Cocobolo is a gift and a curse

[LittleBen]

Just thought I'd share this with you all.

I recently started using some nice cocobolo on some bows and I'm pretty sure now after a couple mishaps that I'm allergic to the dust. Didn't happen the first time I sanded it ... Or the second ... Or the third, but it happened eventually. Now I am likely allergic to all the dalbergias which sucks.

Bought a respirator, elbow length gloves and goggles and will see what happens.

Anyway, I've been reading a lot and the general consensus seems to be this .... There two types of people ... Those who are allergic to cocobolo and those who will be eventually.

GMy advice is take precaution and reduce your exposure to dalbergias dust so you don't have too give it up.

Fortunately my reaction is not severe, just very itchy and uncomfortable, but some have had life threatening reactions.

So please be careful.

Lastly to put it in context ... I have no food allergies, no pharmaceutical allergies, no pollen, weed, or pet allergies ... No other wood allergies, no allergies to chemicals or anything else. Not poison ivy,  .... Nothing .... Except cocobolo. This stuff is serious.

[delongbows]

Cocobolo puts a hurtin' on me as well. I didn't notice any ill effects after the first one, but after the second time I sure did. The next morning my skin was on fire and my eyes were swollen shut. My wife told me that I looked worse than Rocky after he fought the russian...lol! Since then, I never go without the respirator and goggles, and I always wear long sleeves with the cuffs duct taped down over my gloves.

[Bowjunkie]

It sucks when something we love to do makes us miserable or sick. I haven't had a reaction to any wood dust yet... knock on wood.

A friend of mine, after many years and many bows, became highly allergic to something in bow finish. It got worse and worse. I would spray his bows for him, and eventually he couldn't even touch them with a fresh finish. He was very meticulous about his bow's finishes and it bothered him to have to switch to stuff he didn't like as well, but he was messing with some water based stuff the last time I talked to him.

I think our immune systems can only deal with the bombardment of toxins for so long until It breaks down. Not only will these toxins then produce rashes, respiratory issues and such 'inconvenient' ailments, but since the immune system is our only defense, one that is beat down and less competent can allow some really bad things to happen to us. Hey, who's to say such toxins are not having an effect withOUT showing outward symptoms? Then 'all of a sudden' one day we wake up with cancer, an autoimmune disease or something? Even though I've never had a visible reaction, I should be more careful from now on. Thanks for the heads-up.

[gene atkinson]

thank you for sharing that , i have a bad habit of just sanding , filing , cutting with out putting on a mask or gloves . stories like this make me more mindful .
 i do hope the new safety gear works for you.
 again thank you for the warning!

[bamboo]

not fool proof...but a good reference----

 http://www.wood-database.com/wood-identification/

you still have to wear a mask!!

[wood carver 2]

It's not only wood to be careful of. Fiberglass resin and epoxy is bad as well. Too much contact and you will become allergic.
Dave.

[4runr]

And, if you use superglue as a grain filler, I HIGHLY recommend a respirator.

Many years ago I wasn't allergic to anything. I did interior carpentry in the new home industry for many years and never wore a mask.

 I bought rough-sawn POPLAR for a church finish project one time, planed, cut, routed, sanded and  built door jambs and casing out of it. In about a week I had the worst case of Bronchitis in the history of carpenters.

Since then I have chronic sinus issues, can get sick at the sniff of a dust molecule. Chemicals that never used to bother me, choke me, even dry grass clippings now bother me.

Guys, please don't consider yourselves bullet proof. Wear and use dust control. I love to refinish vintage Bear bows, but now do it very sporadically due to these issues.

[Troy D. Breeding]

I posted a thread a few weeks back about not making the same mistake I did by working with some of the woods without proper safety equipment. I had burning skin for a couple days and a hacking cough that took almost three weeks to clear up.

Snakewood was the culprit in my case and that's one reason I stay away from cocobolo.

[Bowjunkie]

I just moved, will soon be setting up my bow shop again, and need to give dust collection and air filtration some serious thought. I never bothered with it much before... just hooked my shop vac up to the stationary tools when possible... never wore a dust mask... but did wear a good vapor filter when spraying finish.

[kennym]

Coco didn't bother me for a few years, altho I was using a good dust collector, but about the last 2 years, it made my face red around my eyes and anywhere the small amount of dust the collector missed would collect, inside elbows , and anywhere you sweated just a little itched and burned for about 5 days. I quit handling it as lams or anything I had to cut.

[Bodork]

Ditto for me with cocobolo. No problems for years then one bow and whoa! Eyes swollwen, elbows, finger webbing and everywhere else dust collected with a little sweat red and itching. I don't use it any more unless I put a small accent stripe in a riser from an old veneer. Super glue fumes burn my eyes now and make my sinuses run with an orange tint for a few days. Nasty stuff!
 Be careful all you new bowyers!!

[Buemaker]

Good grief, I have two stunning pieces of Cocobolo 2x4x20". Have had them laying around for years, almost a bit scared to use them now. I have worked with Yew for many years and the first years nothing happened,but now I get  a headache if I work it indoors. It kind of sneak up on you. Bue--.

[halfseminole]

I had such a reaction to osage that my wife nearly called an ambulance.  Terrible rash where I got the dust, coughing fits and I passed out for 18 hours that afternoon.  I bought a respirator shortly afterwards, as I didn't ever want to experience that again.

I'm both scared to try cocobolo and supremely interested in it to make thumb rings with.  I just wish I could fond some to try.

[AkDan]

I've been messing with some walnut and spalted birch last year and in the end I am starting to wonder if I'm not allergic to the walnut.  I also build slate calls out of it so its not the first time I've played with it.   It is however the first time I've been unexplainably sick.  Docs did a pile of allergy tests and its crazy how sensitive I've become.  Things that never messed up my system in years past have crept in and those that did I cant eat or get around without suffering from it.  Makes a guy wonder!   I have a pile of osage slats in the living rearing and ready to go, a nice piece of bacote for doing pot calls as well, that I think I may save for veneers instead.   I'm also a shop vac guy and have a had a bag blow a few times only to realize when I turned around I couldnt see across the garage hacking my guts out.   Cleanup stinks!  I've been hesitant to even consider glass for this reason!

As for the spalting I was using some system 3 epoxy and a few other goodies (seperately) to try and stabelize it enough to work.  At this point I'm not sure what one got me but to this day I think one of them did!