Allergies ?

[RC Storick]

I got this kit and the wingtip wood had a funny smell to it. While sanding this stuff I am breaking out in a rash. Has anyone had this type thing happen to them? Its like it had some strange pesticide sprayed on it.

[Randy Cuberly]

I got this kit and the wingtip wood had a funny smell to it. While sanding this stuff I am breaking out in a rash. Has anyone had this type thing happen to them? Its like it had some strange pesticide sprayed on it.

Well, it's perfectly logical that they do use preservatives and pesticides when shipping large pallets of wood of all types.  A million years ago (not quite in actuality) when I was in college and did house framing in Florida, in the summers, we were often cautioned about pesticides in and on the wood and told to always wear long sleeves and gloves.  In Florida in the summertime the long sleeves and long pants didn't go very far when doing that kind of work out in the sun, especially for a bunch of young atheletic guys not afraid of anything.  There were lots of rashes etc., but when you're 25 and strong you just shake it off.

I mentioned in a previous post here, about sanding balsa, that some of it really affects me and some of it doesn't bother me at all.  I suspect that has a lot to do with the preservatives and pesticides used to discourage termites etc.

Best thing is to probably always wear a mask when sanding or carving wood of any kind.

Randy Cuberly

[Tim Wescott]

Pesticides, or fungus, or the wood's natural defense mechanisms (some trees produce some fairly nasty anti-fungal compounds when they're infested.  For that matter, some species like walnut and cedar just produce nasty anti-fungal compounds all the time).

I always get stuffed up if I sand balsa without a mask, it's not some wood that does it to me.

[RC Storick]

This stuff is making me itch. First time I have had this happen in my life, guess I am just getting old.

[Tony Drago]

Which kit or Mfg.
  For me  sanding balsa is a big problem.

[Brett Buck]

I got this kit and the wingtip wood had a funny smell to it. While sanding this stuff I am breaking out in a rash. Has anyone had this type thing happen to them? Its like it had some strange pesticide sprayed on it.

     Yes, I routinely get a rash from sanding balsa.

     Brett

[Douglas Ames]

Could be mold?

[Will Hinton]

Just THINKING about sanding gives me a rash!!

[Eric Viglione]

In a previous life many moons ago, I pushed wood through a table saw as an interim job (gotta pay the bills when a newlywed). Particle board is the potluck of all sheet wood. I even hit a #8 bolt once "PING" and whizzed by my right ear, no kidding. The biggest offender with particle board is the glues and formaldehyde. I'd look like a granola bar after cutting a few pallets of 1.25" 5x10ft sheets up for desktops and end panels through a 15HP sliding table saw with a 16" blade that would throw some serious dust, even with the guard and vac attached. To make matters worse, this shop was in a hot metal Quonset hut type building in sunny Florida... I'd loose so much salt my clothes had salt rings! And yes, talk about a rash...ugh...I'm squirming in my seat just thinking about it!

Some balsa has a camphor type odor to it, and that stuff does like you describe to me...stings my sinuses and gives a rash if it gets on my forearms. I guess it depends on how it was cured. Balsa is harvested as a dead heavy water logged wood, and usually floated down river to load up, then dried out which is when it gets light. I could be wrong, but I think it has a lot to do with what is in the water source that had soaked in before they dry it out and slice it up.

EricV