Walnut Dust

[rdane]

I don’t work walnut any longer. It makes me very sick.

 

[45man]

Yes, walnut is bad. I had to get allergy shots and the second test still showed walnut so the doc had to add more. I have all kinds of black walnut on my property so you can imagine. I would quit breathing as soon as I fell asleep. I am OK now. I can eat them but pollen did me in and dust was bad.

 

[Whughett]

It’s been mentioned in several wood magazines. I don’t do stock work but have a wood shop. Working walnut will give me a slight cough while sanding but I don’t use it for major projects like furniture so I just go with it.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have been a bow maker for 25 years working mostly with osage, the dust didn't start bothering me until about 10 years ago. I started making flintlock guns about 10 years ago as well, my first walnut stocked one instantly caused me problems, the same as osage but possibly worse.

I have always had a dust collection system in my shop and a big one but there are still a lot of fine dust particles floating around from my belt sander, bandsaw or when I hand sand a gunstock.

I now have to wear a 3M cartridge respirator when I sand any wood, even pine or I will pay the price.

 

[DuncNZ]

I haven't had any real problems with wood , but I am now allergic to lead fumes , mask or no mask my nose starts to bleed after 5 minutes or less , so I no longer cast my own projectiles

 

[Buckskinn]

I haven't had any real problems with wood , but I am now allergic to lead fumes , mask or no mask my nose starts to bleed after 5 minutes or less , so I no longer cast my own projectiles

You should probably have a lead level test done. And I would not be melting anymore lead...

 

[DuncNZ]

My lead levels are fine , I certainly don't cast bullets any more , I can buy swaged balls but not Minie or conical bullets ,which is why I sold off my P H Enfield collection and some long range match rifles .

 

[bldtrailer]

Belt sanding . feather grinding(making fletchings from turkey feathers) ,and flint on a dimond stone safty glasses and mask . My flint knapping and round ball making mostly out doors with a brease

 

[Rudyard]

All this scarey dust stuff its a wonder im'e still alive I just work on stocks & grind with no masks if do wear goggles , stops the bits . Did use some black walnut stained my hands but wears of ..I used to watch brass foundry pours of Yellow brass give us 'ague 'but the founders only wore a kerchief mask like a bandit & closed all the Georgian windows lest a squall got too the flasks . theyed done it all their lives . head shook a bit but didn't kill them don't recall any extractor fans you could scarce see down the length of the shop on a pour . This was inside Jas Dixons old 'Cornish Place Works ' By the river Don Sheffield where I had my mounts cast .
Rudyard

 

[Red Owl]

I make knives. There are a lot of exotic woods where the dust is toxic. Wear the proper gear!

 

[user 48679]

Walnut dust is perfect for mixing into epoxy, to make the joints between stock repairs disappear when finished.

 

[Flintandsteel]

Maple is even more of an irritant than walnut.
check out the wood-database.com., it shows all the woods and their respective levels of toxicity.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I think it is an individual thing, maple dust doesn't cause me near as much grief as walnut does. I have a friend that decided to make a bow out of IPE (Brazilian Rosewood), he took one whiff of the dust and passed out cold, others use it with no problems.

 

[Pete G]

I think it is an individual thing, maple dust doesn't cause me near as much grief as walnut does. I have a friend that decided to make a bow out of IPE (Brazilian Rosewood), he took one whiff of the dust and passed out cold, others use it with no problems.

Some of the rifles shown on this forum cause me to do the same thing...

 

[Oubaas]

Many woods can cause allergic reactions if you breathe the dust, the Dalbergia (the true Rosewoods, including Cocobolo) and Diospyros (true Ebonies, including American Persimmon) species being particularly apt to cause trouble. But any wood can cause a reaction if it happens to be the one that your system doesn't like.

It seems to go person-by-person as to who is going to react to what. Best to take precautions with all wood dust.

Another big cause of woes is epoxy. If you keep getting epoxy on your skin, you're going to suffer an allergic reaction eventually. And that's not a "maybe". It will happen one day. Once you react to it, you'll never be able to go near it again. No more epoxy for you.

So it's best to wear gloves, barrier cream, and a respirator when working with epoxy. Otherwise, your time is going to come, and that will be the end of using epoxy.

 

[SOLANCO]

'Depends on recipient of the dust as is evident by all the above posts. Black Walnut is a heavy tannin wood. A lot of plants won't grow under a Black walnut with all that tannin leaching out of the nut husks leaching out into the ground. It never really bothered me, but I don't like it either. 'Makes my nose burn a bit and I don't care for the smell either. If you've got a sensitive shnoz mask up 'Love the wood though.

Tannin is not the issue. Black walnut puts out a substance called juglone which is toxic to a wide variety-but not all- of plants. Last home had a bunch of black walnut which could be trying.

 

[godutch]

Tannin is not the issue. Black walnut puts out a substance called juglone which is toxic to a wide variety-but not all- of plants. Last home had a bunch of black walnut which could be trying.

Right you are. 'Didn't know that. And yes B/Walnut is a messy tree in a yard, we've got several of them.

 

[sqqy14]

Wow, I thought this was going to be a post about rubbing walnut dust back into you stock!

 

[CTShooter]

Sawdust, tastes great, low calorie, often mistaken for coffee grounds in my cup

 

[Rifleman1776]

He is right. But it is not a seriously toxic wood. The dust affects some people more than others. As a woodworker, I try to be careful about ventilation at all time.