Untreated Cedar

[WP]

Is untreated cedar saw dust hazardous? My woodshop unfortunately is in the basement and if cedar saw dust is hazardous I would do all my cutting outside.

TIA

[Dave W]

[Andrew Barss]

WP wrote: : Is untreated cedar saw dust hazardous? My woodshop unfortunately is in : the basement and if cedar saw dust is hazardous I would do all my cutting : outside.

My wife and I built a fence of Western red cedar, and had the lumber stacked in the house for a while. She got fairly severely sensitized to it, just with the plain boards.

-- Andy Barss

[Jane & David]

I've been told that cedar dust is unusually prickley - lots of little pointy bits that stick inside the lungs. Don't know, but it can't hurt to be careful. The story came from a northwest Indian carver who told me that all the old carvers seemed to have terrible coughs.

David

[Leon]

Is there really a Treated Cedar?

Cedar is pretty tough to deal with in confined spaces for many people when the dust is flying.

[Tom Best]

I recall reading somewhere that wood dusts could be rated by carcinogenic potential. Cedar rated higher than pine. Much higher as I recall. Might be worth looking for more info.

Tom

[patriarch]

"WP" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Not an expert, but I do some reading. A FWW article (from sometime in the last fifteen years - THAT narrows it down some) indicated that there are all kinds of woods called cedars, many of which have very little in common with each other botanically. The wood you are using may be anything, really.

That having been said, open air woodworking is a true joy, when the weather is good. But having worked outside for 8 hours yesterday, building with redwood, personal experience tells me that, on a breezy day, you're still likely to get a nose full of saw dust pretty regularly, using a power saw.

An inexpensive dust mask would have been a start. I still have to work on the sunglasses with the bifocal prescription in them....

But springtime is GREAT!

Patriarch

[George]

Just the point. It's _all_ treated with insecticide and fungicide. That's what makes it durable.

Once again, if it were a manufactured product, I don't believe it would make it to market.

[Leon]

I was under the impression that cedar was naturally resistant to most insects and fungussesssess.

[Dave W]

The allergen in cedar is a gas so wearing a filter will not stop the allergic problem. A (paint spray) mask incorporating activated charcoal filters will remove the offending chemical. And yes, cedar is naturally biologically active, no treatment is required to achieve its allergy potential and resistance to microorganisms.

"patriarch [e-mail]" "WP" wrote in

[Grant P. Beagles]

[patriarch]

"Dave W" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

So outside is good, no?

I've got a project to do with the Boy Scouts, making benches from a large Western Red Cedar log, harvested and slabbed out last fall. If I understand you correctly, we should work in a well ventilated area, or outside.

Or what? Beyond normal precautions?

Patriarch

[George]

Guess it shot by without making a mark.

I didn't say _who_ treated it, but , if it were so full of poisons and allergens as a result of an artificial process, it would undoubtedly be banned.

[Joseph Smith]

I was having a check up a while back and the Doc was reviewing all my possible occupational hazards and then he enquired about home and hobbies. When I got to WW he just wanted to make sure I was using all the right PPE's and his only real concern about domestic woods that I use was Red Cedar. Told me to use a higher quality dust mask and better ventilation when working with it.

[WP]

Dave,

I need to finish off a small section of fence for the pen for my dog. So I need wood that can withstand the weather without being treated so that it will not be toxic to my dog if he decides to chew it.

[Phisherman]

Wear a good-fitting dust mask, such as the Dustfoe and you'll be fine. Inhaling sawdust is not a good thing.

[Gregory Jensen]

Potentially Toxic Woods

I built a Headboard, desk & bookshelf out of aromatic Cedar and posted pics to the "pictures Newsgroup" and I got as many warnings about the wood, as I did Comments on the woodwork. So I looked into it.... Deadly stuff if your a Moth or a mosquito!!( or haveing an alergy can be annoying) It is dusty wood ( Even Western red) so use a dust mask..