Sand pits

[buster]

I just bought 4 blocks from PME and the first one I started on is riddled with soft holes that look they have been filled with briar dust. Are these sand pits?

[d.huber]

I just bought 4 blocks from PME and the first one I started on is riddled with soft holes that look they have been filled with briar dust. Are these sand pits?

A picture would help. Do these holes resemble tunnels?

[Sasquatch]

Holes filled with dust = borer. Don't know if it's a worm or a beetle. Pretty unusual in PME stuff, but I've seen it in some form or another from most vendors now. I suspect they'll replace the block.

Throw it out.

[Massis]

That explains...

I've got a bag of small blocks ready to be turned into very small pipes, and lots of them have borer holes in them, but I've found these gaps filled with dust in others... Must be the same problem...

[Sasquatch]

Here's what I don't know - by the time we get the blocks, can this worm still be alive? That is, is there a chance of "infecting" clean briar?

On that note, I keep blocks that I feel are possibly contaminated well away from clean wood.

[Massis]

Here's what I don't know - by the time we get the blocks, can this worm still be alive? That is, is there a chance of "infecting" clean briar?

On that note, I keep blocks that I feel are possibly contaminated well away from clean wood.

Seeing as these are contaminations in dead wood usually, I assume - and am fairly sure- these holes were made AFTER boiling & drying etc.

This would mean the blocks you receive could be the home of an entiry nation of woodworms, ready to eat your entire briar supply...

For that same reason, I filtered through the entire bag of about 600 small blocks to remove all that had holes in it.
Apparently I missed some, because last night I had a block with no visible holes, but the inside was full of these filled up pits.

[bregolad]

I've found these before...but now I'm paranoid. You guys really think they're still alive?

[Massis]

The possibility is real afaik. Do you want to risk you briar? If not, be paranoid

Straight from wikipedia:

Woodboring beetles are commonly detected a few years after new construction. The lumber supply may have contained wood infected with beetle eggs or larvae, and since beetle life cycles can be one or more years, several years may pass before the presence of beetles becomes noticeable. If you have an infestation of woodboring beetles, it is best to consult a professional entomologist before contacting an exterminator. In many cases, the beetles will be of a type that only attacks living wood, and thus incapable of "infesting" any other pieces of wood, or doing any further damage.[citation needed] In other words, only some types of beetles should be of concern to a homeowner (see list below), and exterminators may be unable or unwilling to make this distinction.

The bit in bold says enough...

[DMI]

I'd send the briar back. I've talked to a couple of suppliers about worms and they both say that anything with holes in should be destroyed, they would never ship it in the first place though........

If they are still active then they can spread, our old house had woodworm that spread to the furniture.

[Sasquatch]

I've seen a few blocks with a single tiny hole, and I suspect that's fairly common. The really infected blocks are pretty rare and pretty easy to detect.

Certain suppliers I have never seen that with, and naturally, my inclination is to buy from those guys.

[RadDavis]

I've been making pipes for ten years and never seen this infestation y'all speak of. Tinsky's been making pipes since 1978, and he's never mentioned running into this. You guys need to change suppliers, I think.

Hope this helps.

Rad