Rosewood allergy

[Derby Matthews]

I virtually always use a Moldex dust mask with the exhaust port or AO respirator.

My trick (more for the finished product than safety) is to use Thin-x and emery paper & then steel wool to sand & polish Rosewood. I wear exam gloves to minimize the fluid getting on my skin. Works wonders, and no airborne dust.

Never had a reaction to wood - not even Cocobolo - but get me within shouting distance of Poison Ivy and I become a 1950s B movie monster, complete with oozing sores everywhere. I avoid Goncalo Alves for this reason. It and some other species are in the P. I. family.

It'd freeking kill me to have that happen from working with Rosewood. I agree. Take precautions - "Uuuuuuuse the maaaaaaaasssk, Luuuuuke!"

[Will Blick]

> use Thin-x and emery paper & then steel wool to sand & polish Rosewood. I wear exam gloves to minimize the fluid getting on my skin.


Derby, can you elaborate on this? You coat the wood with Thin-x...which one do you use? I notice they have a no-odor version, thats interesting.

Anyway, I assume the thinner keeps the wood wet, so no airborne dust, That is your point, right? hmmmm... this makes sense, but never heard this trick anywhere b4... I assume you keep applying the thin-x as it evaporates so quick.. But you still have to cut the wood, so dust is still a factor when working with it...

Do you use a respirator for the thinner? (I realize you wear a dust mask, but nothing for the thinner?) The thinner bothers me way more than Coco... which I rarely ever use, simply because I fear one day I will have a serious reaction which will release a cascade of wood allergies. It is remarkable when these threads appear through the years, how one mans allergen is another mans joy wood. But clearly Coco has surfaced as one of the highest risk woods... well, I am sure there is worse...but it comes down to how nice-looking the wood is vs. its allergen potential... Coco seems to peak at both ends of this scale... like all things in life, the better it looks.... the more problems you will have with it :-)

[Derby Matthews]

See edited post next door...

[Derby Matthews]

I use the odorless Thin-x with gloves and an organic vapor respirator mask (the most common kind of filter, 1001 uses!) apply with a brush - often placing small workpieces on an old plastic lunch tray or a made-up one using plastic sheet for Piano Lids, table tops, etc..
I use Emery paper for flatter surfaces & steel wool for curved surfaces. the dust comes off and pools in the fluid. I pour the fluid back into a jar and dump it out carefully after the dust has settled to the bottom hours to days. Then I allow the jar to dry out for a few days / weeks, and the dust comes out in big chunks - right into the trash can or fireplace. No fuss. Leaves a surface that is ready to use, unless finish is indicated based on my needs, if I do finish over the surface I usually don't need much. It sure is purdy all by itself.
I also keep a Windex bottle on hand when I clean out the shop vac or dust collector. A few mistings really knocks down the dust, and makes surprisingly little mess. Heck, I'm ugly enough even without a hacking cough thrown in. This works great on the lathe too -though I'm always reminded of working the shake station at McDonald's when I was a kid (used to leave with not one but two big stripes of shake across my chest from the mixer when I overzealously removed the shake too fast. Now the racing stripes are vertical when I forget to turn down the speed.


For cutting the wood I totally believe two basic principles that are no news in this forum:

1) The best dust collection I can afford. My system is pretty elaborate, with even those articulated LOSSSST INNNNN SPAAAAAACE Robot arm things going to even my band saw table undersides and drill press tables to catch as much dust as possible off every machine. Even if I have to make one, I'm putting a Thien separator in my dust collector as well. BTW, if you can find an old Rainbow vacuum, you can just set it up in the shop with no hose attached, and the unit will draw all the dust from the air without need for a filter - it uses water. It is astonishing how dirty the water gets after only a few minutes. I think this is way better than even the best JDS style air filter, and you just dump out the water when you're done. It even removes hydrophatic chemical gases from the air.

2) SHARP CUTTING EDGES - I would much rather make shavings than dust.

All this OCD sounding stuff is because my home shop is in my basement, and my Mom died from Emphysema. It's a really lousy way to go. You choke to death over several years. Sorry for the downer ending.


