Cooktown iron wood

[joevan]

Are there any dangerous allergy causing agents in "cooktown iron wood"? I started sneezing shortly after I started turning this lump of timber. I coud not find any thing on the world wide web other than a general description of the timber itself.
BR Joevan.

[WOODbTURNER]

Joevan,

They stopped building horse stables up here as the horses got crook from chewing on it. There has been a previous thread on the forum on this subject.

[joevan]

Hello WOODbTURNER,
Many thanks for the promt reply. I have found the thread that deals with "cooktown ironwood hazards". It was a thread by "FLOWBOY" and it is called "Red Ebony".

BR Joe V K.

[texx]

a guy gave me a chunk to mess about with last year and he warned me that it can affect some people more others .i made a gavel out of one bit of it
with me it was no worse than mackay cedar .maybe not even as bad as mackay cedar.
but he said it can give some people a rash , then he said it has even made people blind but i wears off after a while so i said well beer does that to some people but they still persist .

johno

[rsser]

Bottom line is diff folks react to timbers differently Joe. You've had a reaction. That's your body telling you to steer clear of it. Or at least use the best filtration you can afford.

Some folks will develop sensitivity over repeated exposure to a particular species (I have to redgum) but you've had a quick response which shouldn't be ignored.

[Ironwood]

Cant add too much to what has already been said, but.....

The dust can cause some people a lot of trouble, got a mate who worked with it for a day without a mask on, he was sick for about 6 days after.
But then another mate who mills it into slabs, then builds furniture out of it, has never worn a mask while working with it, he says it doesnt affect him. I think it will catch up with him in the end.

I have worked with it quite a bit, I go to a fair bit of trouble not to breath any of the dust in. (mask, fans, dust extraction ) The splinters can also turn septic if you dont get them out fairly quick.

It doesnt give me as bad a reaction as Mackay Cedar, but I dont take chances with any wood dust if I can help it.

I heard a story about a cattle truck that parked under the shade of a big Cooktown Ironwood when they stopped for lunch. The cattle that could reach the leaves and ate them, died as a result.

[WOODY70]

Are there any dangerous allergy causing agents in "cooktown iron wood"? I started sneezing shortly after I started turning this lump of timber. I coud not find any thing on the world wide web other than a general description of the timber itself.
BR Joevan.
Cooktown Ironwood is Toxic and yes if cattle eat the leaves it will kill them.

Cheers
Dave