Cocobolo allergy!

K

KFU

Part Time Knifemaker, Moderator
Joined
Sep 10, 2007
Messages
4,255
Sorry I haven't been on much lately guys. Right before Christmas I woke up with my eyes swollen shut and they itched like crazy. I went to the doctor and found out I had a severe allergic reaction to something. A week went by and I didn't have anymore issues so I thought I was good to go. Just figured I got into something. Well, this morning I woke up with the same issue. Ive been going back thinking about what might have caused it and realized its from sanding cocobolo. I had done a couple of knives with it before and got a block in the mail for another knife a couple days ago. I cut the block up yesterday. I usually wear a full face mask when grinding but I don't always wear one when sanding. So...it looks like after this knife gets finished up I wont be using cocobolo anymore. Im going to try working it only with the mask and wearing gloves to see if that will help. Its weird, Ive heard that people are allergic to it but they usually break out in hives from skin contact, Ive never had that problem.
 
Looks like you gotta send your cocobola this way bro!
Seriously tho if that whats doing it to you I wouldnt touch it bro, you looked terrible from that stuff. I had a friend when I was a kid who was allergic to bee stings, and a yellow jacket got in between his glasses and eye and stung him like four times. His face swelled up not unlike yours. Looks like you need an epi-pen next to the fire extinguisher in your shop!
 
KFU said:
Sorry I haven't been on much lately guys. Right before Christmas I woke up with my eyes swollen shut and they itched like crazy. I went to the doctor and found out I had a severe allergic reaction to something. A week went by and I didn't have anymore issues so I thought I was good to go. Just figured I got into something. Well, this morning I woke up with the same issue. Ive been going back thinking about what might have caused it and realized its from sanding cocobolo. I had done a couple of knives with it before and got a block in the mail for another knife a couple days ago. I cut the block up yesterday. I usually wear a full face mask when grinding but I don't always wear one when sanding. So...it looks like after this knife gets finished up I wont be using cocobolo anymore. Im going to try working it only with the mask and wearing gloves to see if that will help. Its weird, Ive heard that people are allergic to it but they usually break out in hives from skin contact, Ive never had that problem.
Click to expand...

I don't hang around in the knife maker's forum since I am not one. However, I have enjoyed looking at your knives for a couple of years now and always read your posts. I have always been impressed with your work.

I am a professional woodworker and occasionally do it for fun as well. I used to teach wood turning, and the only thing that made any wood turner happier than a nice piece of free wood was a nice piece of an exotic to make a bowl, pen, letter opener, tool handle, etc. So exotics such as cocobolo, zircote, wenge, jatoba, blackwood, etc., are something I have a lot of experience with. All of those super dense, oily, heavy woods are deadly.

Over the last 35 years of doing this professionally, I can tell you with no hesitation that all wood dust is bad. All of it. It gets in you lungs and cannot be expelled if you get too much and can cause nasty bouts of pneumonia, and actually blood poisoning in some cases. The weekend guy that sands a board or repairs a door isn't at much risk, but for someone that works with wood all day should know better. Sadly, most don't.

So when I teach, I pass out something like this, which is great information with cites to back it up for the hard heads:

http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-allergies-and-toxicity/

All students must wear long sleeves (not baggy or droopy), eye protection, and most important an N95 rated dust mask (or better) when turning or making wood projects. There is a lot of cutting and smoothing, but also a lot of sanding and shaping that fills the air with particulates.

The South American species of woods are particularly dangerous. Take a look at the chart and see where Cocobolo winds up in the "potency" level for toxicity. It gets the vaunted 5 star rating! None higher!

That chart is a gold mine for anyone that works with wood, but especially for someone that doesn't have the years behind them to know about the toxicity of wood dust.

Hope that helps...

Robert
 
hey man,2 weeks ago that bowie i done, it done the same thing to me felt like damn sandpaper in my eyes for a week,i never use it again,i used it alot an never had any problems but i did this time it will be the last for me,how freakin odd!
 
Thanks MF!
Check this out
picsay-1357015540.jpg
 
Wow, Chris... that looks like a nasty reaction indeed!

I get the same from real Western redwood. Most exotics don't bother me, but I suit up to face them and actually don't turn much of them anymore.

I keep the Benadryl handy, anyway.

Robert
 
KFU said:
Sorry I haven't been on much lately guys. Right before Christmas I woke up with my eyes swollen shut and they itched like crazy. I went to the doctor and found out I had a severe allergic reaction to something. A week went by and I didn't have anymore issues so I thought I was good to go. Just figured I got into something. Well, this morning I woke up with the same issue. Ive been going back thinking about what might have caused it and realized its from sanding cocobolo. I had done a couple of knives with it before and got a block in the mail for another knife a couple days ago. I cut the block up yesterday. I usually wear a full face mask when grinding but I don't always wear one when sanding. So...it looks like after this knife gets finished up I wont be using cocobolo anymore. Im going to try working it only with the mask and wearing gloves to see if that will help. Its weird, Ive heard that people are allergic to it but they usually break out in hives from skin contact, Ive never had that problem.
Click to expand...
Yikes,sorry about that chief.
If you want to use something else for the camp knife companion that's fine by me Chris,no sense putting yourself through that sh$t for a knife.
 
Damn that looks rough Chris. Had similar reactions a couple of times over the years of making cabinets. I was young and working for a cheapskate who didn't believe in safety equipment. I always assumed it was caused by some reaction to one of the chemicals, looking back it was probably some of the exotic woods we were working with.
 
It does suck! Its mostly my fault as I forget to wear my mask alot. My shop is also kinda dusty. My sweetheart of a wife spent all day out there today taking evrything out, washing it off and washing the walls, floor, etc. Im going to get a dust collection system and shoot it outside as well as a ceiling air filtration system. They arent that expensive and are supposed to cycle all the air every ten minutes or so.
 
As a woodturner I can also tell you from many years of experience that all wood dust is bad for you and many exotic woods can give you a similar reaction. When I turn or sand I use an air supplied face shield and my shop is equipped with a dust removal system piped to each of my power tools including my lathe.
 
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