chemotherapy for wood

monkey_trousers

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2 Jan 2008
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bf494.co.uk
oh dear!

am now pulling the Pansy apart bit by bit and chucking it on the stove. the problem... well, the previous owner had it all nicely(ish) fitted out, not to our tastes so had a wee peak behind some of the formica clad paneling. The stuff of boaty nightmares lurking beneath,

looked good on the outside but zero ventialtion and maximum condensation on the in. result some very punky wood. lucklily (I hope), as it's only been in a couple of years, pretty much all on the surface at the mo

proprietary wood preserving type stuff, lots of claims, but its petroleum based so if it hits an moisture in the wood it'll stop dead in its tracks surely??

so... the point of the post. Thinking of making my own home brew solution of "Die Insect Fungus b'stard"

had a good ol' trawl on t'interweb and thinking a nice mixture of anti-freeze, borax and boric acid

any one ever tried it? any good? any tips or recipes?

the insect part of the new super brew title is on account of the wee stowaway I found last year - found his mates today. still not 100% on the ID but lesser stag beetle larvae looks no 1 contender

interesting to note though that his chums were found in the newer wood, all the 70 year old bits that had a good dose of stockholm tar way back when are invader free

still buggered If I can work out how they got there, thinking now perhaps they were in the timber already when it was put in
 
Tim ( posted above ) and myself thrashed this out between ourselves and posted on this forum about it . Antifreeze or at least the chemical in it is the carrying agent . Borate is the chemical that kills the rot .
The antifreeze myth is because someone on the internet said he used it and it sorted out his athletes foot problem so he tried it on his boat . The bloke down the pub said .............
Its up to you but between Tim ( who knows his chemicals ) and myself ( who did an apprentership with a timber preservation company ) i would say use the borate based stuff over the stuff the bloke with bad feet says .
 
It kills everything , including you if you dont mask up when using it .
Any wood you can cut out do it and burn it .
Also wait for Tim to reply as he may have formed his own opinion on what i have said above but i'm pretty sure its the same as mine .
 
sounds good so far though. so whats the general modus operandii??

mix up a solution (how strong) and slosh it about?? sprinkle the crystals on and let moisture/nature do its stuff

it has been handy getting the woodburner on board though, everything thats being pulled out goes straight on it!
 
I'll take a look in the morning and have a google on the stuff i know .
On another note i have just been for a pee and as a bloke i have a tin of brush cleaner in the bathroom ... among three spray guns and a tooth brush /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
With this thread on my mind i thought if the borate burnt my skin ( and it does ) then anything that burns must kill larve .
Just a late night thought .
 
Ebay


The second one is the stuff but i'm not sure how you mix it as we used to get it in 1L tubs and mix it with water to get 5L . Also the other uses it states make me think you need something else as you certainly dont want to be putting this stuff in your eye or anywhere else it states /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
1kg enough?? or should we get loads and make an Uber concentrated solution?

sorry for all the Q's much appreciated though! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
I have no idea how much you need im afraid . I never handled it in powder form . There are a few chemists on the forum that may be able to help with that part . One thing that does bother me is that you can buy it on ebay . My company was under strict regulations on the storage , transport and use of this stuff . This is making me wonder if its the same stuff but the ebay add says it is /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Interesting, I also fell for the anti-freeze myth. Still seems to be going strong on the WBF. It's cheap enough but I did have my doubts about is.
 
Thats the problem with the internet . I read the proof i was directed towards and read it rather than heard what i wanted to hear . ( A cheap way to rot proof your boat ) I dont have a rotting boat so actually read what was said rather than the dream of a cheap quick fix .
People have taken that dream cheap quick fix and spread it around without seeing the source and before you know it antifreeze kills all rot dead . When you think about it all they are doing is pouring water into the bilge with a carrying agent in it so the water has more time to get in to the timber ( correct me if i'm wrong )
I got lost on googling chemical properties so asked Tim if he knew as hes a smart fella and as far as i know has never dipped his feet in antifreeze /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Tim came back to me with a few facts on the chemicals and i just stared at the screen for a few days trying to understand it . ( Now i know why they said wear a mask when spraying the chemicals /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )
Anyway i think we both agreed the Glycol (sp ) was a carrying agent and Borate was the killer .
 
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