Insect Infestation and Salvaged Lumber

With our ambitious agenda awaiting us for the Man Week at the barn, our first task was to begin the Tetris game that always seems to be on tap for any type of reorganizing the shop.  The ripple molding machine was easily accessible for John but I had to move a ton of stuff to get to the FORP I workbench parts that were behind the parts for all the other workbenches that are not yet finished, and a large pile of old oak salvaged from the shack deconstruction that we were working on when I crossed paths with the cranky wheelbarrow that put me out of commission for the better part of a year.

The first thing I noticed from the pile of salvaged oak was the presence of frass in between each piece of the stack.  It might have been old frass from a no-longer-active infestation or it might not.  It was not an extreme amount but I was not going to take a chance as I was going to be making furniture for the cabin from it.

I mixed up my typical batch of insecticide with a gallon of marine anti-freeze and two 8 oz. cups of dry borate-complex powder (Disodium Octaborate Tetrahydrate), then mixed with a paint stirrer in my cordless drill.

I used a cheap garden sprayer to saturate the boards and stacked them under plastic to let it all soak in thoroughly.  After 36 hours I set them against the barn to dry, and two days later moved them inside and will put them to use when that project moves to the top of the pile.