Thread: Woodworm in an old plane

Definitely not my area, but i think that one of the last Woodtalk posts had Matt Cremona talk about resin infusing some mallets.

Does anyone know if this would work here?

In the absence of any pictures I'd say put it in the freezer for 3-4 days, that'll donk the bugs. As for fixing up the wood, some pics would be handy.

Originally Posted by Feckit

In the absence of any pictures I'd say put it in the freezer for 3-4 days, that'll donk the bugs. As for fixing up the wood, some pics would be handy.

Will do. Only got it last night and slept in this morning Will try to get something up in the next day or two.

If its holding together and not falling to pieces, that's very good .
Kill them and fill the holes . Freezing sounds good if it works .
I use Kero but with a insecticide added. Do Both ways .
Getting poison in deep is not easy sometimes . On furniture its often only 19mm thick . Sometimes legs are thicker.
Ive had planes with the same problem . After a week on a sunny window ledge you could try filling the holes . A good colour matched filler would be my choice. The best one in the furniture game is a filler like a car body filler but the quality is much much better . Sellys Plastibond with the right oxide colours mixed gives a hard same colour look that lasts well . The trick is mixing and applying it correctly . Ill explain more if you need it .

Originally Posted by auscab

If its holding together and not falling to pieces, that's very good .
Kill them and fill the holes . Freezing sounds good if it works .
I use Kero but with a insecticide added. Do Both ways .
Getting poison in deep is not easy sometimes . On furniture its often only 19mm thick . Sometimes legs are thicker.
Ive had planes with the same problem . After a week on a sunny window ledge you could try filling the holes . A good colour matched filler would be my choice. The best one in the furniture game is a filler like a car body filler but the quality is much much better . Sellys Plastibond with the right oxide colours mixed gives a hard same colour look that lasts well . The trick is mixing and applying it correctly . Ill explain more if you need it .

Awesome. So it sounds like its not a lost cause. It does feel very solid. There is one small piece on the base that looks a bit...iffy. I will post pics tomorrow with more questions but that is awesome that there might be hope.

Woodworm was likely in it when it came from the UK or where ever. I dont think they live here. I got a marples jack on the bay that had signs of worm. Little holes here and there. I gave it a week in the freezer to be on the safe side. I even uncovered a squiggly tunnel when I dressed the sole. Still works really well so have left things as they are.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by Feckit

...I'd say put it in the freezer for 3-4 days...

Freezer you say? Wouldn't the buggers just hibernate? If you can freeze sperm and then revive it...
Would the microwave work? With irons removed of course .

Cheers, Vann.

If you take the iron out and put it in your attic, you can probably kill the worms pretty easily. (I wouldn't want the iron in a plane when heating it to something like 150 degrees F as the wood might temporarily shrink, and it also at its age may not spring back much - you can address that later).

If the plane is solid and it works, then that's pretty much the end of the story. If it works full of dead worms, then it still works.

It's all about the speed at which things are cooled down.

In a domestic freezer, at about -10°C, things are cooled quite slowly, this propagates large crystals, those crystals puncture through the cell walls and essentially turn the grub into mush. Sperm on the other hand are cooled near instantaneously to about -200°C, this cooling process is so rapid that no crystals can form and thus the sperm remain intact.

As for a microwave, don't know haven't tried it but I reckon it may well be more detrimental to the wood than freezing.

Originally Posted by Feckit

In a domestic freezer, at about -10°C, things are cooled quite slowly, this propagates large crystals, those crystals puncture through the cell walls and essentially turn the grub into mush.

That's very clever. I guess given that, once it's frozen through, there would be no benefit in leaving it in the freezer any longer.

Lance

I guess given that, once it's frozen through, there would be no benefit in leaving it in the freezer any longer.

That's certainly true, however, I'm just not sure on how long it actually takes, i.e what insulation the wood provides the grubs before they're frozen solid?

Well looks like I was wrong about them not living here. From the Rentokil site.
https://www.rentokil.com.au/wood-bor...f-wood-borers/
Regards
John

Update with photos.

Well i finally had to time to go and give this a look. My optimism I think took a hit.

Opened up the plastic bags and there is sawdust everywhere...not great. This thing is riddled. There is a chunk at the bottom rear right that literally fell away after hitting on the table a few times (after the photo's where taken). Advice needed but hope dwindling. Shame as the irons is in awesome nick. The wedge is ok (small woodworm damage) and overal, this would have been perfect for my needs.

End.jpg End showing 60mm

bottom.jpg Bottom

Leftside.jpg Left Side

I think that's enough.....it was way worse than my first "glance".....ideas? advice? I will try the freezer job over the weekend as the kero smell has disappeared so the other half won't mind....but it doesn't look good.

To be honest, I'm not seeing anything too fatal at the moment. Sure there's a bit of recovery work, but you knew that. Put it in the freezer as noted and put up some shots of the bit that broke off, we'll see where we go from there.