So sick: Wood dust

[Wayne D]

another wood dust to be careful of is yew ,verry bad makes eyes sting and everything. farmers try to clear yew where they can because of livestock eating it, but all yew is protected if its trunk is thicker than 4inch thick.it can carry up to a 20,000 pound fine if you decide to cut your self as a friend found out the hard way .local council turned up just as he was cutting down the last of 5 trees 43 ,000 pound later hes out of a job ,but on an up side ive got some lovley knife scales!lol

when I complained about 5 yew trees being cut down by a building contractor in Leicester , I was told by a Leicester County Council Officer that they are not protected unless they are of historic importance. (The Largest of the trees had a 38 inch diameter trunk and the smallest 21 inch Diameter)

[RamblerUK]

One wood to be careful of is Afromosia. The dust from this attacks your nervous system.

http://www.carbideprocessors.com/pag...allergens.html

[Chui]

If any of you ever pick up a wood called Tamboti from South Africa.......lovely smell and wood though it may appear, you need to treat it with great caution.

It is used, esp in SA obviously, but even the fumes from it - if in confined space - will make you very rough.

Ingest any and you'll likely be pretty sick for a few days........also good for megga headaches

Full face mask and well ventilated workshop required..........

[Ian Atkinson]

If any of you ever pick up a wood called Tamboti from South Africa.......lovely smell and wood though it may appear, you need to treat it with great caution.

It is used, esp in SA obviously, but even the fumes from it - if in confined space - will make you very rough.

Ingest any and you'll likely be pretty sick for a few days........also good for megga headaches

Full face mask and well ventilated workshop required..........

This sounds like the voice of experience, have you made yourself poorly!!

[Chui]

This sounds like the voice of experience, have you made yourself poorly!!

No, fortunately not.

I've been on a couple of walking-safaris in SA where on the last leg back into the fly camp we picked up wood for the fire - and tamboti is a fave on the fire cos of the smell.........but just a whiff, so not too much.

One of the game rangers I know, after a braai, he picked up a twig and fashioned it into a point with his penknife for a toothpick. It was an old dry piece of tamboti (didn't realise at first) - he didn't leave his bed for 3 days.

[Newbutkeen]

Really useful thread, thanks. As a newbie i'm not really clued up on the H&S stuff, will be grinding outside i think with a mask. Can anyone suggest a nice, not too expensive wood for handles that is pretty safe? I bought some hardwood offcuts a while back but not sure what they are (one is Padauk i think?)