Turning treated pine

[artful bodger]

Have got a finial to make to replace a rotten one.
Client was happy to supply the timber.
Was a bit surprised when he dropped off a 4 x 4 of treated pine.
No doubt it will turn ok as it is radiata pine however I was just wondering if it was a wise move to actually turn the stuff considering the chemicals that are in it.
Obviously a dust mask would be a must for a start.
Anyone else turned treated pine without any major issues. Skin reactions etc.
Cheers.

[LanceC]

I'd be interested in hearing the response. I was practising making some boxes a while ago, and looking for some scrap, ended up using some left over treated pine fencing boards. With most of the work done with hand tools, the box and my hands stank terribly for days. So while I've vowed never to work with the stuff again for fine woodworking, it was only due to a gut feeling that stinky chemicals being released like that can't be great for me.

Keen to hear some factual input however.

[Robson Valley]

Treated lumber is for weather-proof construction, not furniture.
We never consider it for any other application. You just don't do that.

A dust mask is no good = your bigger concern should be the spray of preservative in your eyes.
Not In My Back Yard. Whatever floats your boat, the tide will do them all.

[Beardy]

There are the usual health concerns with the treated pine but to keep it in perspective tradesman are working it all the time drilling, sanding , planing etc

[MAPLEMAN]

but to keep it in perspective tradesman are working it all the time drilling, sanding , planing etcStill doesn't make it safe Beardy :no:...they may well be poisoning themselves inadvertently!
Best to turn something else AB, that hasn't been treated with the 'nasties'...MM:)

[artful bodger]

I did an advanced search on this forum and the question had been asked 18 years ago.
Here is a reply by (Retired) to a similar question asked back then.
Quote...

22nd Aug 2000, 07:42 PM #4 (http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/treated-wood-121-post449#post449)

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Gooday.

Many years ago when we started turning this type of post we approached the CSIRO and a number of treatment works about the toxicity of treated pine posts or any others for that matter.

This is a precis of their reply.

A horse would have to eat 2 complete 1.2mx150mm posts every day for 21 years to die from the effects.

A human would have to eat 2 complete 1.2mx150mm posts for 18 years to die.

I have eaten a number of strange things but I ain't in the mood to sit and eat 2 posts. http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/smile.gif

------------------
Ian () Robertson
"We do good turns every day"

End quote.
Strangely enough I live in a rural area and have often noticed various horses nibbling away at the tops of treated pine posts. Can't say I have seen any of them eat the whole post though.
Went ahead and turned the finial this morning.
The original one to be replaced had been eaten in parts by ants according to the client. The timber looked to be oregon.
443651 This was from a house built in 1998. Looks like it has never been re-painted either. Finial was approx a metre long and 70mm x 70mm square. The treated 4 x 4 inch bit the client bought round was just a bit that he'd had in his shed for years, it had a some dodgy pith along one of the corners and was warped so I machined it down to 80mm square as the client did not mind if the final piece was going to be a bit chunkier.
The treated pine turned ok and only gave it a light sand with 120 grit paper as it was getting painted.
Only eyeballed the shape roughly when making, did not seem to warrant any pencil gauge or anything fancy like that.
443652
Did not turn right through on the ends
443653
Instead sawed the off cut off, chiselled the nub off, then a quick sand. Which I assume is normal practice.

[Beardy]

Still doesn't make it safe Beardy :no:...they may well be poisoning themselves inadvertently!
Best to turn something else AB, that hasn't been treated with the 'nasties'...MM:)

I wasn’t saying it necessarily was, just trying to keep some perspective on the matter
Lots of products we use are not safe or of equal concern to TP so make your decision on what to do based
on that

Years ago we were doing some renovation work in a high rise office building in Sydney and had an air quality monitor in place as there was asbestos in the building. If the monitor rose above a certain level it was deemed unsafe and we had to stop work
I took the monitor down onto George street at lunchtime and the meter went off the dial

[Christos]

It's look a tad bigger than the original :), but other than that excellent.

[artful bodger]

It's look a tad bigger than the original :), but other than that excellent.

It is a tad bigger in diameter. Client was not concerned about that. The finial is 3 stories up and there are no other ones in view to compare it to.

[Christos]

Oh one of those is it. And the little buggers(termites) traveled three stories up to eat it. Is the rest of the house still intact?

[artful bodger]

Oh one of those is it. And the little buggers(termites) traveled three stories up to eat it. Is the rest of the house still intact?

Well we are not supposed to have termites here in Tassie, mind you I have seen lots of things in firewood that look like them. Maybe they are white ants?. I don't know. Either way there does not seem to be the sort of termite that eats dry wood here as the notorious ones they have in Queensland for instance.. Owner suggested they were more like your little black ant type creatures. I was wondering if perhaps a cockatoo or some such bird had been chewing on the original finial as the ball on the top of it had been attacked by something other than ants as well.

[Mountain Ash]

If the finial was Oregon then I'm not surprised it has rotted. This species is not suitable for outside use