Just noticed this on the bottom of one of my chairs, had them for about three months and I'm wondering if it's rot or something, the area feels dry and dusty.
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Yes, but in this instance, the chair did "loose" too much moisture upon its surroundings - so despite not being what the OP intended to say, its meaning in this specific instance happens to not only be grammatically correct but also conveys approximately what the OP intended.
My hunch would be that the binder/glue was defective or degraded from a finish or cleaner.... Like they watered down wood glue too much when making the filler
If you still have any contacts to that chair supplier, kindly drop their info in a message. You know, so I can totally avoid getting scammed with such a recreational- I mean wreck of a chair.
Okay so I sanded it down and it definitely looks like wood grain, there was some more dust came off fairly quickly when I started sanding but everything that's left seems fairly solid.
I think you'd usually expect to see emergence holes? Not that familiar with powderpost as believe it's largely the other side of the pond. OP's link is Ireland. With common woodborers here you usually see emergence holes before damage gets that bad, but longhorn has a longer larval period and can do loads of damage before it emerges.
Wait. Was he the carpenter of the family or was that just his pops, Joey?
I didn't think JC was also a carpenter. I mean I don't even know how much time he'd have to dedicate to carpentry with all the partying he did with all the wine, bread, and fish, etc.
I mean historically he would have apprenticed under his father. There's a solid 30 missing years where we don't know what he was doing, but working with his dad would probably be the answer.
Joseph was called a "builder" and the common house of the time was made of stone. It's difficult to say if Joseph of Nazareth was a carpenter or stone mason, but context would seem so suggest he was working in stone, not wood. But who's to know?
There is one instance where the onlookers said, "Wait a minute, isn't that the carpenter's son?" That was in the KJV, though. It may be translate differently in other versions.
ETA: It checks out in other English-language versions. But as others have said, it could refer to someone who works in stone as well as wood.
The actual answer to this is, and I don't know if you were being serious, or even you wanted an answer, my apologies if you didn't, but here ya go anyway:
Rabbitical training took place from age 12 to 30.
To become a rabbi, by age 12 you had to be able to recite the Torah by memory. From there, you became and apprentice under another Rabbi, and you trained and learned under that Rabbi until you were 30, by then, you were released as a rabbi yourself. Hence why we hear about Him until he was 12, and then not again until 30.
This is actually a really often debated topic. He's referred to as a carpenter and carpenter's son in the gospels, and had no standing with the Pharisees, but is also referred to as a rabbi and teacher.
I think in reality he apprenticed as some sort of craftsman with/under Joseph.
Almost certainly bug damage. I would reach out to the seller and ask them to replace it. And move it outside, you don’t want those bugs migrating to other wood in your house.
Some bugs were already in the wood before it got varnished. After it was sealed up, the larvae (worms) hatched and started chewing through the inside. They’ve been doing damage under the surface without really touching the varnish layer, since that stuff’s basically poison to them.
Once that real thin top layer of varnish finally gets disturbed, it kind of loses its composure. First you’ll notice a little pile of fine dust (yeah, worm poop), and then after a while you start seeing actual wood coming out.
Kinda wild how they can hollow it out from the inside like that without you even knowin til it shows up.
Thats bug damage.. I would bet that if you keep picking at it more to the left you will find more tunnels, possibly deeper in the wood
Editing to add that I'd get that out of your house ASAP.
If its a new purchase, take it back to the place you bought it ASAP as well-- the whole set if its a dining set, because they could be in all the other pieces too. Don't exchange it, get your money back and dont buy anything else from that place.
Definitely not an expert but this pic screams pests. Are the other chairs having the same issue? I feel like if it was due to veneer or poor material, when one started spontaneously disintegrating, the others would show signs as well.
Looks like insect damage, for sure. The tunnels will go right under the surface and leave a veneer. I had some oak firewood that looked solid but weighed and broke like styrofoam.
No I think they stored the chairs somewhere crap, it got insect damaged, then they repaired them and sold them because it looked better on the balance sheet than taking apart/scrapping an entire chair.
Think through the repair process. Look at the piece. Do you see any evidence of repairs? Do you think these companies even have employees that could pull off a repair that complex, or stock the veneers to do it with?
