Problem with Pecan Wood for handles

[Col Defender]

Several have done this to me - I start with a clean block of wood, do my normal cutting and shaping and gluing and then sand to shape. Then I start to find these pits in the wood below the surface. No way to spot them ahead of time before I do a bunch of work and I've now thrown away two sets of handles. Grrrrrr. (I also have been successful in making some handles from the same wood.) I'm working with a long dead tree limb a friend gave me. Is this natural for pecan, bug damage of some kind, or what??



Thank you.

 

[Jesse Latham]

Worms. Fill with colored epoxy. Jess
View attachment 577953

 

[Frank Niro]

Sure looks like the wood has started to rot or as makers might want to say spalt.
Frank

 

[Larry D. Davis]

Beetle holes and they will be thru and thru the wood most likely. Nothing to do with spalt or decay.

 

[Wormil]

Yep,best bet is to stabilize. Sometimes I fill the bug holes with contrasting dust and CA glue.