My mentor used to say "If you aren't using a filter, you ARE the filter!

> ... like all things in life, the better it looks.... the more problems you will have with it :-)

As you say, virtually every really hot girlfriend I've ever had was a double handful of trouble!

[Harvey Pascoe]

I found the cocobolo alergy to be virtually identical to the one I got for epoxy - comes with longer term exposure and gets progressively worse. The itching can drive you half-mad and takes about a week to abate. Since cocobolo is one of my best selling products, I really had a problem. No dust containment system will protect you, and the dust will go through any type of clothing. Don't think that one of those fabric bag dust collectors will help, they won't as they spew loads of fine particles into the air.

Some people get asthma like reactions and trouble breathing but what I got was severe heart burn, so bad that at times I thought I was having a heart attack. Zantac solved that.

I finally solved the problem with Tyvek full body suits with hood. They are cheap, about $7 and don't cause excessive sweating even though they are plastic. I also use a face shield like a welder's mask and latex gloves. As soon as I'm finished with the machines, I take a shower. You should not work with coco under any circumstances if you are sweating as you will transfer dust to your skin when you take the body suit off.

I plan my work so that I do all the dusty work in short order so as to limit exposure time.

The worst offenders for getting dust on you are, in this order, 1. orbital sanders, 2. the table saw which throws dust in your face and hands, 3. the band saw.

This is a high price to pay for using cocobolo, but if you make a good profit with this wood, its the only way.

[Will Blick]

Just typed a long response, hit SUBMIT, and web page could not display, go BACK and your message is gone...this has been happening on a more frequent basis, very frustrating.... I have contacted mods before but nothing ever gets resolved with technical isssues.... frustrating....

so a shorter response...

Derby, thanks for the details....you sur are committed...

Harvey, do you have a web site? What coco products do you sell? I am full agreement with both of you on all the avoidance strategies... I also dump my cyclone excess outside, a Bill Pence "mandatory" strategy....

[Jim Jakosh]

"Rosewood" allergy?
Often santos "rosewood" the Macherium sp (species) is the culprit albeit that it is not a rosewood (Dalbergia sp) but only sold as such, caveat emptor. Many folk develop an allergy to Cocobolo D retusa and too a much much lesser extent other Dalbergia species. They do say that if you dont have an allergy to Cocobolo you will get aquire one eventually! It would be helpfull if you could id exactly the timber involved. Much better to stay away from that particular species, its no fun having to take steroids to dampen down the bodys reaction. Trained as a nurse and a cabinet maker with a specialism in identyfying rare timbers in furniture restoration hope that helps
"Use extraction or become an extractor"

I think I have an allergic reaction to Brazilian rosewood right now. I wore a respirator all the while but I cut. drilled and planed two mating pieces for a handle and when I used a sanding drum on Dremel I found I had a lot of dust stuck to my forehead. Now I am coughing and real low on energy and find it hard to stand up for a length of time. I had this about 5 yrs ago and had to get a steroid to stop it. Then it felt like I had barbed wire wrapped around my neck. I got sick from it 3 times before I realized the cause. I have a bit of it and I'll be selling it of giving it away!...Is there any natural remedy to counter act the symptoms??

Cheers, Jim

[Reed Gray]

As some one said, with the rosewoods, it is when, not if you will react with allergies. It doesn't bother me much, but I can feel how it will eventually if I work with it much. I don't work with walnut any more, and that was mostly bowls because I would start to sneeze and itch. The dry wood might be better. I don't work with Mimosa/silk trees any more. General rule is that the more it smells, the worse it will be for you. Many will develop allergies to redwood and cedar when exposed enough. Each exposure reduces your resistance to the woods. There are charts for wood toxicity.

robo hippy

[Tom M King]

I don't do any sanding of red woods like Redwood or Mahogany, or I get asthma symptoms. Nothing else gives me asthma symptoms. Plane shavings don't bother me, but I wear long sleeves and gloves just to make sure. I avoid red woods unless absolutely necessary.