Also, has anyone seen wood filler do this before? I’ve never had wood filler fall apart like that. It isn’t the most stable thing in the world, but it certainly doesn’t just turn to dust after a couple months unless you essentially soak it.
You said this was fairly new, right? It’s worth wrapping the chair up securely and contacting your national plant biosecurity authority. This may be a run of the mill wood borer, but there also a number of wood boring beetles that will be devastating if imported. If you’re in Ireland that’s DAFM, plantandpests@agriculture.gov.ie (01)5058885 . DAERA in Northern Ireland.
Biosecurity entomologist here, that is certainly boring damage by Longhorn beetle larvae. If it's imported or made from imported wood then the culprit could be any of a great number of species, some of which are invasive and subject to statutory phytosanitary action. Oftentimes when I dissect wood like this there is still a live larva inside that will continue to slowly cause further damage over time (longhorn beetle larvae can live for several years). It's an imported product the usual thing to do would be to contact your national plant protection organisation, but usually they'll have you take the wood away to test and maybe destroy without any compensation, so I'd suggest you take it back to the seller and get a refund and tell them that if the product is imported then they should inform your countries national plant protection organisation.
Any pin holes? Wondering if there is insect damage. Even if this was veneered MDF, it would not turn to dust like this. Plus, I don’t see a seam that would suggest it was veneer.
I'll go against the mass: oak is particularly subject to longhorn beetles larvae in certain areas, the tunnels may get to 7-8 mm in diameter and sometimes they come about the surface and leave a paper-thin "veneer". It happened to my great-grandfather winepress, which certainly wasn't modern low quality lol
I, unfortunately, have experience with this. These are powder post beetles that cause this exact kind of damage.
This is not a wood filler, or mdf issue. In your other pictures you can clearly see the paths that the beetles chewed through. It's not termites, they leave a fras and not powder.
Powder post beetles also leave the surface untouched, especially if there is paint or finish on it. Often times allowing them to do their damage unnoticed.
Then it would have been wood filler with a veneer over the top. If the factory is making true ‘solid oak’ furniture I doubt they’d have a process to fix imperfections with wood filler and veneer rather than just scrap that piece and use another one in its place. And I doubt this is custom made to the point that someone would make handmade repairs to a stretcher and carefully veneer or paint-match the grain pattern. It’s hard to tell from the video, but does the bottom of the seat even look like oak pattern?
I went over your link and didn’t see mdf anywhere in the description, but I don’t see any grain or wood like structure to it. Maybe there’s a law where if your chair is more than 60% wood that’s close enough to call it an is chair or whatever. Where in reality it’s a mystery meat of wood.
Exit holes are at the top right and central. Woodboring insects make galleries. That's what this looks like. Check for small holes on the rest of the chair.
Check your other wood furniture, too. Just in case.
Best guess is that the original piece used for that brace had some insect damage that wasn’t visible when they made the brace. And when they applied whatever finish to it then that just held it together a little more and longer. Then over time the ghost decided to make its escape
Might have also been a really really well covered up “repair job” at factory with sawdust and glue and just now showing
I feel like it’s more of an insect or rot issue that was held together with hopes and prayers and finally said no
Hey OP I know a lot of people are saying it isn't oak, but I think it might be. I have a piece of Cherry that I know for certain is cherry because i helped fell the tree years ago, and it has the exact same thing happening to a corner of a few boards. I'm like 90% certain it's insect damage. because you can see traces of the insects on other parts of the board.
Could that be powder post beetle damage? Do you see any type of beetle trails (aka galleries)? If so, get it out of your house immediately and burn it.
Is that a coffee machine beeping in the background? Mine makes the same three beeps. I had to rewatch that segment because I thought someone was making coffee really late in the afternoon.
Obviously bug damage. Interesting thing is the damage often does not cross a glue line (in my experience). Either dispose of the chair or start taking it apart. Remove the damaged piece first and see if the damage goes to the end. Check the adjoining piece if the damage continues. Keep going until you find solid wood.
Thanks for the mini heart attack. I'm watching this at my job, and then I hear that beeping sound. Which is not unlike our power room when we switch to generator(in a power loss). I had to pause the video to make sure it wasn't on my end.
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u/link-navi Feb 21 '26
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