Thread: Reaction to Pau Ferro

Best thing you could do with it is get it as far away from you as possible - maybe Australia even - in fact I know a bloke in Queensland who would gladly take it off your hands as he has only reacted badly to one timber species and hasn't got Bolivian Rosewood in his collection . . . . . yet

Not a remedy, but I hope you have super duper dust extraction - you haven't felt anything in your chest from it?

Brendan

Wow...the symptoms you describe are exactly the same I get when my darlin' Annie gets p_ssed at me

I try to approach new species with caution.
For me that means going through my books & online resources such as lists of timber that are known to be toxic or cause allergic reactions.
For me it's cocobolo ...
I can't tolerate the dust.
I very rarely turn it anymore and when I have to sand it I use a wax & oil slurry to
keep the dust out of the air.
My skin doesn't seem to react (at least not yet).
It seems to work but if I had a reaction like what you describe I might want to avoid
pau ferro altogether.
I've turned pau ferro within the last few weeks with no reaction at all.
It's curious how it works with each individual and it sure is gorgeous material .
It might be wise to talk to a Dr. about your reaction.
Antihistamines might be something to ask about.
Avoidance is probably what will be recommended.

Originally Posted by Ed Reiss

Wow...the symptoms you describe are exactly the same I get when my darlin' Annie gets p_ssed at me

Ed ,
I hope you're watching your P's and Q's

Originally Posted by shortcast

Hey, anyone ever had a reaction to Pau Ferro (murado, bolivian rosewood)?

My hands are swollen. I have raised welts that itch and burn from my elbows to my finger tips. Very uncomfortable but not generally painful. Except for a 15 minute episode yesterday afternoon when my hands felt like they were on fire. A long soak in scalding hot water seemed to help this.

Saturday I turned about six bracelets and one pen from this stock. Now I wonder are these items safe for me to give to someone? I know that pau ferro is used in luthery and I have seen pau ferro firearm grips on the market, so I hope that it is only the dust that is a problem.

Can I take any precautions to prevent another reaction like this or am I through with this species of wood?

Any remedies that you can recomend?

I get the same allergic reaction with Silky oak. Eyes all puffy, Arms and face/neck feel like they're on fire. A short course of a prescription medication from the doc was all that worked (almost instant relief!).

Mostly, people would be allergic to the dust or sap. Handling the finished (even raw) wood *should* be ok. I can pick up silky no probs, but if I breath in the dust...

I once walked through a small cloud of dust from a lathe demo at the WW show in Syd a year ago without thinking about it. When I got hom, LOML spotted it straight away - slightly puffy eyes. Gotta be bloody careful with it.

As for precautions, allergic reactions are usually cumulative (if that's the right word) - ie they get worse each time. You might be able to play around with full dusk shields/protective clothing, etc, but I think that's playing with fire. My strong advice is not to touch the stuff. Plenty more species to have fun with

Cheers,
Dave