And here in tide water area of Virginia we are putting up with your western smoke from the forest and the houses and businesses burning with it. We have forests here along with the spindly fire towers but we have logging here which has areas cleared of old growth with new growth in its place. Used to have clear skies at night so you could see the stars and satellites buzzing around.. And a great air quality that California has not had for over 80 years or more.
Hmm!! Up here it's not Cali's. It's those that come up from Chicago and Milwaukee and what they bring. We already had issues. Having moved to Milwaukee after military and spending 32 years there I'm not welcome either. Even though all the family is here. How's all you other golden oldies doing in N gauge these days?
Pretty much a normal summer here. This year, we have endured a lot of dry lightning in the mountains. Our AQI has been steadily in the 160 range for months now. (I HATE SUMMER.) No logging. Plenty to burn. Won't be clear until the first heavy snows. The up side is indoor time. Scanning old 35mm slides. Tinkering with models off and on at the work bench, when supplies are available.... More planning as my little layout crawls (a snail is fast by comparison!) along. Now it is almost No Fun League season. Which brings the colors of Fall and hopefully a bit of railfanning after the major summer work windows decrease. And continued minutes at the work bench. No cats to interfere.....
Rick I thought you might be the perfect person to answer this. Does formaldehyde have a distinct smell? I've been making some cuts in my hollow core door layout and every now and then I notice a smell that is sort of a little sweet. I'm wondering if it could be formaldehyde in the glue.
As a retired mortician I believe I can answer that. Formaldehyde is a gas. The odor, they use a sweet additive/perfume added to the gas, so you can recognize the chemical. Another indicator/symptom is your eyes, nose and throat will burn. The gas will dissipate leaving the perfume or odor behind. With regard to the door your are cutting. There is no formaldehyde left in the door/wood or anything else for that matter. just the perfume. Perfectly safe to work with. The chemist on board will argue that, they've talked themselves into a coroner. Coroner... oops I meant corner. One of the facts of the trade is it's only dangerous after the bottle of embalming fluid has been opened. The gas does it's job to coagulate the tissue chemically preserving the tissue for a short period of time. Killing any and all bacteria or viruses present. Once the gas dissipates the body will eventually return to the dust or end up mummified. Does that help?
Yep. I knew you would know. I wasn't too concerned health wise. Just curious about the smell. I only notice very slight whiffs, and only while sawing. I'm assuming the tip of the saw tooth is getting warm enough to help "release" the odorant. Thanks.
The perfume was likely absorbed into the wood inside the door including the interior surfaces of the skins. When you cut, saw or abrade those surfaces, it releases some of that absorbed perfume.
Online I read it described as a pickle like smell. Sure enough, today while drilling in the door top and bottom rails, I got a strong whiffs of pickles.
That was it. I'm not sure why Formaldehyde would be use in wood processing. What? They want to mummify it? Pickle smell? Now they are trying to cure the wood with pickle juice? Aiiyiiyii
I believe it was in the glue used to manufacture the hollow core door. The door was made with more glue and sawdust the actual wood.
Some types of adhesives create formaldehyde as a byproduct of the chemical reaction that is their setting/curing process. The fresh adhesive contains no formaldehyde until it begins to cure. The glues used to bond carpet yarns to the base can (and often did) also have this characteristic.
I drilled into the top rail today. Just two ⅜ dia holes about ½" deep. Had that pickle smell in my nose all morning. I don't recall this issue cutting and drilling hollow core doors in the past. They were all of the honeycomb cardboard filler. This door has pressed fiberboard strips inside. Soft like the old tar coated, Celotex fiberboard.
If you could find some exterior versions they would be better. Exterior doors are thicker and stronger. The ones I've worked on had an extra layer of skin to make them thicker and stronger. But they are rather difficult to find. Even new ones. They didn't smell either. But then they were new. And were 120 miles away.
