injecting resin into woodworm holes

Prior to receiving key advice about killing worm larvae here #14, I'd stuffed the sledge into the freezer. I'll take it out tomorrow, stick it into a horse food bin with a fan heater, and then give it the heat treatment.

Heston Blumentahl would be proud of me :)
 
John the kiwi said:
Freezer may not be the right answer..
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18601-pest-control-thats-too-hot-for-bugs-to-handle/

looks like you only need to heat to 56 degrees celsius and allow time for heat penetration to kill the critters and their eggs.
Soak in some epoxy to fill the holes and you will be good to go.
If you have any doubts about structural integrity then apply some stress tests.
Cheers
John
Click to expand...

Ideally a walk in blast freezer is what you should use for antique furniture ( or sledges) which is less likely to affect the items than a heavy spray coating of woodworm fluid. That was the advice we were given when trained some 20 years ago for my killers certificate.
 
Find a heavily infested area. Carefully fill holes with epoxy as suggested. Allow to cure completely. Using the minimum of force, remove all the wood. Sell the resulting artwork. :rolleyes:
 
All the previous suggestions are hideously cruel. You'll have the RSPCA prosecuting you for wanton cruelty - and deservedly so. Larvae have feelings too! What you need is one (or more) of my patented Humane Woodworm Killers. Manufactured by skilled watch-smiths, they are like tiny mousetraps. You put one next to the woodworm's hole, bait it with a pinch of celestial cinnamon bark (guaranteed irresistible to woodworm), and wait. When you hear a click and a tiny squeal, it's job done.
 
This is all getting very silly. If the op wants to strengthen his sledge, he should catch the worms and tie carbon fibres to their tails before re-introducing them to the wood for a few days. Only then should he inject the epoxy.
 
I think that genetically modified woodworms would be the answer. We get a scientist to

1 change their DNA so that they excrete not sawdust but as Occasional suggests, carbon fibre dust, and

2 make the woodworm brain sensitive to magnets, so that the worms can be steered in a required direction along the structural frame of the sledge or mast.

We then autoclave the item, converting the excreta to continuous carbon fibre. Place the item into a weak bath of acid, and the cellulose and remaining lignin is dissolved (along with the woodworm tallow ) to be reprocessed into polymer £5 notes, and the remaining carbon fibre network, faithful to the old dimensions will be seriously stronger and lighter.

Dragons' Den, here we come !
 
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