Puzzles with wormholes

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Pio2001
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Puzzles with wormholes

Post by Pio2001 » April 22nd, 2017, 9:19 pm

Hi,
What to do when wormholes appear in puzzle pieces ? You know, these little holes, about 1 mm in diameter, left by tiny bugs.

Should the puzzles be quarantined ? How long ? Do the bugs that cause these holes spread into the whole puzzle collection ? Must the whole house be treated ?

Do they make holes in all kind of woods ? What about varnished or lackered puzzles ?

I've found one puzzle with such holes in my collection. I checked against the picture that I took some years ago : the holes did not exist when the picture was taken. The wood is unknown, but it looks like cherry.
Here is the puzzle before the holes appeared : http://www.puzzle-place.com/wiki/Three_in_a_Row_v1

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Splinter
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Re: Puzzles with wormholes

Post by Splinter » April 25th, 2017, 7:53 am

That's a pity!
Don't like to hear that nice puzzles get ruined.

My two cents: keep the puzzle apart.
And maybe some strange suggestion: can it not help to take the puzzle apart, and shrink-wrap it in plastic ("vacumize"), so that no longer air will be available? E.g. as you can do with meat to make it longer preservable.
Only thing you should look at is that the chemicals in the plastic are not affecting the wood.

Good luck!
-Splinter

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Pio2001
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Re: Puzzles with wormholes

Post by Pio2001 » May 1st, 2017, 10:34 pm

Thank you,
I've got an advice from Maurice Vigouroux : put the puzzle in the microwave oven for several seconds. It kills all bugs.

It should not be left too long in the oven, otherwise it might catch fire. I think that the right duration must be chosen according to the temperature of the wood.

Originally, the microwave is a trick to open wooden puzzles that are blocked because of moisture.

Remember never to put metallic parts in a microwave oven.

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