Oh Crap. Worm Holes!!- Question of the Week

April 11, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week 

This week’s question comes from Craig. He writes:

I recently found a small local mill that I was able to get what I think seemed like a great price on some 4/4 8″ wide white oak for $2 per board foot. I got my jointer jumping and my planer going following your instruction on your video. The boards are perfectly flat and square and look beautiful except for one small problem. In some of the boards there are small holes that look as if they might be from some wood boring insect. What’s the best way to fill these? Is this an indication that I should not buy from this mill or is this a common problem? (I don’t recall ever seeing this on my Home Depot or Lowes boards.)

And here was my reply:

“Hey Craig. Worm holes are not completely uncommon. But one thing is for sure, a lumber dealer should not be selling wormy wood at full price. And it seems you got a very good price on it. I would imagine that would be why you got a good deal. If this is a frequent occurance there, then you may want to find another mill. As for filling them, it depends on the look you want. Some people like the character of worm holes. So they either leave them alone or plug them using epoxy. Epoxy will fill the hole nicely and make it look like its just a small knot. If you want to hide it, you can use a good quality filler like Famowood. Another option would be to buy a dowel and use a pencil sharpener to create a cone shape. Then drive the cone into the hole with some glue to plug the hole. The only problem with this method is the dowel will create end-grain on a face grain surface. So the repair might be noticeable. And lastly, you can rout out a square and drop in a small inlay that matches the wood grain. But thats an awful lot of work. :)”

Comments

3 Responses to “Oh Crap. Worm Holes!!- Question of the Week”

  1. Terry on April 11th, 2007 8:36 pm

    hey craig i bet when you herd that you were going to be paying two bucks a board foot you thought, wow i never got boards for that price at home depot or lowes. craig i have had coustomers that paid extra for the worm holes. hunting lodges and the cabin on the lake owners go gaga for the rustic look. so dont consider worm holes a defect any more than you would a highly figured chunck of maple just adjust the board to the project.

    but if you must get rid of the worm holes the easy to do it is with a plug cutting bit use a small section of the board that matches the wood surrounding the hole and run the grain in the same direction and wormholes are gone.

    wait scratch all that and just send the boards to me and i will deal with those pesky wormholes.

    good luck and remember keep your hands and spouse away from sharp objects in the shop.

  2. Douglas Bordner on April 12th, 2007 11:11 am

    Marc, and ultimately Craig,

    My great hope is that the “worm” is long gone. I would move that wood somewhere warm, but not inside or near my woodpile. I have a buddy who worked at a nearby dealer, and once they got a load of wood flooring that had been infested with powder-post beetles.

    The larvae were largely dormant, only a worm hole or two was showing. The lot got sold, and installed, clear coated. Then the home owner started seeing new holes with a small pile of powder near the whole. Yikes. You can imagine the rest. Not one to instill wide spread panic, I just thought it important to mention; in case Craig’s dealer might be unethically unloading his problem on downstream users.

  3. juan carlos cortazar on April 12th, 2007 12:03 pm

    how do I known that the worm has gone?
    how to kill the worm?

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