Lair of the Worm - a tale of terror

[JimB]

I had occasion to make some minor repairs to an early Victorian chest of drawers. Solid legs and pillars with the main carcase being deal, veneered in Cuban mahogany. One foot was loose and some veneer was missing. The veneer was simple as I had some scraps of thick veneer I had saved from a piece of similar age. The biggest job was remembering the place where I'd 'safely' stored them.
The loose foot fell off when I upturned the piece and that's when I got the horrors.

Either the foot wasn't mahogany or it had been kept on a damp worm-ridden piece of floor board. The other three feet were unaffected. At first I intended to reuse the foot after zapping in the microwave and treatment but eventually decided to have a post-mortem and cut it in half.

I turned a new foot from a piece of four inch square Fijian grown Honduras mahogany and darkened it using potassium dichromate.

It turned out darker than the picture shows and being at the back of the chest blends in quite well. :wink:
On reflection I realised that the piece had been treated - no sign of active worm and no frass. However, I treated it all again just to be on the safe side.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Damp floorboards? Apparently the reason for this in a lot of vernacular furniture (not that that is) is that the thing has sat at stage in its lifetime on an earth floor with just a straw mat or somesuch in between.

 

[JimB]

Damp floorboards? Apparently the reason for this in a lot of vernacular furniture (not that that is) is that the thing has sat at stage in its lifetime on an earth floor with just a straw mat or somesuch in between.

Good thinking. I suppose the infestation could have developed before it was 'transported' to Australia. Across here termites would be the risk in those conditions.

 

[MattRoberts]

Looks like a great repair - nice one! Must be a really good feeling to be able to recreate all kinds of styles and techniques and finishes so that people can't tell what's old or new

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Strangely enough, I have a beautiful early Victorian Rio rosewood veneered cupboard that has very similar feet, two being perfect and the other two being worse than that one. One day I'll get to it.

 

[woodfarmer]

The repair/replacement leg is excellent. But don't be scared of woodworm. Especially that size, these are more worrysome

 

[JimB]

Woodfarmer, nice one.
However, I'm sure Crocodile Dundee would have said, 'Call that woodworm, this is woodworm'.

As far as I know they only live in growing timber. We had a dog that loved eating them and would sit by the woodpile waiting for me to split logs.
A pity they can't be trained to go in a straight line.