Impact of pressure treated wood on tools

[Don Jeansonne]

Is there any concerns/problems from the chemicals used in pressure treated wood on power tools like table saws, planers, etc.?

[Mike Spanbauer]

Your lungs aside, they are typically MUCH wetter than yuor typical furniture hw.

Appropriate rust prevention and tool cleaning will be required. Do not underestimate the sawdust harm either, it's not quite as bad as the previous PT treatment, but it's still extremely nasty.

mike

[Tom Veatch]

Yes, there are concerns aside from the health issues. The preservative now used in PT lumber is even more corrosive that the stuff used in prior years. That plus the high moisture content will put a serious coat of rust on the cast iron top of a table saw. I made the mistake of leaving a cutoff laying on my saw overnight. BAD mistake. Clean and rust proof you tools immediately after finishing the task.

[Stephen Edwards]

I know that it's not always possible to do so, but I prefer buying the PT lumber ahead of time. I sticker it for a couple of months or more before working on a project with it using my shop tools. That gets rid of quite a bit of the moisture.

[Robert Parrish]

I've heard that it can trigger a Saw Stop if it is damp enough.

[John Callahan]

ACQ (Alkaline Copper Quaternary) is more corrosive than the CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenate) it replaced- enough so that hot dipped galvanized or stainless fasteners are recommended so I can't imagine it being good for your machinery. As for the "wet" factor, if your budget can stand it, try using KDAT (kiln dried after treatment) if you need PT lumber. More stable, less shrinkage and it can be finished right away.

[John Shuk]

My buddy left a piece of PT 2x4 on the cast iron of his pM disk sander for about a week and it pretty much wrecked it. I'd clean up the saw dust right away. I guess I'd worry about what it may do to impeller in a dust collector too. Sticky pine dust combined with corrosives not a good combination.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

OK...first off...ACQ is all but gone off the market. Most areas now have either MCQ or Micro Pro ACQ....neither of which are nearly as corrosive as ACQ was. The issues were rampant with wood movement and corrosion of fasteners, that much is true, but few suppliers have it now due to the high volume of complaints.

MCQ and Micro Pro ACQ are both very easy on fasteners and neither are extremely wet upon arrival in the stores or yards. Of course there are exceptions but I have found that for the most part it's a good 50% drier than the old stuff.

There are tons of misconceptions about how to handle PT lumber. It's not too bad on tools unless you work with it daily. You will want clean up afterwards as PT will leave a residue you aren't used to on shop tools.
You'll want to clean the entire blade & tool when finished cutting unless it's a PT dedicated saw. I clean mine about once a month, but that's because it's all they cut. I never run it through my home saw unless I have to and when I do, I swap in a blade that is used to it. Freud makes the Diablo blades and trust me when I say there is not another blade that handles it better.

About buying it ahead of time and stickering it....with ANY PT lumber this is a huge mistake. You never want the lumber to dry out before you build with it. I could say DAMHIKT, but I doubt it will help with those who truly believe the hype. I will say that the lumber reacts much better during the drying out stage if it is already in place on your deck or other outdoor structure. The lumber will dry out much more stable in place than in the yard with stickers. For those who have done this succesfully, you are the exception and you must be very lucky. Nine times out of ten it doesn't work well.

Stay very far away from the Home Depot fasteners BTW...you'll have much better luck with Fastenal's zinc coated screws and they don't cam out like the new pesky torx HD is carrying.

Also, never buy PT lumber that has been kiln dried. It is very dry and will crack upon installation in most cases. You'll be buying lumber that isn't straight, personally I can't stand to even look at it. You'll be hard pressed to find better PT lumber than you find at the home centers [I know there are gasps in the audience], but I buy this stuff EVERY DAY and I've never been able to beat what I get at Home Depot [Micro Pro ACQ]. It is by far the straightest and most stable of any PT I have ever bought....and it's cheaper than any yard.

Now as far as health goes...this new stuff is much less harmful to us than either ACQ or CCA was. That said, you should still wear protective gear.

[Paul Atkins]

I won't let the stuff into my shop -and it's not because of my tools. Let someone else do it.

[Roger Warford]

I made the mistake of leaving a cutoff laying on my saw overnight. BAD mistake.

+1

-Roger

[Cody Colston]

OK...first off...ACQ is all but gone off the market. Most areas now have either MCQ or Micro Pro ACQ....neither of which are nearly as corrosive as ACQ was. The issues were rampant with wood movement and corrosion of fasteners, that much is true, but few suppliers have it now due to the high volume of complaints.

MCQ and Micro Pro ACQ are both very easy on fasteners and neither are extremely wet upon arrival in the stores or yards. Of course there are exceptions but I have found that for the most part it's a good 50% drier than the old stuff.

There are tons of misconceptions about how to handle PT lumber. It's not too bad on tools unless you work with it daily. You will want clean up afterwards as PT will leave a residue you aren't used to on shop tools.
You'll want to clean the entire blade & tool when finished cutting unless it's a PT dedicated saw. I clean mine about once a month, but that's because it's all they cut. I never run it through my home saw unless I have to and when I do, I swap in a blade that is used to it. Freud makes the Diablo blades and trust me when I say there is not another blade that handles it better.

About buying it ahead of time and stickering it....with ANY PT lumber this is a huge mistake. You never want the lumber to dry out before you build with it. I could say DAMHIKT, but I doubt it will help with those who truly believe the hype. I will say that the lumber reacts much better during the drying out stage if it is already in place on your deck or other outdoor structure. The lumber will dry out much more stable in place than in the yard with stickers. For those who have done this succesfully, you are the exception and you must be very lucky. Nine times out of ten it doesn't work well.

Stay very far away from the Home Depot fasteners BTW...you'll have much better luck with Fastenal's zinc coated screws and they don't cam out like the new pesky torx HD is carrying.

Also, never buy PT lumber that has been kiln dried. It is very dry and will crack upon installation in most cases. You'll be buying lumber that isn't straight, personally I can't stand to even look at it. You'll be hard pressed to find better PT lumber than you find at the home centers [I know there are gasps in the audience], but I buy this stuff EVERY DAY and I've never been able to beat what I get at Home Depot [Micro Pro ACQ]. It is by far the straightest and most stable of any PT I have ever bought....and it's cheaper than any yard.

Now as far as health goes...this new stuff is much less harmful to us than either ACQ or CCA was. That said, you should still wear protective gear.

Thanks for the straight scoop on PT lumber, Kelly. As usual, there's a bunch of misinformation about it that gets relayed as fact but is not usually correct. It's refreshing to read comments from an informed, frequent user.

[Don Jeansonne]

Thanks to all for these enlighting perspectives. I knew that the PT chemicals of today were much better than those of the past. They still need to be respected and handled properly. You confirmed my concerns.
I plan to use alternate materials whenever possible and use more portable tools that are less critcal and easier to clean, etc.

Thanks again.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I ran a large project of PT through my Slider as one of the first jobs it did. The PT was pretty dry having set stickered for several months.

There were oodles of long rip cuts and tapered sections.

I found that the goo (sap and treatment) built up on the saw itself as the blade slung it against the metal parts. This had to be cleaned off or rust would set in.
The goo also built up on the blade and insert and had to be cleaned off frequently.
The easiest way to prevent the stuff from sticking - and to clean he surfaces - was applying a combination of Wax, Fuel Oil and Mineral spirits ( otherwise known as WD 40).

Other than that I had no problems. The job was run during a dry part of the year so I had the doors open top let the dust blow away.