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Just found out the hard way that dust from Malaysian blackwood burns! If you get it in sensitive areas like the nose eyes and mouth it stings. I was thicknessing some sides when I wiped my face with my hand and it set my face on fire! Felt like I sprayed gasoline in my face. So be warned!

Malaysian Blackwood is an Ebony -- and my experience has been that all Ebonies are irritants to mucous membranes (eyes and nose). Oddly enough, one of the woods (or rather, dust) that I find most irritating is Claro Walnut.

Malaysian blackwood is an ebony. I have had a nasty reaction to macassar ebony where my eyes, skin, and lungs burned for 3 days.

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ELEVATE || Next Level Lutherie
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All I know is I'm being much much more careful with the stuff from now on. Thank god I was wearing a dust mask. I would have hated to breathe that!

Thankfully you didn't pick your nose.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I was once at a chicken wings place - they type where they sell "nuclear" wings - there was a big sign in the bathroom that said, "Please make sure to wash your hands first."
Maybe you need a sign like that in your shop.

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

Yep, I handle and mill a lot of mac ebony and have to wash my hands often to avoid problems.

And forget dust masks. Get a comfortable respirator.

Ebony is the only one that I have had a bad reaction too. Not only in the sinuses but on my skin as well. A helmet with constant air flow takes care of the face but I also have to make sure I am wearing a long sleeve shirt and gloves.

Tim

Add that to the list. Cocobola probably affects the most people, followed closely by Pao Ferro (aka Morado and Bolivian rosewood), and Makore is also really bad for some people. The dust is the main source of problems.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Padauk gets me, so much so that I avoid it as much as possible. I have a lovely 24" x 2" x 2" turning blank in the shop that's been sat there for almost 3 years now.


~Nil carborundum illegitemi~

Thankfully cocobolo doesn't bother me. Nor any other woods I have found, except the burning from MB. And once I got it all washed off I was fine. I just have to watch it.

Cocobola may not bother you now, but if you work with it much it's just a matter of time. Most wood toxins are sensitizers, so exposure increases your sensitivity. I don't usually even bother with a dust mask, but cedar and Pao Ferro are too toxic to me to use for anything significant. I can still use cocobola, but I do take extreame (for me) precautions when sanding or resawing.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

I've had a reaction to Macassar Ebony too. Just got a custom Malaysian Blackwood guitar (I didn't build it), hopefully it won't bother me to play it!

The one wood I have found that gives me the worst trouble is red oak. I pretty much refuse to work with it, because the dust gives me respiratory symptoms something awful.

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Phil

http://www.oleninstruments.com

"Those who tilt at windmills are only considered insane by those who can't see the dragon."

Fortunately that's not the loss that Malasian Blackwood or Cocobolo is!