see that I am going to have to take percautions carving this wood even though I'm not using any power tools on it.

Regards!
Lindy